We want more dac reviews and headphone amplifier reviews!

[shafesk]

Dear What Hi-fi,

With more and more people switching to digital music and head-fi systems. Wouldn't it be nice to review more dacs and headphone amplifiers? I was searching for headphone amp reviews on what hi-fi and the amount of reviews are fairly small. The little dot amps for example have made fairly big headlines in forums all over the internet, but no review here. I for one would love to read about your professional opinions and not have to search frantically all over the internet to find a trust worthy review on a forum.

 

[Andrew Everard]

We have been reviewing DACs for as long as any magazine, but the fact is they remain a relatively specialist interest sector these days, and there's a lot of pressure on the space available in the magazine. And I'm not too sure that '10 DACs tested in our Supertest' is going to sell as many copies as a major test of 3D TVs.

 

[Anonymous]

Shafek has a point if there are enough products like the Beresford Caimen or a combined Dac headphone amp comparison.

 

[SteveR750]

and media players too!

 

[shafesk]

Andrew Everard:We have been reviewing DACs for as long as any magazine, but the fact is they remain a relatively specialist interest sector these days, and there's a lot of pressure on the space available in the magazine. And I'm not too sure that '10 DACs tested in our Supertest' is going to sell as many copies as a major test of 3D TVs.

Well I don't mean a 10 dac supertest of course. I do understand that space is limited, but it would be nice to increase the amount of dacs and headphone amps reviewed only if by lets say 1 new dac every two months or so....you could also shorten the review and give it a quarter of a page if you feel that its not something that the majority is interested in. I just feel that theres a healthy head-fi community that is not being catered to. Oh Andrew, I would buy a WHF every month even if there's a cow supertest. I'm sure most forum members will. I live in Bangladesh for half of the year and spend the other half in England. You have no idea what I do to get a copy there!

 

[ID.]

Maybe it is more something to start a thread on than have included in the reviews, but it seems that lots of people are interested in a comparisons of DACs vs CDPs. I notice a lot of people who are contemplating either going to computer, etc. sources want to know whether xxx DAC will sound as good as my xxx CDP, and a number of people are also starting to look at getting an offboard DAC rather than upgrading their CDP so want to know, e.g. will the rDac sound better than my Arcam CD17? Is it as good as the CD37?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Well be assured we'll continue to review DACs as and when models of interest become available. Oh, and the same applies to headphone amplifiers.

 

[Blackdawn]

Yay result! who wants to read about TV's in a HiFi mag! anyone know what 3D TV is?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Though of course it was 10 years ago that we added the 'and Vision' to our name

 

[Alec]

Blackdawn:anyone know what 3D TV is?

Um...quite a few folk do, i think you'll find.

 

[mcjwalters]

What 3D tv is ? A complete white elephant, a waste of time and effort by all concerned.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

my vote is for more dacs - and anything audio with digital inputs.

 

[jaxwired]

Nobody give a #($*# about TVs. OMG, kill the TV section. I've been reading WHF for years and I've never read a single TV review. I adore WHF, but the TV reviews are soooooooooooooo boring. Snore fest. Rip it out. Is there really a difference? I mean, who cares???? And I'm holding back here...

 

[SteveR750]

jaxwired:
Nobody give a #($*# about TVs. OMG, kill the TV section. I've been reading WHF for years and I've never read a single TV review. I adore WHF, but the TV reviews are soooooooooooooo boring. Snore fest. Rip it out. Is there really a difference? I mean, who cares???? And I'm holding back here...

Nor me, but there is a reason why it is (probably) the best selling Hi Fi Mag.

 

[Andrew Everard]

SteveR750:Nor me, but there is a reason why it is (probably) the best selling Hi Fi Mag.

Agreed: don't think any of us here would want to be selling the kind of numbers the UK's 'pure hi-fi' titles struggle to maintain.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

... but shouldn't it be "WHiFiS and Vision" rather than "WVision instead of HiFi" or "WVision and a bit of HiFi" ???!!!

