The Art of HiFi: Guitars vs Strings – Which Album
By High-End Audio Products & Audio Equipment | PS Audio | Published: 2026-10-22
Category: Comparisons
Compare The Art of HiFi: Guitars and The Art of HiFi: Strings to find which high-fidelity album suits your audiophile system and listening taste.
Quick answer
Choose The Art of HiFi: Guitars if you want to explore the tonal variety of flattop, nylon, lap steel, pedal steel, and resonator guitars. Pick The Art of HiFi: Strings if you prefer the immersive detail of violin, viola, cello, and the rare nyckelharpa.
What sets these albums apart
Both albums are part of the PS Audio Art of HiFi series, recorded in DSD256 at Octave Studios with meticulous mic placement. The key difference lies in the instrument focus: Guitars showcases a wide range of guitar types, while Strings dives into stringed instruments from the familiar to the obscure.
How the recordings serve your system
Each album is engineered to capture the room ambience and the instrument's nuances, making them ideal for testing system transparency and imaging. The choice depends on which instrument family you want to use as a reference for your setup.
Trade-offs at a glance
- Instrument variety: Guitars covers more guitar subtypes (8+), while Strings focuses on 4 main instruments with deeper exploration of each.
- Rarity factor: Strings includes the nyckelharpa, a keyed fiddle rarely heard in audiophile recordings. Guitars sticks to familiar but diverse guitar forms. If you want to discover an uncommon instrument, Strings offers that opportunity.
- Listening purpose: Guitars works well for comparing picking styles and body types. Strings suits evaluating bow articulation and string resonance. Match the album to the sonic characteristic you want to assess on your system.
Product facts
- The Art of HiFi: Guitars: This collection features flattop, nylon, lap steel, pedal steel, acoustic bass, electric bass, 12-string, and resonator guitars, recorded in DSD256 with perfect mic placement. You get a direct comparison of guitar textures and playing styles, ideal for evaluating how your system reproduces transient attack and sustain.
The Art of HiFi: Guitars - The Art of HiFi: Strings: Volume 4 in the series journeys through violin, viola, cello, and the nyckelharpa, each track prominently featuring one instrument so you can hear nuanced differences in DSD256. The focused arrangement lets you isolate how your speakers handle the harmonic complexity of bowed strings and the unique resonance of rare instruments.
The Art of HiFi: Strings
Which album fits your listening goals?
Best for
- Audiophiles who want a comprehensive guitar tone comparison in one album
- Listeners curious about the nyckelharpa or who enjoy rare string instruments
Not for
- Those seeking a single genre or mood – each album covers multiple styles within its instrument focus
- If you already own both, start with Guitars for variety, then Strings for depth
