Read story →Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 at Saem Energy
Albert Parlow's orchestration places Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 in the hands of the Vienna Philharmonic and Fritz Reiner, heard from vinyl through an MBL system at Saem Energy.
This week · 26 October–1 NovemberSeoul · Music, rooms & makers
From the listening chair
Listen past
the equipment.
Begin with Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 at Saem Energy, then follow the music into the room, the system and the choices behind the sound.
Listening session
Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 at Saem Energy
This week · 26 October–1 November
Three paths into familiar music
Brahms reaches the orchestra through Albert Parlow, a-ha rebuilds Take On Me, and John Denver writes Annie's Song in ten minutes. This week's sessions follow three very different routes into familiar music.
- 01Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 at Saem Energy
- 02a-ha's Take On Me at Han Eum Audio
- 03John Denver's Annie's Song at SELekt
Albert Parlow orchestrated Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minora-ha returned to the feel of an earlier demo when re-recording Take On Me with Alan TarneyJohn Denver's official archive says he wrote Annie's Song in ten minutes while riding a ski lift
Why we listen
We listen for the music first—and for the rooms, systems and ideas that help us understand how it reaches us.
Join us for carefully documented listening sessions and unhurried conversations with the people who shape sound.
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Read story →a-ha's Take On Me at Han Eum Audio
Before Take On Me became a global hit, a-ha kept reworking it; the familiar 1985 recording returns through the Jean Maurer and Wattson system at Han Eum Audio.
Read story →John Denver's Annie's Song at SELekt
John Denver's official archive traces Annie's Song to ten minutes on a ski lift; the live album version returns through a Laufer, MSB, Halcro and Kharma system at SELekt.
Read story →Savall’s Mendelssohn at ROYCO
Alia Vox places Mendelssohn’s final 1834 score beside the first 1833 version; Savall and Le Concert des Nations bring the opening movement to the McIntosh and Sonus faber system at ROYCO.
Read story →Queen's Killer Queen at Han Eum Audio
Queen's first international breakthrough compresses wit, harmony and guitar detail into three minutes, heard through the Jean Maurer and Wattson system at Han Eum Audio.
Read story →Woman of Heart and Mind at SELekt
A song from For the Roses takes its place on the live Miles of Aisles. HiFi Immersion follows that performance through SELekt's Laufer, MSB, Halcro and Kharma system.
Read story →Jeon Jin-woo on why the NH10 stands alone
Aurender senior researcher Jeon Jin-woo follows the NH10 from crowded internal filters to a separate chassis, linear power, shared timing and an optical link for the N50.
Read story →Rossini’s William Tell finale at GLV
Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops carry Rossini’s finale into Round-Up’s Western frame, heard at GLV through Aurender, MSB and YG Acoustics.
Read story →Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Han Eum Audio
Queen’s six-minute journey from intimate ballad to operatic scale and hard-rock force meets a compact Jean Maurer and Wattson system at Han Eum Audio.
Read story →The Rolling Stones’ “Angie” at SELekt
A piano part begun in Jamaica and strings added later in London complete the 1973 ballad, heard through a Laufer, MSB, Halcro and Kharma system at SELekt.
Read story →Sarah McLachlan’s “Hallelujah” at Damino
A Blue Note tribute brings Sarah McLachlan to Leonard Cohen’s song, heard through a Volumio, ATC, Schiit and Canton system at Damino Sound Technology.
Read story →Gregory Porter’s “Brown Grass” at KD Sound
A song written and performed by Gregory Porter, from his Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, meets a CH Precision and Göbel system at KD Sound.
Read story →Sotkilava sings Turiddu’s farewell at SELekt
Mascagni’s final farewell for Turiddu turns from an excuse about wine to a blessing, a promise and an abrupt goodbye, heard through a Halcro, Kharma and MSB system at SELekt.
Read story →Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire at Sohgom
Vangelis’s title piece belongs to the film score that won the Academy Award for Original Score, replayed through the familiar Oladra, Wavedream, Riviera and Klinger Favre system at Sohgom.
