The Audiophile Thread

[Jerjo]

Got my DAC from Schitt and hooked it up today. I haven't done any A/B testing but my initial reaction is that the bass response is fuller. It's hard to quantify in a way that doesn't make me sound like a woo idiot. But it does make sense to me that by improving on the cheap converter inherit in most computers you get somewhat better sound.

[strawberrybrick]

I need a new integrated amp with phono stage. Was looking at the Rega Brio but then read some negative shit about it.

Parasound...

[Buddhabreath]

Well sure, but did you notice the asterisked note?



For $125k, you don't get the interconnects. They're EXTRA.

Wow! Just... wow!

[Firth]

Got my DAC from Schitt and hooked it up today. I haven't done any A/B testing but my initial reaction is that the bass response is fuller. It's hard to quantify in a way that doesn't make me sound like a woo idiot. But it does make sense to me that by improving on the cheap converter inherit in most computers you get somewhat better sound.

That maybe the Schitt However the biggest impact is the analog section and it's performance on high dynamic range signals. Quality D/A convertors are cheap. An excellent DAC with great analog and digital interface is not cheap. My adapter for my lightning plug to mini sounds good on my PSB headphones which are active and have an active amplifier at the output of the adapter.

[Zeuhlmate]

Parasound...

[Jerjo]

Take a look at this system - anyone have any idea how you get your system to respond to one remote through an iPad?

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...#post-20621314

[rcarlberg]

...anyone have any idea how you get your system to respond to one remote through an iPad?

Since iPads do not provide IR (infared), there must be some sort of internet-linked adapter box that does the actual switching. I trialed a similar device on my TV. The PROBLEM with it was that the signal had to go from my iPad via Bluetooth to the internet device, up to the host in the internet, and then get sent back down to my TV to make the actual change.

It worked, but it was annoying-as-hell to wait 5-10 seconds for a channel change or volume change. MUCH easier to point an IR remote at the TV and get instant response.

[strawberrybrick]

Haven't been here for a while... I purchased a pair of the Neat Acoustic Iota Alpha speakers for the living room, and quite pleased with them. The big change was that I've gone from powered-sub speakers (Definitive Technology) to ones that are not; takes a little getting used to, especially at lower volumes. But they are true high-fidelity speakers, bringing out the best - and worst - of my collection. I am quickly becoming a fan of ribbon tweeters...

[Jerjo]

Since iPads do not provide IR (infared), there must be some sort of internet-linked adapter box that does the actual switching. I trialed a similar device on my TV. The PROBLEM with it was that the signal had to go from my iPad via Bluetooth to the internet device, up to the host in the internet, and then get sent back down to my TV to make the actual change.

It worked, but it was annoying-as-hell to wait 5-10 seconds for a channel change or volume change. MUCH easier to point an IR remote at the TV and get instant response.

Thanks. I was seeing some of that in my Google search. Back to pointing the remote (or wrestling the remote from my wife's hands).

I wish that AI would become more...intelligent. At least to the point of controlling things like a home theater or a stereo lashed to a computer: Alexa, turn on Amazon Prime and get another episode of Mrs. Maisel. Or, Alexa, play some Djam Karet. But you know that by the time we reach that level the tech gods will go to war, with giant mechanica battling in the streets for control, logos of Google or Amazon or Apple on their chests. The Apple one will be made of the best material but still won't be worth a damn if it rains.

[rcarlberg]

I wish that AI would become more...intelligent. At least to the point of controlling things like a home theater or a stereo lashed to a computer: Alexa, turn on Amazon Prime and get another episode of Mrs. Maisel. Or, Alexa, play some Djam Karet.

Some of this MAY exist. Or will soon. Last month Alexa announced support for something called Mastermind, that connects all your devices (supposedly) so Alexa can send and receive emails, control smart TVs, use Google to search via voice on your Alexa, et cetera. I downloaded the app, but frankly haven't really looked into it yet.

