You will find us in the WLM (Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur) room, Atrium 1.4, Room E103 (1st floor)
Location:
| MOC München Lilienthalallee 40 80939 München | ||||
Date: | 15. – 18. May 2025 | ||||
Opening Hours: |
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You will find us in the WLM (Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur) room, Atrium 1.4, Room E103 (1st floor)
Location:
| MOC München Lilienthalallee 40 80939 München | ||||
Date: | 15. – 18. May 2025 | ||||
Opening Hours: |
|
HEAR THE BEST AUDIOPHILE RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME ON SOME OF THE BEST HIFI-EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
This year – together with the Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur (WLM) – we have come up with something very special for the HighEnd: we will present our equipment with the “Best audiophile recordings of all time”.
You will find us in the WLM room, Atrium 1.4, Room E103 (1st floor)
Location:
| MOC München Lilienthalallee 40 80939 München | ||||
Date: | 9. – 12. May 2024 | ||||
Opening Hours: |
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Lists of the best recordings are mainly published by the established American and British hi-fi magazines. This results in a certain preference for American or British labels. By its very nature, it takes several years, if not decades, for an album to make it onto such a list, so most albums on such a list tend to be older. Also, within the four walls of one’s living room, certain genres of music sound better than others. And so it happens that in the end classical, folk and jazz music from the 60s to the 90s are the most represented in these lists.
In addition, the recordings in a representative list should also be musically interesting and not just inconsequential (like so many albums recorded specifically for audiophiles), and they should also be widely available. Leading publications such as Absolute Sound, Stereophile, What-HiFi or High-end Audio publish lists of the best recordings of all time from time to time. From these lists we have compiled the list of the “Best Recordings of All Time”. They are – according to general consensus – the best recordings there are.
The editorial staff of the HighFidelity Magazine voted our Model 3 “Product of the Year 2023”: High Fidelity Best Product 2023
Quote: “The Model 3 HD player from Digital Audio Systems is a beautifully built device. Beautiful also in the sense that it is honest. Everything about it is sophisticated and well thought out. This also applies to the sound. This realises the intention of the designer, who did not try to make it as neutral as possible, but to make the recordings sound as natural and lifelike as possible, even physically.”
WOJCIECH PACUŁA from HighFidelity Magazine reviewed the MKII of our Model 3, in issue 235, November 2023:
Quotes (translated from Polish):
“The goal [of the designer] was to convey the atmosphere and vivid realism of high-end analogue equipment in the digital domain and to combine this with the convenience of digital files management.”
“The appearance of the Model 3 is phenomenal and it was because of it that I longed to listen to the device, even before I had read about it and appreciated the philosophy behind it. Let me say this: if Nagra or Studer or Revox made top-of-the-line file players for home use, they would probably look like the Model 3. The mechanics of the tested player are stunning.”
“The Austrian player showed instruments and space in a different way than my SACD player, and it was closer to … a high-end turntable to me. The Model 3 densifies events and brings them closer to us. It is an excellent reproduction.”
“It is a device that introduces us into its world. It constructs a deep soundstage in front of us with its own “air”. These are not instruments thrown into our space, but into its own dimension.”
Summary: “The HD-PLAYER MODEL 3 from Digital Audio Systems is a beautifully built device. Beautiful also in the sense that it is honest. Everything about it is refined and well thought out. Similarly, in its sound: the recordings sound as natural, even as ‘physical’, as possible. … Instruments and vocals have high energy and clear physical masses. This is an exceptional device that you can listen to for hours without fatigue, searching for new recordings and albums.”
The link to the review is here (in Polish).
Last weekend saw the first HiFi trade show in Vienna for 4 years. The HighEnd Society assumed the organisation and produced a veritable success: More than 4,000 visitors came to see 66 exhibitors with 280 brands exhibiting on 3,000 square metres in the Austria Center. They experienced excellent sound with the latest audio technologies. The world capital of music has thus been enriched by another highlight for music lovers.
