Australian HiFi Issue 541 - 2025

It’s a sign of the times: Harman International has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Masimo’s consumer audio division by the end of the year. The agreed $350m cash sale will see the Samsung Electronics-owned company take in legendary hi-fi brands Bowers & Wilkins, Denon and Marantz, as well as Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Classé, HEOS and Boston Acoustics, massively expanding its significant AV catalogue, which already includes brands such as Arcam, AKG, JBL, Mark Levinson and Revel. Samsung says it plans to add Masimo’s brands to strengthen its global leading position in the consumer audio market, which is expected to grow from $60.8bn this year to $70bn by 2029. “This acquisition represents a strategic step forward in the expansion of Harman’s core audio business and footprint across key product…

Beyerdynamic’s DT 770 Pro X Limited Edition over-ears are now official members of the German brand’s wired headphones family. Originally released last year as part of Beyerdynamic’s 100-year anniversary celebrations, the DT 770 Pro X Limited Edition were, as their name implies, only available in restricted numbers. The model has now shed its ‘Limited Edition’ suffix and become a fully fledged member of the Beyerdynamic lineup due to, the brand says, “high demand”. “We were blown away by the reception to the DT 770 PRO X Limited Edition," says the company’s CEO, Andreas Rapp. "It was clear from the start that this headphone had staying power. By officially adding it to our product lineup, we are meeting the needs of a new generation of studio professionals who demand both pristine…

The original Audiolab M-DAC, which launched back in 2011, remains fondly remembered by me and my colleagues, having been a staple on our office desks for years, passed around the team to whoever ’needed’ it most that day. The M-DAC+ that followed in 2016 also shared its predecessor’s success. Now, Audiolab has launched two new models that are direct descendants of the original M-DAC: meet the D7 and D9. The next generation of Audiolab’s standalone DACs build upon the same blueprint as the M-DAC, but have been honed over several years and iterations of technical development. The Audiolab D7 is the cheaper (and smaller) of the two models, at $1,100, and combines a DAC, preamplifier and headphone amplifier. It is built around the ES9038Q2M — the same 32-bit Sabre DAC…

Don’t be confused by the name: dCS’s Lina DAC X is a fully fledged music streamer. The British brand’s new $24,000 release arrives to round out its established Lina line, expanding on the versatility offered by the existing Lina DAC (also a music streamer, priced $22,000) by packaging more flexible features inside a revamped, full-width design. The Lina DAC X is built on the same technological foundation as the original half-width model but adds a rotary volume control, a new remote control and the option to connect CD/SACD transports. Like its stablemate, the Lina DAC X is capable of handling PCM files up to 24-bit/384kHz alongside DSD128. Sonically, dCS promises "exceptional clarity and detail retrieval" from its latest streamer, teasing "a natural and deeply musical sound" aided by its acclaimed…

While the lossless streaming of hi-res stereo music has been an accessible reality for some years now, thanks to services such as Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music pushing the quality at competitive prices, the same hasn’t been possible for multi-channel audio. Some existing services support ‘three-dimensional’ listening experiences via their support of the Dolby Atmos format and spatial audio technology, of course, but such music is delivered compressed and lossily — it isn’t lossless; not even close. Pure Audio Streaming is an upcoming streaming service looking to change that, promising to deliver ‘lossless, uncompressed and uncompromised immersive audio to both mobile devices and home theatre systems’. It will offer two subscriptions — a ‘Stereo’ plan offering hi-res stereo (up to 192kHz PCM) and binaural audio (PCM 48kHz via Auro technology),…

There aren’t many hi-fi brands in the world that can celebrate 100 years in the business, but Japanese brand Luxman can now join the likes of Bang & Olufsen, Philips and (next year) Tannoy in achieving this milestone. It is kicking off the party by launching two new hi-fi products and a special edition package. First up is the P-100 Centennial ($17,999), the brand’s "finest-ever" headphone amplifier. It boasts fully balanced circuitry with four discrete amplifiers that can drive a variety of headphones, and is largely based on an evolved version of Luxman’s long-running ODNF (Only Distortion Negative Feedback) amplifier technology, called LIFES. It features a completely reimagined circuit design and new high-quality components — Luxman claims this allows for a higher signal-to-noise ratio and the distortion at the output…