Read story →Domnérus and Sjökvist’s “Antiphone Blues”
Arne Domnérus and Gustaf Sjökvist place their own title track among spirituals, standards and classical works, replayed from the 1975 Proprius LP through Vertere, Allnic, Plinius and Avantgarde components at Kumkang Audio.
Read story →Schubert’s Arpeggione Adagio at KD Sound
Mstislav Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten shape Schubert’s Adagio through instruments with very different ways of sustaining and releasing a phrase, replayed through CH Precision and Göbel at KD Sound.
Read story →Metallica’s Master of Puppets at Saem Energy
Metallica’s collectively written title track, a 2008 Universal 45 RPM remaster and the configurable cartridge-to-phono interface at the head of a Transrotor, Electrocompaniet and Piega chain.
Read story →Tania Maria’s Fanatic at SELekt
Tania Maria writes and performs an eight-and-a-half-minute album track, replayed through MSB, Halcro and Kharma at SELekt.
Read story →Bob James’s “Rocket Man” at KD Sound
Bob James, Michael Palazzolo and Billy Kilson recast Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s song as a live-in-the-studio trio, replayed through CH Precision and Göbel at KD Sound.
Read story →Simon & Garfunkel at Carnegie Hall
A November 1969 Carnegie Hall performance catches “Bridge Over Troubled Water” reaching an audience before the studio album, replayed through Master Fidelity, Vinnie Rossi and Tidal at Chess Audio.
Read story →John Williams’ Star Wars Main Title on vinyl
Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic open Williams’ symphonic suite from a 1978 London LP, replayed through Thorens, HSE, Ypsilon and Peak Consult at Submarine Music & Audio.
Read story →Lou Reed’s “Walk On the Wild Side” at SELekt
Transformer’s first side closes with a sung-spoken procession held together by a supple bass line, played through Laufer, MSB, Halcro and Kharma at SELekt.
Read story →Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen” at Saem Energy
Gaucho’s second track turns a cultural gap into polished unease, played from vinyl through a Transrotor front end and MBL’s radial loudspeaker system at Saem Energy.
Read story →Lisitsa plays Ravel’s “Ondine” at ROYCO
The first tableau of Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit turns Aloysius Bertrand’s water spirit into a piano question, heard through the McIntosh and Sonus faber system at ROYCO.
Read story →Diana Krall’s “Pick Yourself Up” at GLV
A Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields song from Swing Time returns near the close of Diana Krall’s When I Look in Your Eyes, heard at GLV through Aurender, MSB and YG Acoustics.
Read story →Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad” at Damino
Springsteen’s hushed 1995 title track puts narrative weight before spectacle. At Damino Sound Technology, the same system heard in an earlier HFI session opens a different question through Schiit’s choke-input monoblocks and Canton’s three-way floorstanders.
Read story →Elyan’s dark-gothic Rasputin at SELekt
Elyan’s 2026 single keeps the familiar songwriting credit while using ‘Epic Dark Gothic Orchestral’ as a stylistic subtitle. Its orchestral sound was constructed electronically rather than performed by an orchestra. At SELekt, HFI pairs that production question with the load-matching figures behind a Kharma and Halcro system.
Read story →Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now at KD Sound
Joni Mitchell closes a twelve-song romantic arc by returning to one of her earliest compositions. At KD Sound, HFI records the orchestral version through Göbel Divin Majestic loudspeakers and a CH Precision system.
Read story →Lady Gaga’s farewell at GLV
Lady Gaga carries the Film Version until Bradley Cooper’s voice returns in a closing flashback. At GLV, HFI records this farewell through a Melco, Aurender, MSB and YG Acoustics system.
Read story →Miles Davis’s ’Round Midnight at Titan Acoustics
Miles Davis begins in a hush and John Coltrane carries the line outward. A 2024 Mobile Fidelity mono pressing turns on the Titan Acoustics Tx100 in HFI’s December 2025 session.
Read story →Peaches en Regalia at Sohgom
Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats opener brings Ron Selico’s drums and Shuggie Otis’s bass into a densely built instrumental, replayed through the Sohgom system HFI recorded in December 2025.
