I know it's confusing: the fart joke name, slick website, cheap prices, great looking gear, it's hard to know what to think of it. Worry not, it's good shit.
I've been drooling for quite a while now in anticipation of CEntrance's release of their HiFi-M8 high-end portable headphone amplifier. Guess I'll have to keep hydrating for just a little bit longer...but only just a little bit. The HiFi-M8 is going to be shipping "very soon" says Michael Goodman, CEntrance's CEO.
This product's development has been a collaborative effort between Michael and the Head-Fi community, so I spent a bit of time with him at the Newport show talking about the process.
Wooot! Long-time portable and small desktop heaphone maker ALO introduced their first full-size home amplifier at THE Show Newport: The Studio Six. Quite a hefty and impressive offering it seemed to me.
What's the size of a Tick-Tack box and will make any old laptop sound good? HRT's microStreamer is one choice in this ever growing category. I dig the fact it's got 0.5 Ohm output impedance.
Having started my own company once upon a time, I'm every so often reminded of the joyous/terrifying/magical/difficult experience of giving birth to a commercial venture. Happenstance had me spending a bit of time with Steve Welborn of Audeze during the show. Memories of HeadRoom's beginning echoed in my mind.
I love my gadgets...but they tend to force me to regularly find a wall plug for charging sessions. Sometimes that's just not possible. EnerPlex has some cool solutions for charging on the go without the need to find a wall plug.
My, my, what a surprise. I've pretty much hated every multi-driver, over-ear surround headphone I've ever heard, but this system seemed to do very well indeed. I wonder how they pulled that off?
Man! That was fun! CES is the big one; the be all, end all, everything is there showbut it's hell on your feet and like getting a drink of water from a fire hose. Far too big, and, sadly, ordinary consumers can't get in. RMAF is the audiophile show in the U.S., in my opinion. Wanna see what's what in audiophilia? RMAF is the show to go to. But if you want to go to a show just for the fun of it, THE Show Newport is the way to go!
If you live in Southern California and are interested in audio you really need to do yourself a favor and go to THE Show Newport. Why? Because it's a delight for the senses many steps beyond what most audio shows provide.