An expanded Burning Amp Festival 2021 returns after a year of Covid lockdown, October 16th and 17th at Fort Mason Center on the bay in San Francisco. This will be the 13th Burning Amp, which has since 2007 provided a forum for Do-It-Yourselfers and audio hobbyists to meet, learn, and show off their projects. It is a two-day event. Saturday will feature seminars by Bob Cordell and Demian Martin. Bob Cordell is an engineer and author of "Designing Audio Power Amplifiers". Demian Martin is an audio product designer and holds numerous patents. Saturday will also be a Build Camp (see photo below from 2019's Burning Amp) of a new amplifier design by Nelson Pass featuring unique devices and a super simple circuit.

Let us take a look back to the EnjoyTheMusic.com archives. In October of 2006 our friend and colleague Phil Gold evaluated a three-piece GamuT audio system. That Danish system was comprised of the CD3 compact disc player, the Di150integrated amplifier and a pair of L5 speakers. Now more than eight years have passed and we can now listen to an evolutionary new GamuT Limited Edition version of their Di150 integrated amplifier. At first glance, both old and new versions of the GamuT Di150 integrated amplifiers look the same. All of the advances are on the inside incorporating a revised circuit design and higher quality internal components. This is how the GamuT company answered my preliminary questions. "Concerning the Limited Edition model, we have improved and refined the output stage for a cleaner sound with even lower distortion. We are offering this Limited Edition for the same price as the regular Di150, $11,990."

McIntosh Labs and Convicts have teamed up to launch Voice Of Sound, a short film that celebrates the history of sound and music that is voiced by the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir. McIntosh is elated to partner with purpose-driven creative studio Convicts for the project, both celebrating music culture to lift our spirits up. According to McIntosh Labs, "Music brings us back to the most impactful moments of our lives, shaping our identity and allowing us to look forward to shape new ones." The film is narrated by the Voice of Sound (Weir) and explores the genesis of sound and its role throughout history. They are excited to share this film to showcase its legacy and journey in a way that resonates with and connects people, helping guide them to find their own sound.

Phono cartridges occupy a reverent place in an audiophile's arsenal. The Kiseki Purple Heart NS (new style) moving coil phono cartridge reviewed here is a good example. Their significance, however, is often under-appreciated by neophytes who don't understand that cartridges have a shorter lifespan than other components. The manufacturers are not to blame; after a few years, even the most robust stylus wears out or the cantilever breaks. The uninitiated – or the financially strapped – will frequently opt to replace those elements (re-tipping), but the DNA of a true audiophile relentlessly demands upgrading to a better phono cartridge. Luckily, a large majority of manufacturers are willing to credit the purchase price of an older cartridge towards a new one higher up in their line. That brings us to the subject of this review, the Kiseki Purple Heart NS moving coil phono cartridge. In November 2014 I reviewed the excellent Kiseki Blue NS, priced about a thousand dollars less than the Purple Heart. Those who read the review know that Kiseki cartridges are manufactured by Herman van den Dungen....

With some manufacturers and service providers getting involved in proprietary plug-in add-ons and lossy file types, Verizon's Motorola one 5G UW ace will be the first phone to include their new mobile audio solution. Verizon Adaptive Sound is claimed to produce brilliant spatial surround experience regardless of what headphone, soundbar, or in-ear monitor you use. This also works with whatever application you're watching or listening to, including Dolby Atmos-enabled content. To experience Verizon Adaptive Sound, simply use your favorite applications to play your music, video or game and it will automatically optimize the content for your listening device. You can also manually control different settings like treble, bass, spatial, voice, etc. Verizon Adaptive Sound will be made available on a broader portfolio of new devices in the future, as well as some existing devices via an over-the-air software update.

Registration is now open for AES' special Audio Education Conference that will be live streamed online. From July 22nd through 24th the AES will welcome everyone to their conference as they feature many excellent educational seminars. A few, of the many, highlights include:

Back to the Future: Reintroducing Analog and Vinyl Audio

Keynote Address By Mark Ethier CEO of iZotope

Teaching Acoustics to Audio Students: A Middle Path

Genelec Workshop: Building your immersive room.

Female Audio Educators: Why All Audio Students Need Them

Who are we teaching? The changing profile of students learning audio production skills.

And many, many more.

"This is a very well-balanced speaker across the frequency range. It presents a lovely neutral and pure rendition of all sorts of music. No matter which kind of music you enjoy you will find it well behaved whether it is being hammered with demanding music or playing delicate and refined music. It is a true high-end speaker in a small, and attractive, package. It is not cheap but certainly inexpensive and I have no reservation in recommending it. Just don't drop it on your toes."
-- Robert Jorgensen of EnjoyTheMusic.com

I had the pleasure of hosting two of what I consider two of the giants of the industry, Bill Parrish of GTT Audio & Video and Joe Kubala of Kubala-Sosna Research. GTT Audio has been in business since 1995 and has established itself as one of the top retailers/distributors of high-end audio equipment in the US. GTT is currently the distributor and flagship retailer for Audionet, Kronos Audio, and Mola Mola. In addition, they are a premier dealer for YG Acoustics and Kubala Sosna. Of course, these companies represent just a fraction of the products they carry, and Bill brings 43 years of experience in the audio/music business to share with his clients.

SonicKey seeks to enables all audio within the world to be identifiable, referenceable, and yes trackable. Claimed to be inaudible, their watermarking technology is said to easily integrated in to both software and hardware. They also claim to be the first completely inaudible music identification technology. "SonicData's patented technology is an algorithm that adapts to any sound, identifying and understanding its frequency and harmony," says the company. "This means that the SonicKey becomes part of the underlying sound of any music or content in which it is encoded. SonicKey is inaudible watermarking. It is fast and performant and through SonicData's cloud based solutions can encode millions of songs in just a few hours. Any music and sound is now uniquely identifiable with 100 percent accuracy to any version, stream, edit, cut, language, performance or distributed copy."

From October 29th through 31st, AXPONA 2021 will take place at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center within Schaumburg, IL. Whether your passion is analog, streaming, headphones, speakers, the music or all of the above, AXPONA is where you will discover the latest gear from the brands you love to create your ultimate listening experience. Plus you can connect with fellow enthusiasts, designers, and industry experts. You can save 15% on current pricing for one, two, or three day tickets with code INSIDER21. The special rate expires on July 31. Please note that this offer is only valid for 1, 2, and 3 day passes. Gold, Industry and Student passes do not qualify for the discount. Also note that at AXPONA all sales are final.