A familiar song in a later source
Ben Moody, David Hodges and Kelly Clarkson share the writing credit for “Because of You,” with Clarkson carrying those words in her own voice. Her official chronology places Breakaway in 2004. HFI used the 44.1 kHz/16-bit Rolling Stone Original source released by RCA Records on 3 January 2008, so this session approaches a song from the Breakaway years through a later source rather than treating familiarity as the end of the story.1
Begin with the guarded scale of the verses, then follow the title line as repetition and a fuller chorus raise the emotional pressure. The useful question is not whether the recording makes the song newly dramatic, but how Clarkson controls the distance between restraint and release across a performance many listeners already know.1
Three ranges, one rising arc
An Aurender NH10 network hub and MC10 master clock served the N50 digital-output network transport. The N50 fed an MSB Technology The Cascade DAC, followed by M205 monoblock power amplifiers and YG Acoustics Hailey 3 loudspeakers.
YG documents the Hailey 3 as a three-way passive loudspeaker with crossover points at 90 Hz and 1.75 kHz. That published map offers a concrete route through a second listen: follow the low foundation, the body of Clarkson’s voice and the upper edge of the accompaniment as the song grows, while keeping the musical arc larger than any one frequency range.2
A GLV perspective from the sweet spot
HFI recorded the system at GLV in Seoul on 28 October 2025. A matched pair of DPA-4011 microphones fed a Zoom F8n Pro at 192 kHz/32-bit float, with a laser distance meter used to match the microphones’ distances from the loudspeakers. Sennheiser HD820 headphones were used during production.
Put on headphones at a comfortable level and sit in the sweet spot. Let the first pass belong to Clarkson’s complete performance; on the next, trace the movement from guarded verse to chorus without losing the song’s personal point of view.1
Watch and listen
The complete HiFi Immersion video
For the clearest sense of the room, listen on headphones at a comfortable, consistent level.