Read story →Campoli and Boult’s Bruch at Kumkang Audio
A May 1958 Campoli–Boult performance reaches this HFI session on a 1969 London stereo pressing, through Vertere, Allnic, Plinius and Avantgarde components at Kumkang Audio.
Read story →Reinhart and Goldblum’s “My Baby Just Cares For Me” at KD Sound
Decca placed the familiar song early in an audience-facing Capitol Studios set; this HFI session follows Reinhart, Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra through a CH Precision–Göbel system.
Read story →Eric Clapton’s Unplugged “Layla” at SELekt
A rock landmark finds a looser acoustic stride in the 1992 Unplugged performance, heard through Laufer, MSB, Halcro and Kharma at SELekt.
Read story →Barclay James Harvest’s “Poor Man’s Moody Blues” at KD Sound
John Lees turned a dismissive comparison into a song of his own, heard here from vinyl through a clocked Grandioso source and Göbel Divin Comtesse loudspeakers.
Read story →Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” at GLV
A song from the Breakaway years arrives through a later Rolling Stone Original source, inviting a fresh listen to the path from guarded verses to an open-throated chorus.
Read story →Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” at Saem Energy
A 1969 Atlantic LP returns to the song’s Groove Sound session, while a Transrotor and Hana vinyl front end gives the familiar Electrocompaniet–Piega system a different starting point.
Read story →Norah Jones’s “Don’t Know Why” at KD Sound
Blue Note’s account of a first take that became the album version opens a quiet route into the song, while HFI’s KD Sound recording gives a pair of CH Precision M10 amplifiers in monaural mode a clearly defined role in the system.
Read story →Pink Floyd’s “Time” at SELekt
The fourth track on Side One of The Dark Side of the Moon moves from clocks to a measured rock pulse, heard through a Laufer, MSB, Halcro and Kharma system at SELekt.
Read story →Chloe Chua’s Paganini finale at Chess Audio
Paganini closes an East-to-West programme as Chloe Chua, Mario Venzago and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra meet the Master Fidelity, Vinnie Rossi and Tidal system.
Read story →Dire Straits’ “Lady Writer” on the LP12
A 1979 Warner Bros. LP puts Mark Knopfler’s song and the Compass Point sessions before Linn’s LP12 front end and the familiar McIntosh–Sonus faber chain.
Read story →Bill Evans asks “How Deep Is the Ocean?”
Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian turn an Irving Berlin standard into trio dialogue through the Laufer, MSB, darTZeel and Kharma system.
Read story →Guamary’s “Floreo de Llamas” on vinyl
A 1982 BBC Records LP moves through Thorens’ anniversary turntable and HSE’s Masterline 7 before meeting the familiar Ypsilon and Peak system at Submarine Music & Audio.
Read story →Jeon Jin-woo on the road to the Aurender NH10
Aurender hardware lead Jeon Jin-woo traces a path from wireless communications to power, clocking, isolation and the user feedback that shaped the NH10.
Read story →Haitink conducts Shostakovich’s Tenth
A live 1986 Proms performance brings the Tenth Symphony’s compact second movement into a Piega, Electrocompaniet and MBL system at Saem Energy.
Read story →Il Gardellino plays Piazzolla’s “Oblivion”
A Baroque ensemble closes its oboe programme with Piazzolla’s quiet farewell, heard through a Kharma, Halcro and MSB system at SELekt.
Read story →Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” at Fjord Audio
A 1991 Elektra LP opens through Clearaudio’s Da Vinci V2 and Innovation, followed by Fjord Audio’s A100, C100 and P150. This session follows the path from a cartridge-level signal to line control and one power amplifier per channel.
Read story →Nils Lofgren’s “Bass & Drum Intro”
A compact live interlude from a 23-track concert album turns attention to pulse, exchange and anticipation through a Goldmund and Métronome system.
Read story →Ravel through three Aurender states
Seong-Jin Cho, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons meet in Ravel’s G major concerto, while Part 6 moves from three repeated windows into six and a half minutes of continuous musical development.
