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British manufacturer Veracity Audio has unveiled its new Mystra digital to analogue converter. Designed and hand built to order, Mystra is available with a choice of custom levels and black or silver front panel finish. Veracity says that the aim in designing this DAC is remarkable music reproduction. Mystra's dedicated 24-bit dual mono conversion handles PCM format without sample rate change.

Competition winner: Back in HFC 413 we gave you the chance to win Leema Acoustic’s glorious half-width Elements integrated amplifier. We’re delighted to reveal that John Whitaker from Woking in Surrey was the lucky winner and here he is collecting his prize from David Quigley, Uniletsales advisor. . .

Cable specialist Tellurium Q has taken measures to ensure its customers can shop in confidence that the cable they have invested their money in is the genuine article and not just some cheap counterfeit. By teaming up with Authentic Vision,customers can now securely check the authenticity of their cables simply by scanning the warranty card that comes bundled with it using theCheck If RealApp – free to download at the App Store for iOs or Google Play store for Android “We have chosen Authentic Vision because of the concept they are bringing to the market. Such a simple yet effective use of technology to benefit our customers. There is always a danger of any manufacturer’s product being counterfeited, that is just a fact of life in this day and age.

Flip over the 1976 Pan edition of Walter Tevis’ 1963 novel The Man Who Fell To Earth, re-released to tie in with the film of the same name by Nicolas Roeg that featured the Thin White Duke in his first major movie, and you’ll find the following tantalising statements: music by David Bowie; album available on RCA. After scratching your head and attempting to recall the cover of the release, and before you head to Discogs to fill that hole in your record collection, the disappointing news is that it doesn’t exist – not as a legitimate release, and certainly not as was originally intended. “The Man Who Fell To Earth is a powerful love story; a cosmic mystery; a spectacular fantasy;a shocking, mind-stretching experience in sight, in space, in sex,” runs the deep-throated voiceover to the movie’s trailer. The casting of David Bowie – billed as “phenomenon of our time” and riding his first peak of US popularity – in his debut major motion picture was big news.

French loudspeaker manufacturer Focal has unveiled three new circumaural (over-ear) headphone models that have been four years in the making. Utopia is the flagship model in the new lineup and is priced at £3,250. Said to be designed with the aim of bringing the sound and feeling of listening to the brand’s high-end Utopia loudspeakers, the reference open-back cans have a luxury lambskin leather headband and 40mm pure Beryllium M-shaped dome speaker drivers designed for natural sound in ultra-nearfield listening. It’s supplied with a 4m OFC cable, including a Neutrik 6.

Few would deny that it was Astell&Kern that first set the ball rolling when it comes to portable hi-res audio players, and the brand has consistently upped the anti with each model added to its continuously evolving DAP range. Billed as the most sophisticated high-resolution music player you can buy for under £500, the AK70has a 3. 3in touchscreen and supports music files up to 24-bit/192kHz – 32-bit audio and DSD is down converted to PCM. It includes plenty of features usually found on high-end players with wi-fi connectivity to stream music to and from the player, and a balanced headphone output option for optimum audio performance when using suitable headphones.

If you follow the mag on our Twitteror Facebooksocial media pages you will have undoubtedly taken part in our recent opinion polls asking about your favourite hi-fi sources and preferred music formats. The results have been extremely enlightening, and while physical formats are very much in demand for fellow audio fans, on-demand streaming services are also becoming increasingly popular as a way of instantaneously accessing millions of tracks and albums at the click of a touchscreen or keyboard. On-demand music streaming is a massive growth area, and with Apple Music and Google Play joining the ranks it’s rapidly becoming the preferred route for music fans to access their favorite material and artists – with each service offering its own brand of curated and exclusive content to appeal to its particular demographic of listeners. As many readers will know, it’s a continuously evolving area, with providers updating platform features and new services appearing all the time.