This is the direction stuff is going, of course. It's just a matter of time.

I don't know if Alexa knows Djam Karet, but I often say "Alexa, play some Tony Bennett" or "Monkees" or "Beatles" whenever I have an urge for something mainstream.


[Edit: Alexa didn't know Djam Karet. She tried to give me some Thai rap group. But then again I may have mispronounced it?]

[Jerjo]

I bet you would have had better luck telling Alexa the name of a specific Djam Karet album or tune (provided it's in Amazon's library). Anyway, I'll continue punching the TV remote and manually playing CDs.

[Firth]

Some of this MAY exist. Or will soon. Last month Alexa announced support for something called Mastermind, that connects all your devices (supposedly) so Alexa can send and receive emails, control smart TVs, use Google to search via voice on your Alexa, et cetera. I downloaded the app, but frankly haven't really looked into it yet.

This is the direction stuff is going, of course. It's just a matter of time.

I don't know if Alexa knows Djam Karet, but I often say "Alexa, play some Tony Bennett" or "Monkees" or "Beatles" whenever I have an urge for something mainstream.


[Edit: Alexa didn't know Djam Karet. She tried to give me some Thai rap group. But then again I may have mispronounced it?]

Great, so more devices can fight for control, and nothing works. Like between my Google inspired Sony TV and my Pioneer receiver. It’s taken 6 months for the Google TV OS to get where it is and it still does weird things, and yesterday I couldn’t cut the receiver off because it kept trying to turn it back on. I just went back to enabling control after giving up months ago and making my TV dumb by disabling control via ARC. I’d like the receiver to control the TV, but the TV’s ego is too big and it is incompetent.

[moecurlythanu]

Great, so more devices can fight for control, and nothing works. Like between my Google inspired Sony TV and my Pioneer receiver. It’s taken 6 months for the Google TV OS to get where it is and it still does weird things, and yesterday I couldn’t cut the receiver off because it kept trying to turn it back on. I just went back to enabling control after giving up months ago and making my TV dumb by disabling control via ARC. I’d like the receiver to control the TV, but the TV’s ego is too big and it is incompetent.

Sounds like a Soap Opera. Have you considered bringing in Dr. Phil to referee?

[Firth]

Sounds like a Soap Opera. Have you considered bringing in Dr. Phil to referee?

Update: By sending HDMI ARC out from receiver to the TV HDMI (non-ARC) input/output, everything works great with TV apparently bowing to the receiver and whatever components are input to the receiver. The ARC audio output from the TV is crap anyway because it supports up to DOlby Digital (DD). I used my 4k Apple TV for my streaming cause it outputs Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos Sound to the receiver. And the receiver sends Dolby Vision to TV in bypass. The last I checked, the 4k Apple TV is the only stream box supporting these. I need to buy some Elac Dolby Atmos speakers to get the full benefit. However Atmos in 5.1 sounds great. Note that those WiFi speakers need a front end like that Apple TV to for full immersive surround. I can’t wait till the Prog artists start to exploit Atmos with unique creative content.

[LASERCD]

I just installed a second tonearm on my turntable and mounted a mono cartridge. Its quite a revelation to hear mono albums played back through a mono cartridge. Particularly how quiet those old albums actually are. Depth of soundstage is remarkable.

[Jerjo]

So you swap them out depending on what you're playing? Do you have to calibrate each time?

[LASERCD]

So you swap them out depending on what you're playing? Do you have to calibrate each time?

No. My table can accomodate up to three tonearms.

[BobM]

There's a definite improvement playing a mono album using a mono cartridge instead of relying on your stereo one. For one, mono grooves are deeper and wider than stereo ones and the stereo stylus just bounces around in them too much.

[LASERCD]

There's a definite improvement playing a mono album using a mono cartridge instead of relying on your stereo one. For one, mono grooves are deeper and wider than stereo ones and the stereo stylus just bounces around in them too much.