Read story →“Hallelujah”: from 1984 to four voices live
A song first issued on Leonard Cohen’s Various Positions returns in a 2006 four-singer live recording, played through a 3.5-way Kharma, Halcro and MSB system at SELekt.
Read story →Lisitsa plays Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu at ROYCO
Chopin’s catalogue dates the C-sharp minor work to 1834 and brackets Op. 66 as Julian Fontana’s numbering; Valentina Lisitsa’s 2022 performance meets a 3.5-way Sonus faber Amati G5 system at ROYCO.
Read story →London Grammar’s “Hey Now” at GLV
Daniel Rothman, Dot Major and Hannah Reid share the writing credit on a song from London Grammar’s debut album, heard through a GLV system whose YG XX loudspeakers divide eight drivers across four frequency ranges.
Read story →Howard Jones’s “No One Is to Blame” at Damino
HFI returns to the 1985 Dream into Action version that preceded the better-known remake, through a system that places ATC’s combined CD/DAC preamplifier between a Volumio network player and Schiit mono power amplifiers.
Read story →Blondie’s “In the Flesh” at KD Sound
Clem Burke remembers an unexpected Australian hit that began on the reverse of “X Offender”; HFI’s KD Sound recording pairs the early Blondie song with a CH Precision and Göbel system whose published sensitivity and impedance figures reward a two-number reading.
Read story →Main Titles from Top Gun: Maverick at GLV
Harold Faltermeyer’s composition opens the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack through a studio team of programmers, producers and electric guitarists, while HFI’s GLV recording gives its compact return cue a five-driver YG Sonja 3.3 system.
Read story →Joe Morello’s “Take Five” across three Aurender states
Joe Morello revisits the Paul Desmond tune he first recorded with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, while HFI’s HzProject session moves from repeated passages into a longer rotating sequence of one NH10, two NH10s and two NH10s with the MC10 clock.
Read story →Metallica’s Enter Sandman at SELekt
“Enter Sandman” grows from a bare guitar figure into a precisely layered studio event. This SELekt session follows the riff as drums, bass, guitars and voice expand its scale and tighten its tension through a Kharma, Halcro and MSB playback chain.
Read story →Peter Foster on piano, pitch and familiar music
Peter Foster starts with the opening of “Piano Man”: not as a stock test track, but as a reminder that pitch relationships, decay and timing become more legible when the listener already knows the music.
Read story →Disclosure’s F for You from vinyl at Titan Acoustics
On Settle’s guest-rich first side, “F for You” is the first track to hand the lead entirely back to Disclosure. HFI’s vinyl session gives phono gain, line control and bridged-mono power their own clearly defined stages.
Read story →Rattle That Lock through Klinger Favre STUDIO 20
A four-note SNCF announcement heard at Aix-en-Provence became David Gilmour’s opening signal. HFI’s 96 kHz/24-bit Live at Pompeii source meets two Antipodes Oladras, a Rockna Wavedream Reference, Riviera amplification and Klinger Favre STUDIO 20 at Sohgom.
Read story →Spiritual through Avantgarde Mezzo G3
Josh Haden’s song closes Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny’s first duet album, with a 2014 Verve/Universal LP and Vertere, Allnic, Plinius and Avantgarde Mezzo G3 components documented for HFI’s Kumkang Audio session.
Read story →All My Love through JBL Summit Makalu
John Paul Jones and Robert Plant’s co-written song shifts the focus toward voice and keyboards, heard through a Mark Levinson analog chain and JBL Summit Makalu at its launch event.
Read story →WAVAC TA-805m and PR-Z1, from crates to full reveal
HFI follows a line preamplifier, its separate transformer box and a pair of 805-tube monoblocks as they emerge from three shipping crates, looking at the design choices already visible before listening begins.
Read story →“Billie Bossa Nova” across three Aurender configurations
Billie Eilish engineered her own vocal while FINNEAS built the track’s spare instrumental bed. Part 4 uses two repeated 30-second return loops before the song moves forward across the three Aurender states.
