In music

In music


  • Experiencing Esotericโ€™s new M1X monoblock

    Some moments in my audio listening journey are especially memorable, even remarkable. Moments that stick out and mark my journey like notches of sonic bliss on my bedpost. Such a moment happened recently, when I accepted to attend the official Canadian launch of Esotericโ€™s new M1X monoblock amplifier at audio retailer Audiophile Experts.

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  • Pink Floyd Exhibition: (Picking at) Their Mortal Remains

    I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan ever since I emerged from under my mother’s skirt and wanted to find my place in the world on my own terms.

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  • Interview with an audio trailblazer: Norman Varney, on room acoustics, Pt 1

    โ€œ90% of audiophiles are not experiencing 50% of their equipmentโ€™s potential.โ€ At High End Munich 2022, I had the opportunity to interview industry veteran Norman Varney of A/V RoomService, Ltd., who debunked many of my theories on how room acoustics influence the sound in our listening rooms. He has modeled, installed, and improved hundreds of…

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  • An Interview with Andrรฉ Perry, legendary record producer and founder of the fabled Le Studio, Part 2

    Founder of Le Studio, the iconic, pop-culture defining music studio tucked in the Canadian wilderness, Andrรฉ Perry worked with some of the biggest artists in the biz. Did he have any favourites?

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  • Putting an end to the audio cable debate! Part 3

    Blind comparison tests use short-term memory, not long-term memory.ย Short-term memory can memorize at most seven different pieces of information simultaneously for a maximum duration of 30 seconds. No wonder this is the test of choice of cable deniers!

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  • Did Adele shoot too high?

    Downsizing. Itโ€™s not for everyone. While weโ€™ve all been cocooning like hermits and stocking up on toilet paper to wait out the Great Endless Virus(es), our dear friends in The Billionaires Club have been killinโ€™ it like villains. According to Fortune Magazine, while we were being furloughed and our fave bistro went broke, the worldโ€™s…

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  • Whyโ€”and WHICH!โ€”classical recordings can make your system sound stunning, Part 2

    In this part and the next is where the meat is; Iโ€™m going to provide a shopperโ€™s guide on what to look for and what to avoid in terms of recording quality.

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  • A family affair: great new jazz by Pat Metheny Groupโ€™s Lyle Mays and Aubrey Johnson

    To fans of the Pat Metheny Group, he was the quiet, long-haired dude behind racks of keyboards. And while Metheny in his striped shirts and unruly mane was always the frontman, fans often added a crucial โ€œandโ€ to the PMG equation: Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.ย  Mays was a huge part of the PMG sound.…

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  • Why vinyl is better than digital (and it has nothing to do with the sound)

    Which one is superior, analog or digital? Thatโ€™s a loaded question. But if the answer is based on more than sound quality, I think itโ€™s possible to make a case for vinylโ€™s superiority over digital without upsetting anyone. I should know โ€” Iโ€™m making the case for vinyl and I almost never listen to it.…

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  • Hitting the right (audio) balance

    The human voice is an amazing thing. I can think of no other instrument that moves our emotions and soul as powerfully. The examples are endless: Freddie Mercury, Beyoncรฉ, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Luciano Pavarotti, Ariana Grandeโ€ฆ Just take your pick. And itโ€™s not just singersโ€™ voices that we respond strongly to. How about the…

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  • Measurements can suck

    ย ย ย ย  As a youngster in the late sixties, I was keenly interested in music. Virtually every day, I came home from school, and after doing my homework, spent my afternoons hanging out at the familyโ€™s Philco stereo console spinning LPs. My familyโ€™s relatively meager collection of albums consisted mainly of Momโ€™s selection of easy listening…

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