Digital Audio Systems exhibited in 2 rooms:
In room 0.31, Brodmann Acoustics presented its latest products together with Digital Audio Systems:
Brodmann designs its loudspeakers from the company’s piano-making history as living room-friendly sound sculptures. This is reflected in the immaculate piano lacquer finishes as well as in their warm and natural sound. The DAS power amplifiers had the Brodmann loudspeakers under tight control and made their sound blossom in the most beautiful way. The analogue naturalness and stupendous spatiality of the DAS Model 3 were transposed wonderfully into the room by the Brodmann loudspeakers.
A video impression of the room is here:
Source: MY-HIEND
Photos are here:
Digitale Audio Systems and Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur presented their latest products in room -2.97:
Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur designs its solid wood speakers with a focus on musicality, speed, precision and power handling. With the extremely fast converters without digital filters of the DAS Model 2, the WLM loudspeakers were able to display the full range of their qualities in abundance: from the most delicate dabs of sound of the string pizzicati in a Mozart divertimento through to the bludgeoning drum attacks in the abysmal frequency cellar of a Tool album at live volume.
A video impression of room -2.97 is here:
Source: MY-HIEND
Photos are here:
We are certainly looking forwards to the next Finest Audio Show, Vienna in 2024!
This year we have come up with something very special for the HighEnd: we will present our equipment with the “Best audiophile recordings of all time”.
You will find us at the HighEnd in Atrium 1.4, Room E103 (1st floor).
“The best recordings of all time” is, of course, not a clearly defined list. There are thousands of excellent recordings from 68 years of stereophony. Audiophiles – even the acknowledged specialists – cannot even half agree on any particular selection. The subjective influencing factors are too great.
Lists of the best recordings are mainly published by the established American and British hi-fi magazines. This results in a certain preference for American or British labels. By its very nature, it takes several years, if not decades, for an album to make it onto such a list, so most albums on such a list tend to be older. Also, within the four walls of one’s living room, certain genres of music sound better than others. And so it happens that in the end classical, folk and jazz music from the 60s to the 90s are the most represented in these lists.
In addition, the recordings in a representative list should also be musically interesting and not just inconsequential (like so many albums recorded specifically for audiophiles), and they should also be widely available. Leading publications such as Absolute Sound, Stereophile, What-HiFi or High-end Audio publish lists of the best recordings of all time from time to time. From these lists we have compiled our list of the “Best Recordings of All Time – The Canon”. They are – according to general consensus – the best recordings there are.
Apart from the recordings published in the lists of the best recordings of the leading audiophile magazines, there are thousands of excellent recordings. We have compiled a further list, encompassing all those excellent recordings that are not in the official lists: the “Best Recordings of All Time – The Apocrypha” as an alternative list and present it at the HighEnd alternating with the canon.
Those interested in the list of the best recordings of all times (Canon & Apocrypha) can download them here:
The Best Audiophile Recordings of all Time – I. The Canon
The Best Audiophile Recordings of all Time – II. The Apocrypha
On July 14, Mike Esposito, a record dealer form Phoenix, Arizona made public, via his Youtube channel, that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), a mainstay of the analogue audiophile world, has been deceiving its customers for years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtJRis-Ba1Q) … and no one noticed. According to Esposito MoFi has been sourcing many of its most coveted vinyl reissues since at least Sanatana’s Abraxas in 2008 from digital sources (quad DSD files) obtained mainly from Sony/BMG rights holders rather than from the original analogue master tapes. In the passionate world of audiophiles this news exploded like an atom bomb. Even the venerable Washington Post wrote an article about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal/
As collateral damage there are a number of famous professional audiophile reviewers (I will not mention names) who have claimed for years if not decades to dislike what they call “digital sound” and that they can always tell the difference. These same reviewers raved about the high quality of the One-Step issues from MoFi for as long as they believed these records were produced triple A. So the revelation that these One-Steps are in fact sourced from digital files embarrasses them to the bone.
