All things considered, you could be forgiven for thinking that collecting records in the 21st century was a foolish pursuit; after all, aren’t they inferior to modern digital formats such as high-fidelity digital streaming or even old-fashioned CDs? The vinyl medium certainly has its short-comings, including potential scratches, pops & clicks, distortion from mistracking, inner groove distortion, the need to … Read More
Music Fidelity Announce New Range of Balanced Power Conditioners
The popular Hi-Fi manufacturer, Musical Fidelity has announced a new series of balanced power conditioners. The new models (BPC3, BPC5, BPC10, and BPC16) aim to cater to a wide range of digital and analogue source devices, from low-powered amplifiers to small and large Hi-Fi systems, home theatre, and much larger stereo amps/receivers. Musical Fidelity is quick to emphasize the importance … Read More
Rega Announces Nd5 Moving Magnet Cartridge
Earlier this week, British turntable and Hi-Fi manufacturer, Rega introduced the Nd5 moving magnet cartridge. This is the second model in the company’s innovative new Nd range of handmade moving magnet cartridges. Named after the rare earth element Nd (Neodymium), the all new Nd5 cartridge is the first moving magnet to utilise a Neodymium N55 magnet. According to Rega, this is the world’s most powerful commercially available … Read More
Fluance RT85N Review – Reference Series Turntable with Nagaoka Cartridge
The RT85 sits at the top of Fluance’s Referrence Series of turntables, which starts with the RT82 model and offers incremental upgrades at each step. Originally, the RT85 shipped only with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge—a superb cartridge at its price point and one I’ve used for many years. That said, the Ortofon range of cartridges have a distinct sound … Read More
Best Vinyl Record Inner Sleeves
To safely store your vinyl records, you need good-quality inner sleeves. We’re all familiar with the standard-issue paper sleeves supplied with most new record releases, but are these really up to the job? Basic paper sleeves might be cheap to produce, but they’re not up to the job if you want your records to last a lifetime and beyond. Paper … Read More
Recording Vinyl Records Into Your Computer: Step by Step (with Video)
Vinyl ripping 101 – Digitize vinyl the easy way: In a world increasingly dominated by the convenience and portability of streaming services, some collectors may question the value of digitizing or recording vinyl records. There are still plenty of good reasons to capture the sound of vinyl and turn them into convenient digital files that you can take with you … Read More
Converting Vinyl to Digital Files with Vinyl Studio
In this tutorial, you will learn how to convert your vinyl records to digital files using a software package called Vinyl Studio. Vinyl Studio is an all-in-one package that allows you to record your vinyl records, import individual track information, split your recording into individual tracks, and then save them as individual files as a complete album. Vinyl Studio also … Read More
Austrian Audio Announces Availability of the Full Score One Headphone Amplifier
Best known for their award-winning headphones and microphones, Austrian Audio is breaking into the headphone amplifier market with the new Full Score One. Announced alongside The Composer headphones model later last year, The Full Score one is now available across the UK and EU markets. Said to be the perfect companion to Austrian Audio’s The Composer reference headphones, the Full … Read More
Classic Albums: Fleetwood Mac (1975)
The release of Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album in 1975 saw the band move distinctly away from their British blues roots. The arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham symbolized more than a change in personnel; it heralded the birth of a sound that would become iconic. (Huge thanks to VMP for supplying the reissue copy of this record). Founded in … Read More
MC Pro Review: Quietest Phono Preamp Available?
The MC Pro phono preamp by Michael Fidler (Classic Audio Ltd) promises a whisper-quiet signal-to-noise ratio, alongside hyper-accurate RIAA performance. Having been suitably impressed with Michael’s Spartan 15 moving magnet phono stage, can his first venture into the delicate world of moving coil amplification knock it out of the park once again? As is the case with all Michael Fidler … Read More