Tuesday, August 26, 2025
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Dr. AIX's POSTSNEWSTECH TALK
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Power Cord Snake Oil…Again!

The June 14th 2025 email from The Absolute Sound featured a brief promo piece for a $34,000/ 6 foot power cord! The headline reads “2025 AC Power Cord of the Year: Crystal Cable 20th Anniversary Infinity.” OK, more of the same nonsense from a publication that lost its credibility a long time but it was the opening sentence that prompts me to write once again about the BS that gets peddled as truth in high end audio. Jonathan Valin, the author of the single paragraph extolling the virtues of the “best power cord (he has) auditioned this year” begins his piece with a statement so utterly ridiculous that I actually laughed out loud.

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FORMATSHD-AUDIOHighResAudioNEWSTECH TALK
Dr. AIX

Apple Lossless Audio is Death Knell for MQA

Apple Music issued a press release on May 17, 2021 announcing that the “next generation of sound” would arrive for subscribers in June — without any additional cost. Apple Music subscribers can listen to any track, anywhere, in CD fidelity for only $9.95 month. What Apple Music defines as the “next generation” of sound includes support for Spatial Audio in the form of Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio.

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Dr. AIX's POSTSHD-AUDIONEWSTECH TALK
Dr. AIX

MQA: Sonic Degradation and Huge Losses

I haven’t written about MQA for a while. But a couple of recent articles and some information from a reader make an update timely. I’ve ceased reading or posting comments on FB groups dedicated to MQA or with threads about the process because discussing the science behind it in the hopes of convincing audiophiles that it has no merit is about as successful as convincing a flat Earther (one of my former tenants believes the Earth is flat, so I have some experience in this area) that they live on a sphere.

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Dr. AIX's POSTSHD-AUDIONEWSTECH TALK
Dr. AIX

Happy New Year!

It has been a couple of months since my last post. I regret not writing sooner but I have been consumed with responsibilities at the university, studying like crazy for my oral exam and check ride (Private Pilot – Glider Certificate), and dealing with the successful outcome of my recent Kickstarter campaign. If you were not already aware, 375 backers pledged $16,271 to help bring A User Guide to Streaming, Downloads, and Personal Audio to life. I’ve been writing almost everyday and am confident that I can complete the project by the summer 2021 deadline. If you are interested in backing the project, I’m offering a 30% discount coupon (SDPA_NYS_2021) until March 1, 2021. Simply enter the code during check out.

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