PS Audio, out of Boulder, CO, has been a major player in high end audio for decades. Their power distribution/conditioning units and digital source components have been go to products for droves of audiophiles who value high value and high performance. The lists of PS Audio’s innovations and market firsts are extensive and highly impressive. Their power cords have also been a mainstay in a highly competitive market. I personally use several throughout my systems, on everything from CD players to HDTV’s, with great results. PS Audio is known as a company constantly striving to push the envelope, bringing cutting edge products to the market based on sound engineering and at very sane price points. The Digital Link series of DAC models were a huge success for the company, which leapt ahead of many other manufacturers with the introduction of ...

The Canadian company Bryston is one of the mainstays of pro and high end audio. I have previously reviewed their entry level power amp and preamp combo and their excellent BCD-1 CD player. Bryston gear is known as being exceptionally well built, clean sounding, and reliable. The company, with the BCD-1, made their first foray into digital, and several years ago, introduced the much raved about BDA-1 DAC. I have been itching to get a review sample fo the BDA-1 for some time now. Micah Sheveloff, Bryston’s long time PR rep was kind enough to send one my way. The timing was perfect, as I had several digital sources on hand to evaluate, and I just ordered several brand new digital cables. Recently I have done several “budget” DAC reviews, that is, those costing less than $1000. I found both ...

My off-an-on trek through the world of Scandinavian audio components brought me most recently to Aalborg, Denmark, and Danish Audio Design. The company, led by music lover and designer Ole Nielsen, is a bit unusual in that it focuses primarily on producing Digital-to-Analog converters. As more music lovers discover the benefits of pairing a digital player with an external DAC – improved sound quality, most importantly – the market for Digital-to-Analog converters has certainly broadened and expanded. Danish Audio offers three DACs: the entry-level DAC 05, bigger brother DAC 10 and flagship model, the DAC 20. Nielsen sent the DAC 05 and DAC 10 for audition. The DAC 05 retails for approximately $1,715, while the DAC 10 sells for around $3,180. DesignThe DAC 05 and DAC 10 (along with the DAC 20) are handmade and built according to Nielsen’s blueprints using ...

Arcam has been one of Britain’s leading high end audio companies since the mid 70’s. They became known for great sound and super reliable amplifiers but soon branched out to make components for every application. They also became known as cutting edge designers of digital gear, with their CD, and later DVD players consistently being rated at the top of their product categories. Arcam AV receivers are considered state of the art, and one has long been on my shopping list. The one product category that Arcam has not been involved with for some time is Digital Audio Converters. Now that has changed with the introduction of the rDAC. If timing is everything, then Arcam has nailed it, as there could not have been a better time to introduce a $479, three input, well built and attractive converter. With the ...

About a month ago I set out to record one of my favorite bands, The Clientele, from the soundboard, during a local club gig.  I brought my Sharp Minidisc recorderand had the sound man give me a line out, and I was ready to go. Or so I thought. To my horror, when I got home, I found out the minidisc had failed and the audio was fragmented and distorted. I decided I was done with optical recording media. I then set out to find the best cost effective solution for recording live events and archiving old analog recordings from cassettes and reel to reel tapes. There are a number of solutions out there, from pricey, pro level broadcast quality gear, to hand held, lightweight gadgets that use flash memory or small internal hard drives.The history of home base recording ...