And so the old vinyl had its revenge: according to the data of the Italian Music Industry Federation (Fimi), in the first part of 2021 it grew by 121 percent, surpassing the CD which is now in constant decline. It is now worth more than a tenth of the market, even if the real winner is streaming, which occupies 80 percent of it.
Strange as it may seem, LPs and high-resolution music files have something in common. We are not talking about Spotify, which has not yet arrived at true hd audio (it should do so by the end of the year), but about those Master Quality Authenticated (Mqa) that are found on services like Tidal or Qobuz Hi-Res Audio files. Well, being able to listen to them at their best is an alchemical undertaking, which involves venturing into the small, crazy niche called high fidelity. Just like they did and still do today, with LPs. It is not just a turntable on one side, or a digital to analog converter (dac) on the other, but the whole chain, made up of delicate balances with amplification and speakers.
We will talk about it maybe in one of the next episodes, in the meantime let’s stop at the dacs. Their job is to take the digital data from a file and transform it into an analog signal, ready to be amplified. On paper it doesn’t seem like much and instead the sound changes radically according to the dac you use, as long as you have a high level amplification and speakers. We recently tried one that struck us: the Young Mk IV of the Pisan M2Tech, founded by Marco Manunta, which is so popular with musicians like Paolo Fresu and sound engineers of the caliber of George Massenburg who has a Grammy to his credit and today teaches at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Compared to the previous version, the Young Mk IV has among other things a new conversion chip from Asahi Kasei of a much higher level compared to the Texas Instrument used on the MK III. Once connected to the smartphone, better still to the PC using the USB, it brings out previously inaudible details, with surprising dynamics and scene. Remarkable. Too bad the price has also increased, it has gone from 1300 to 2400 euros, sport practiced with nonchalance in the world of hi-fi. At least, however, in this case the leap forward is clear, unlike other devices of even well-known brands where the quality has even dropped over time while prices skyrocketed.
If you are looking for something cheaper, there is the Mojo by the British Chord, as long as you can digest the design of the 80s. It’s not as good, though, and in any case it costs over 400 euros. Which, however, in the crazy hi-fi industry, is considered small change.
On the Friday of 14 May 2021
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