 

[Andrew Everard]

AlmaataKZ:... but shouldn't it be "WHiFiS and Vision" rather than "WVision instead of HiFi" or "WVision and a bit of HiFi" ???!!!

It is What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, and it still reviews more hi-fi products than most of the 'purist' titles out there. Oh, and a couple of titles solely about TVs and home cinema have vanished fairly recently, so we won't be going down that route any time soon.

 

[shafesk]

Recent What-Hifis have focused a lot more on av I think...3d tv...blueray the last 2 months....

 

[shafesk]

Blackdawn:Yay result! who wants to read about TV's in a HiFi mag! anyone know what 3D TV is?

Wow u mean you now have to wear those cool black glasses to watch tv in your own house? Yup, definitely the way forwards

 

[jamesrfisher]

It would be good to have a DAC review, a 2 or 4 page spread could surely be made available as this is a growing area and would love to see rDac, Musical Fidelity M1 and Rega plus maybe a few others in similar price point.

I am thinking of adding a DAC as currently the AE I am streaming through sounds a bit flat and wonder whether a DAC would help. Also curious as to whether these would enhance my CD73

 

[eggontoast]

I must admit I was wondering the same thing as the OP.

Headphones, portable audio, portable H/P amplifiers and music streaming are prevalent everywhere now but there are minimal reviews on stand alone headphone amps, portable headphone amps/DACS and decent headphones.

It was nice to see a review on the Fiio E7 last month but why did the review not cover the E9 as well, a complete package covering a portable H/P amp/DAC and a half decent computer based H/P station.

As the OP said where is the reviews for the Little Dot amplifiers, they have caused a sensation in the headphone world yet one of the biggest Hi-Fi magazines in the UK has seemingly passed them by.

The same is true for the headphone reviews. No one is interested in reviews on monster beats and the rest of their range of products after all this is supposed to be a Hi-Fi magazine, but I am sure they would be interested in the copious amounts of true Hi-Fi headphones on the market.

It was nice to see an article on music streaming this month but even then it was a bit Apple orientated. Having said that it does make me laugh that everyone has gone streaming mad yet back in 2001 when I bought a Turtlebeach Audiotron no one was interested. So much so that Turtlebeach discontinued it in 2004 due to lack of demand now everyone is selling a rehashed version at much greater prices.

 

[Clare Newsome]

This month's cover story is just the start of the increased coverage we promised. Matter of fact, i've just finished proof-reading a big round-up test of budget DACs that's due in next issue, alongside a test of over-ear headphones with phone-friendly mics/controls, plus a feature on living with Apple AirPlay and much more....

Also in the process of planning a major headphone special, of which more at a later date!

 

[BenLaw]

Sounds good Clare

Any plans for roundups (roundsup?) of midrange DACs (maybe £500-£1000) and higher end DACs (£1k +) or is the market too limited? I recall a DAC roundup some time ago covering the Bryston amonst others, but there's obviously lots of new products and a lot of DACs get mentioned on the forum that haven't been reviewed. Obviously I understand you need to be provided with review samples...

 

[eggontoast]

This month's cover story is just the start of the increased coverage we promised. Matter of fact, i've just finished proof-reading a big round-up test of budget DACs that's due in next issue, alongside a test of over-ear headphones with phone-friendly mics/controls, plus a feature on living with Apple AirPlay and much more....

Also in the process of planning a major headphone special, of which more at a later date!

Sounds interesting, I look forward to reading them......well everything apart from the Apple Airplay bit ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

re. "November 2011" DAC Review in magazine. I note you finally recognised the demand for a DAC review, well done. But you did not include either of the 2 Beresford DAC's in your trial. Why? They offer excellent value for money at a sub £200 price tag. I only discovered these products last year, thanks to help from Stone Audio. I use Caiman to drive my Grado S325i's perfectly.