REPRODUCED FROM HI-FINEW S
MAJORSCALE The sound here is never les than entirely focused on the perform ance,as is clear with Am erican Q uilt [675 Records 538668572],the rootsy Paula Cole setofstandards acros a variety ofgenres.The singer’s voice is revealed with al its textures intact, to glowing efect, while the ac om panying m usicians are exceptionaly placed, for exam ple on the stom ping ‘BlackM ountain Blues’. W ithoutrecourse to any obvious signal-m anipulation,the Naim Atom HE seem sto do a fine job ofdispeling that‘shut in’efectsom etim esaflicting headphonelistening,evenwhen powering closed-backdesignssuch asthe FocalStelias[HFN M ay’19]. And the UnitiAtom HE putsin a good showing with the scale and dram aofclas icalm usic,too,whetherit’sthe gentle, sm al-scale scoring of the Brazilan Landscapes album of recorder,percus ion and guitar [O UR Recordings 6220618; DSD 128, see p94], which is treated to a lucid, beautifuly-m easured view ofthe instrum ents,orthe weight and power ofthe Budapest FestivalO rchestra/Iván Fischer recording ofBrahm s’Third Sym phony [ChannelClas icsCCS SA 43821;DXD]. From the opening chords ofthe Brahm s,the Atom HE, driving the O ppo PM -1 headphones in this case,delivers a sound ofrealdram a and im pact,butpacked with detailand with a delicious sense of the orchestra ranged before the listener. The wide-ranging abilty of this compact but substantialstream ing headphone am p isneverin doubt.
LEFT: The ilum inated keys on Naim ’s RF ‘Zigbee’ rem ote alow fulac es to itsm enu and features, even in low lightconditions
MUSICATHOME+ 71
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