Theo Mensah
Digital, DACs & Streaming Editor
Based in Perth, WA
Theo here. By day I write software, by night I argue with people on forums about whether bit-perfect playback is "solved" (it mostly is, and then it isn't). I cover the digital end — DACs, streamers, servers, the whole messy ecosystem of getting a file to sound its best. My promise to you: I'll separate the genuine engineering from the audiophile folklore, and I'll never tell you a $500 streaming bridge sounds "blacker" unless I can explain why.
16 published articles · most recent June 21, 2026
Theo here. By day I write software, by night I argue with people on forums about whether bit-perfect playback is "solved" — it mostly is, and then it isn't.
I cover the digital end: DACs, streamers, servers, the whole messy ecosystem of getting a file to sound its best.
My promise: I'll separate the genuine engineering from the audiophile folklore, and I'll never tell you a $500 streaming bridge sounds "blacker" unless I can explain why.
Articles by Theo Mensah
Roon vs UPnP vs proprietary apps: which streaming protocol actually sounds best?Theo Mensah cuts through the forum noise to explain what Roon, UPnP/DLNA and proprietary apps actually do differently — and whether any of it affects the sound.
Lumin X2 Review: The Flagship Streamer That Builds Its Own DAC From ScratchLumin's X2 ditches off-the-shelf DAC chips for a fully discrete converter, marking a bold new direction for the Hong Kong brand's flagship network player.
NAD's C 589 CD player revives MQA with QRONO d2a processing and an ESS Sabre DACNAD's C 589 CD player pairs MQA Labs' QRONO d2a reconstruction technology with an ESS Sabre DAC — here's what that means for serious listeners.
dCS breaks from stereo tradition with the 16-channel MCD 16 Ring DACdCS unveils its first-ever multichannel DAC at High End Vienna 2026 — eight stereo Ring DACs, discrete Class A outputs, and a question worth asking: is this the future of high-end home cinema?
HDMI 2.2 and the Ultra96 cable arrive, doubling bandwidth to 96 GbpsHDMI 2.2 doubles bandwidth to 96 Gbps, introduces the Ultra96 cable and a new latency protocol. Here's what it means for Australian home cinema buyers right now.
Dolby and LG launch the first Dolby Atmos FlexConnect soundbar at CES 2026LG's Sound Suite H7 is the world's first soundbar powered by Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, promising adaptive spatial audio across up to 27 speaker configurations for US$999.99.
Spotify gates lossless behind a new three-tier Premium structure in emerging marketsSpotify's new three-tier Premium structure in India, Indonesia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa gates lossless 24-bit FLAC behind the top Platinum tier. Here's what it means for AU listeners.
Samsung's 2026 Micro RGB LED lineup pushes big-screen displays down in priceSamsung's R95H and R85H series bring RGB mini-LED LCD down to $1,599 at CES 2026 — a genuine shift in big-screen home cinema value.
Apple Music VP says most listeners can't hear lossless — so why does it matter for serious audio?Apple Music VP Oliver Schusser says most fans can't tell lossless from standard quality. Theo Mensah unpacks what that means for serious Australian listeners.
Qobuz Draws a Line in the Sand: An AI Charter and Detection Tool to Keep Human Music HumanQobuz has published an AI Charter and a proprietary detection system to tag fully AI-generated music, pledging to keep human curation at the heart of its catalog.
Dolby Atmos Music hits 150-plus car models across 35-plus automakers at CES 2026At CES 2026, Dolby confirmed Atmos Music is now built into 150+ vehicles across 35+ automakers. Here's what it means for spatial audio's mainstream moment.- How Spotify's Lossless Launch Shook, Then Ultimately Helped, QobuzQobuz MD Dan Mackta says Spotify's lossless rollout caused only modest cancellations before the hi-res streamer's user base grew — here's why that matters.
Why GaN specialists like Orchard Audio still lead the technology's edgeOrchard Audio's Starkrimson 25 monoblock launch confirms that gallium nitride amplification's real advances still come from dedicated specialists, not the mainstream brands.
Four million taps: inside Chord's £25,000 Quartet FPGA upscalerChord's new Quartet runs four million WTA filter taps across five FPGAs and adds a built-in ADC. Theo Mensah explains what FPGA reconstruction actually does.
AKM's Comeback Completes: The Flagship AK4499EX Arrives in a $450 DongleAKM's recovery from its 2020 fab fire reaches a milestone as the AK4499EX lands in Astell&Kern's $450 HC5 — the first portable DAC to carry the chip.
R2R versus delta-sigma: what the Gustard R30 says about discrete ladder DACsThe Gustard R30's Darko.Audio review reignited the R2R debate. Theo Mensah unpacks why discrete ladder DACs are serious contenders at AU-friendly prices.