Audiophile Style

OraStream Interview

An interview with Frankie Tan and Kelvin Lee of OraStream. Based in Singapore, OraStream offers both behind the scenes technology and services to music streaming companies such as the Neil Young Archives, Naxos, and Primephonic, and it offers a direct to consumer application and service called Brio. If there is one technology that should be embraced by all the music streaming services, it’s Orastream’s MPEG-4 SLS offering. It’s a solution to real problems, that requires no special hardware or decoder, and leaves the audio signal 100% unaffected for those streaming with a good network connection. As you’ll hear, The OraStream Service is an end-to-end audio delivery platform. It works with full resolution audio recordings to deliver the highest quality of streaming audio on web, desktop, and mobile music players. The Audio adapts automatically to network bandwidth fluctuations for uninterrupted playback on cellular Wi-Fi, or wired networks. When bandwidth allows, music plays at full bit-perfect resolution. When bandwidth degrades, music plays at less than full resolution audio quality. The process of network-based, audio quality adaptability is dynamic and transparent to the music listener. Both Frankie and Kelvin have a wealth of education and experience, and knowledge about streaming audio and the technologies surrounding it. Listeners on the geekier side will enjoy their technical descriptions of how OraStream works, but those a bit less tech savvy will equally appreciate how they explain the clear benefits to consumers. For example, it’s fascinating to hear Frankie describe how Amazon Music HD works  by slipping lower resolution audio into the middle of a high resolution track, and this being the reason Amazon can’t offer exclusive mode in its applications.

RAAL-requisite Interview

I talk to Danny McKinney and Aleksander Radisavljevic of RAAL-requisite. Based in both the US and Serbia, RAAL-requisite is a partnership between RAAL and requisite audio. HiFi lovers are familiar with the terrific RAAL ribbon tweeters  that Alex has developed over the years, but many are likely unfamiliar with requisite audio’s long history of making professional equipment for some the best musicians in the world, and Danny’s background as a professional musician prior to creating products for musicians and studios. As you’ll hear, this partnership is great, not only because of the background of these guys, but also because each one compliments the other with a unique set of skills. Given that my absolute favorite headphone ever made is the RAAL-requisite SR1a, listeners can imagine how thrilled I was to hear all about the product’s development, successes and failures in the process, and to learn much more about what makes it so special. You’ll want to stick around to the end of the show to hear about two new products RAAL-requisite will debut at the 2021 SoCal CanJam show in September and for a spirited round of bonus questions.

Dirac Research Interview

I talk to Dr. Mathias Johansson, Dirac Research co-founder and chief product officer, about the beginnings of the company in Upsala Sweden, its work with BMW, the current Dirac offerings for audiophiles, the differences between Dirac software and Dirac built into hardware, and many general DSP & room correction topics.

Innuos Interview

I talk to Nuno Vitorino, the co-founder and R&D Director, of InnuOS about the beginnings of the company in his garage, the expansion to 39 countries around the globe, the current InnuOS offerings, how the company supports its customers, and where they are headed in the future.

Volumio Interview

I talk to Michelangelo from Volumio about his background, the beginnings of the software and hardware products, and the current Volumio offerings. Michelangelo also gives candid answers to questions about Volumio’s  subscription model, where the company is headed in the future, and the ten bonus questions, to which there are no wrong answers.