It is also most likely that the recent events at MoFi will shake the confidence in the marketing claims and production processes of other vinyl companies and force greater transparency about the provenance of music material.
One part of the scandal is MoFi’s deceptive market communications, which I think is condemnable in and of itself as well as a way to justify inflated prices, but I do not want to go into this. The other part touches on the relationship of analogue vs. digital technologies as a means of faithfully storing and manipulating sound information. The MoFi scandal puts into stark focus some questions that have been lurking in the background for a long time: What really are the qualitative differences, if any, between analogue and digital? And how noticeable are they? And is that passionately drawn borderline between the two technical alternatives really justified nowadays?
One thing seems clear: If some of the best experts in the industry globally – along with all the rest of the consumer world – did not notice any disadvantage in the sound quality of audiophile vinyl LPs produced from digital masters for more than 14 years, but on the contrary time- and-again lauded their analogue sound qualities, than one may conclude, that – properly done – the technology employed is simply not noticeable. Or in other words – if properly done – there are no sonic advantages of analogue music production over digital.
This should be a clear indication for even the diehard analogue disciples to rethink their prejudices and ask themselves whether they want to continue to exclude themselves from some of the best sounding music material for no good reason.
Hear for yourself how beautiful and analogue digital music can sound, if done properly: https://www.hifistatement.net/tests/item/2310-digitale-audio-systeme-hd-player-model-2
After 3 years of CORONA break, we finally can present ourselves to you again. Come, see and hear our much acclaimed digital players at the High End in Munich (19-22 May 2022)! We are exhibiting our Digital Players with the excellent gear of our partners Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur (WLM) and WayCables.
You will find us in the Atrium room A 4.1 E103 (1st floor).
Location:
| MOC München Lilienthalallee 40 80939 München | ||||
Date: | 19. – 22. May 2022 | ||||
Opening Hours: |
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Reel-to-reel is the gold standard of analogue sound reproduction. Until the mid to late 1980ies all recordings were done on analogue tape. From the mid 80ies the industry switched to digital recording technology first on video tape, later on hard drives.
We love analogue sound and wanted to get a better understanding of the differences between analogue and digital sound reproduction – not from a technical perspective, but to get more details on “what are the sonic differences?”. To this end, we compared the same 1st generation master tape copies on a DAS HD-Player Model 2 and a newly refurbished Revox PR99 MKII.
Not surprisingly, there were clear differences:
To sum up: The differences were small and along the lines of the expected. In general, the presentation with digital files sounded lighter, airier, also cleaner and at the same time more detailed and complex. The presentation with the tapes sounded a bit heavier and coarser and at the same time simpler. Both had serene open space. The differences were not of the kind “better” or “worse”, but rather differences in taste. So depending on the types of music, those characteristics made sometimes the digital files and sometimes the tapes appear preferable.
With the introduction of stereophonic sound recording in the mid 1950s, RCA Victor produced milestones of recording history with its „Living Stereo“ label. Artists such as Jascha Heifetz, Arthur Rubinstein, Emil Gilels, Gregor Piatigorsky, Fritz Reiner, Charles Münch, Erich Leinsdorf, but also Henry Mancini, Harry Belafonte and Elvis Presley recorded their first stereo records with RCA Victor.
RCA engineers and producers – quality obsessed as they were – have given everything to prove what is possible with the new multi channel recording technology. They have produced exemplary recordings, which have set standards for high end music reproduction to this day.
In 2005 RCA Victor started to produce and publish high resolution copies of their original master tapes. We show you how these milestones in recording history fare in today’s digital music world.
Topics:
… of course, with lots of audio samples.
When: Friday September 18, 2020, 18:00h
Where: Digitale Audio Systeme, Haus der Musik, Seilerstätte 30 / Ecke Annagasse, 1010 Vienna
Hosts: