Recent content by Bob Rapoport

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Thanks Todd, you're going to love this one. I was lucky enough to see their first US show in the early 80s, Pasadena Civic Auditorium in LA, I knew immediately they would get big, Hutchense had Mick Jagger charisma and the band was great. I should have included this song too, Suicide Blonde...

Concert: :5stars: Video: :4stars: Audio: :5stars: Final Score: :5stars: I'm excited to share details about the restored INXS performance at Wembley Stadium on July 13, 1991, a true highlight in their celebrated career. This release has been meticulously restored from the original 35mm film...

Essence For Hi Res Audio Monthly Newsletter for April 2025 Upgrade Your Vintage Systems to the best digital media with HDMI DACs by Essence; Amphion Argon1 from Finland; Acoustic Energy AE509 Video Review by Tarun, the British Audiophile; AVNIRVANA Forum; Live Concert tracks on Blu-ray by Joe...

The David Gilmour lead guitar break in Comfortably Numb is one of my favorite for generating a physical response, its so majestic.

Music can and does effect us physically and emotionally, read more to learn about this phenomena. Blog Post by Bob Rapoport

I agree with you Todd, residential customers rejected 8K TVs when they found out there would be no content for them. The confusion made consumers angry, wondering if they needed new HDMI v2.1 cables and sources. Dealers rejected v2.1 due to complaints from their customers about being hyped...

Lots of news this month announcing our Essence Forum page on AV NIRVANA, Alta Audio's New Patent, HDMI DACs for 4K Sources and TVs, and Amphion Argon1 Speakers. Essence March 2025 Newsletter

American speaker manufacturer Alta Audio has announced that it received U.S. patent No. 11,917,361 B2 for its XTL Transmission Line technology. “The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office confirmed what we knew all along. XTL is a unique design worthy of this important distinction,” says Michael...

Thanks Sonnie, this show came at the end of a long tour through Europe where they got a lot of practice playing together. Its not easy assembling a band this large with double drummers, double keyboards, and double lead guitarists with 4 back-up singers and having it all come off with ease...

Bryan Ferry Band: Live in Lyon - Blu-ray Review Concert: :5stars: Video: :4stars: Audio: :5stars: Final Score: :5stars: From his earliest recordings with Roxy Music at the beginning of the 1970s, Bryan Ferry has taken his place as one of the most iconic and innovative musicians and...

The quickest path to insight is to see what actual customers think in their own field applications. There are so many variations, its fun to read about what other audiophiles have for systems and how they apply the HDACC II-4K to their needs. I put together a small assortment of the...

After 20 years of evolving HDMI versions, its safe to say that the first thing to know is never be an early adopter of a new version of HDMI. v2.1 was followed by v2.1a and v2.1b, adopting v2.1 when it first appeared lead to early obsolescence. The same happened to v1.3, v1.4, and v2.0, all...

Glad to hear you're a hi res adopter. The improvement from 16 bit to 24 bit is audible even to non-audiophiles, the sound quality is richer, smoother, and fuller, all parameters you cant measure. I've not compared 24 bit to 32 bit yet because there's not much 32 bit content on the market. I...

Normally I would agree with you but this has nothing to do with human audibility. Increasing the dynamic range of all the content we hear so that it matches the original master recording is the goal I describe in this thread, the pursuit of high fidelity. Its clearly audible when you compare a...