Read story →“Eye in the Sky”: a steady voice, a watchful idea
Eric Woolfson’s lead voice and Wurlitzer hold the center of a carefully layered studio ensemble in HFI’s SELekt system recording.
Read story →Art Blakey’s “Moanin’” at KD Sound
Bobby Timmons’s call-and-response theme turns a blues phrase into collective momentum, heard through a CH Precision chain and Göbel Divin Noblesse loudspeakers.
Read story →Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” at KD Sound
A two-and-a-half-minute rush of riff, voice and momentum meets an all-Grandioso vinyl chain and Göbel Divin Comtesse loudspeakers.
Read story →Shawn Colvin’s “Killing the Blues” at GLV
A song of departure stays deliberately unhurried as Shawn Colvin’s voice and guitar move through YG, MSB and Aurender at GLV.
Read story →Beethoven’s fugal finale at Saem Energy
Beethoven sends a fugue racing through the Guarneri Quartet, heard through MBL, Electrocompaniet and Piega at Saem Energy.
Read story →Michael Jackson through three Aurender configurations
“Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” moves from repeated comparison windows into a full-song sequence with one NH10, two NH10s and the MC10 clock.
Read story →Diana Krall’s “No Moon at All” at SELekt
Voice, piano and double bass turn a standard into an intimate exchange, heard through MSB, Halcro and Kharma at SELekt.
Read story →“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at KD Sound
George Harrison’s song becomes a conversation between voice and guest guitar, replayed through CH Precision and Göbel Divin Majestic in Seoul.
Read story →“Hallelujah”: four voices, one room
Four distinct voices share Leonard Cohen’s song through Tidal Akira, Vinnie Rossi Brama and Master Fidelity at Chess Audio in Seoul.
Read story →Two guitars in motion
Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucía turn two joined compositions into one live exchange, heard through Sonus faber Stradivari G2 and McIntosh at ROYCO in Seoul.
Read story →Can an amplifier drive a one-ohm load?
Peter Foster explains how Halcro approaches difficult loudspeakers, RF-heavy systems and power-factor-corrected supplies.
Read story →Shim Kyu-seon’s “시내” across three Aurender configurations
The same musical passages return across one switch, two switches and an external clock, inviting listeners to settle in and compare each return for themselves.
Read story →“OK Tokyo”: percussion, pulse and two guitars
A rapid acoustic duet recorded at SELekt, where picked lines, body percussion and shared pulse travel through MSB, Halcro and Kharma.
Read story →“Where There Is Smoke”: voice, texture and space
Dominique Fils-Aimé layers voice, bass and studio texture through a Kharma, darTZeel and MSB system at SELekt.
Read story →Beethoven’s Triple Concerto Largo
Anda, Schneiderhan and Fournier meet in Beethoven’s compact slow movement, played through Kalista, Ypsilon and Peak Consult.
Read story →How Halcro approaches the noise floor
Peter Foster links independent power supplies, shielding and a future phono stage to an unlikely lesson from cardiac monitoring.
Read story →Aurender NH10 / MC10 with “Stand By Me”
Dominique Fils-Aimé’s voice returns through three clearly labelled Aurender configurations, with the same passages available for a calm, repeatable comparison.
Read story →BYU’s “O Come, All Ye Faithful” at SELekt
Dan Forrest’s arrangement sets sustained choral lines against an articulated orchestral drive, heard through MSB, Halcro and Kharma.
Read story →Why music is Halcro’s final test
Peter Foster describes Halcro’s democratic design process, its preference for long-form listening and the engineering ideas carried into Equinox.
What we explore
Three ways into the music
Experience
Step inside listening rooms, hear remarkable systems and discover the small choices that help the equipment disappear.
Engineering
Meet the designers and explore the ideas behind amplifiers, digital sources, loudspeakers and the rooms around them.
Music & culture
Spend time with records, performers and places—with music always at the centre.
How we work
Listen with context.
We name the room, system, music and any sponsorship behind each story. HiFi Immersion keeps editorial control, and every subtitle and localization is reviewed before publication.