Mario St-Laurent

Like Obelix of the Asterix comic book series, at a young age Mario fell into the magic-potion-filled cauldron of music. Curious, he enjoys all genres, is constantly on the lookout for new musical discoveries, and has a huge amount of respect for the artists, without whom Marioโ€™s life would be a lot less interesting.


  • Denafrips Pontus II DACโ€”why I bought it and kept it

    The Denafrips Pontus II DAC rekindled Mario St-Laurent’s love for digital audio with its smooth, analog-like warmth and emotional depth. After extensive burn-in, it revealed exceptional clarity, imaging, and musicality, effortlessly blending detail with natural sound.

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  • Music streaming โ€” are we at the beginning of the end?

    As Apple, Amazon, and Spotify shift to lossless audio, smaller services like Tidal and Qobuz may face extinction. Mario St-Laurent warns this seismic change risks squeezing out artist royalties and playback freedom in favor of big-tech ecosystems.

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  • Digitizing our music? โ€œIt is useless to resist!โ€

    As music lovers, we strive for the best possible sound quality.ย  They say all roads lead to Rome, but we still need to contend with our needs, our path, our budget, and the time available to us to get there.ย Across my next columns, like a travel guide, I will try to recommend memorable places for…

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  • Will you commit to being artist-friendly?

    More than 30 years ago, the tabling of the Brundtland report introduced the concept of sustainable development, of which there are three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. This begat fair trade, at the time considered avant-garde, which instituted a set of policies that spanned the world and forever altered the standards we use to buy…

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  • I am not an audiophile

    I am not an audiophile, or an expert on music. I donโ€™t like being labelled. But I do love most musical genres. I fell in love with music when I was nine. โ€œThatโ€™s a young age to fall in love for the first time!โ€ I hear some of you saying. It is. But by nine…

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