Show Report: Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) 2017

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) took place once again in Denver, CO, from October 6–8, 2017. This was the perfect event to hear the trends and experience new products. This year, the Denver Marriott Tech Center had completed the renovations that affected last year's RMAF edition, and it seems that everyone was happier with the show, from exhibitors to visitors. Oliver Masciarotte explains what impressed him at the show in this full report, which audioXpress included in its January 2017 edition.

In this report for audioXPress, Oliver A. Masciarotte’s provides his personal perspective as he explores the most interesting new products at The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) 2016. In his Show Report from Denver, CO, Masciarotte finds headphones and earbuds, wired and wireless solutions, new digital players, DACs, amplifiers, speakers and much more. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2017, and is now available online.

In this article, part of audioXpress’ “Acoustics in Focus” August 2016 edition, Oliver Masciarotte explores one of the newest companies in the acoustical treatment domain, already making a splash in the global market. Artnovion, was founded in 2015 by acoustical engineer and visionary entrepreneur, Jorge Castro, just one of the three ventures he founded in Paços de Ferreira, the furniture capital of Portugal. This article was originally published in audioXpress, August 2016.

In this show report for audioXpress, Oliver Masciarotte highlights some of new and notable products, from headphones and DACs to amplifiers and (some) speakers that caught his attention. “Held April 15–17, AXPONA 2016 was hopping, with attendance up 16% this year. The count settled at 5,934 attendees through the doors to see 400 exhibitors in Rosemont’s Westin O’Hare,” he starts. Read the full report now available online.

Here is the full show report from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2015, which Oliver Masciarotte found to be less crowded, different, upbeat, and certainly younger. He returned so impressed with what he saw and heard that it took him 9 pages just to compile the highlights and impressions! Full article now available online.

Working in conjunction with the cross–platform PonoMusic World application, PonoRevealer enables real–time playback comparison of lossy and lossless versions transcoded from the same HRA parent. As I’ve said before; if you can’t hear a difference, it only means you are not able to hear a difference, your ancillary playback gear is subpar, or you’re refusing to admit that which you cannot explain.

It being my seventh trip to Denver’s mile-high Tech Center district, I thought I knew what to expect. An audio engineer friend and I decided to drive to Colorado from Minneapolis. The weather was unseasonably warm and the traffic sparse, enabling us to ignore the piloting and discuss the technology that would be unveiled during the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest’s 11th iteration.

As the owner of a standard yellow PonoPlayer, I was catching up on comments over at PonoMusic, and one in particular caught my attention, a note from Allen Farmelo at Farmelo Recording linking to a Tape Op blog entry. Farmelo’s dispatch, The Problem With A-B'ing And Why Neil Young Is Right About Sound Quality, makes several valid points, one of which is that A–B tests are not necessarily that meaningful…

The December 2014 edition of audioXpress featured a review of the Universal Audio Apollo Twin Thunderbolt-based audio interface. Oliver Masciarotte details how Universal Audio approached this design, leveraging the benefits of Thunderbolt technology and its own hardware-accelerated UAD Powered Plug-In architecture to implement a complete recording solution. Read the Complete Review.