I have been invited to do some scribbling on the subject of headphones and microphones. It happens that headphones were responsible for some of my key formative experiences as a rookie writer in the wonderful world of audio and high fidelity. The first was with an early open-back model, the brightly presented HD 414, which came like a bolt from the blue to what at the time was moribund market dominated by the dull sounding heavyweight sealed back designs from US based manufacturers like, well you know who. Read the rest of this entry »

Digital Audio Formats - Lossless Audio

For those of you who appreciate audio at a quality that comes close to matching the original performance, you would be forgiven for dismissing the storing and playback of music on a computer, media hard drive or portable music device.

So what might you be overlooking?

Well, there are two main types of digital audio formats, Lossy and Lossless. Although we are interested in the latter, we will take a brief look at the Lossy format history.

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Often, the thought of servicing an old or damaged pair of headphones may be cause of concern and trepidation! However, if you have purchased them from a reliable and long established manufacturer, chances are there is no need to worry. Most good quality headphones will be modular (with the exception of some of the budget, portable models) and will be easy to repair at home. Cables, speakers, earpads and headbands can often be fitted by the end user.

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Imagine it is the hottest day of the year…”sweltering” may provide a better visual. You have just watched an amazing concert and need to cool down. You and your friends commute to the local ice cream shop to find the store loaded with customers as far as the eye can see. The scent of fresh cones fills your nostrils. Thankfully, the line is moving fast, however, you need to quickly choose a flavor. The pressure is officially on as you look at the 63 different varieties. How do you choose?
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We had the first British showing of the new HD 800 headphones at the Bristol Sound & Vision show in February.
 
The headphones were connected to a Grace M902B headphone amplifier which was fed from a Nagra CD player, one of the best setups on the market.
 

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