Its actually a bit more than that. It has to do with the geometry of the stylus as well as the fact that older mono albums only have horizontal information. Stereo is horizontal and vertical. If you use a modern mono cartridge/stylus my sense is its riding the groove a bit different - deeper perhaps - its much quieter. Of course current reissues of old mono recordings have been cut using a stereo lathe so there isn't any real benefit. The mono cartridge makes the most difference on pressings from 1967 and older.

From reverb.com:

"Stereo records have information both laterally in the groove as well as vertically. Mono records only have lateral information. Anything your stylus runs across on the vertical part of the groove will only result in surface noise. Mono cartridges are designed to only pick up the lateral information. Using a mono cart will greatly reduce pops, clicks, and generally increase clarity."

[Jerjo]

Well, this finally explains why I've seen systems with separate tables for mono and stereo.

[rcarlberg]

And 78s require a much bigger stylus, so you can't play them properly with an LP needle. Your best bet is an old wind-up Victrola, preferably one with a brass horn because that was what the music was designed to be played on.

[markwoll]

And 78s require a much bigger stylus, so you can't play them properly with an LP needle. Your best bet is an old wind-up Victrola, preferably one with a brass horn because that was what the music was designed to be played on.

Just a fresh thorn for the occasion.

[simon moon]

While 6 figure cables do tend to make the audiophile hobby look a bit silly, understand, that those kinds of products are the exception, not the norm.

The vast majority of audiophile products, while arguably more expensive than they have to be, are based on solid technology. People tend to find companies making 'magic' wood blocks, or 'magic' stones, and then paint the entire audiophile industry with the same 'woo' broad brush.

As a member of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, with several thousand members, I have had pretty extensive experience hearing systems from moderate price ranges, up through the extreme high end/high priced. And I can tell you, the kind of detail, dynamics, scale, harmonic accuracy, imaging and soundstaging that some of those extreme high end systems are capable of, is pretty astonishing.

I've heard systems playing classical at full fortissimo, without strain or dynamic compression, where a triangle at the back of the orchestra can be heard as clear as day, with proper attach and decay, despite the volume of the rest of the orchestra, and it sounds like it is coming from behind the orchestra, 30' behind the speakers, just where it should. With all the instruments in their correct places in the soundstage, from front to back, and side to side. I've heard the same system reproducing a 3d image of a singer/guitarist, sitting on a stool between the speakers, with accurate size, with details like, the sound of their fingers touching the strings, not just the sound of the notes produced by the guitar, as most systems do.

Did the multi-thousand dollar cables connecting these systems make any difference over cables costing many times less? Probably not. But that says nothing about the actual quality of the rest of the components (amps, preamps, speakers, DAC, etc) that do make a difference.

But here's the thing, if someone can afford products of these prices, why begrudge them their enjoyment of buying them? If they can afford ridiculously priced cables, it's not like they are going to be skimping on other aspects of their lives.

I hardly ever see people being ridiculed for spending $200K for a car. I mean surely a $60K Corvette will be almost as much fun to drive as a $200K Ferrari, and still get one to their destination in the same amount of time. And I'll bet that many of those people here, ridiculing audiophiles for their extravagances, will be the first to ooh and ah if they see a Ferrari parked on the street.

I can't help but think that a certain amount of this ridiculing audiophiles comes from the place of "sour grapes".

[rcarlberg]

Well said, Simon. As the chief nemesis of audio woo around here I'll agree with you 100%: if somebody has the money to blow $125,000 on a pair of 8' speaker wires, then more power to him! (pun intended)

I just hope he contributes to his favorite charities as well.

I have heard a few megabuck systems in my life, and SOME of them have sounded quite fine. Just last month I visited a friend of mine who must have a half mil in his system (that's where I saw those cables). His system was impressively transparent from 40Hz to beyond my hearing. The lowest octave however, 16-32Hz, was entirely missing. I didn't have the heart to break it to him.

To be fair, most commercial recordings are rolled off below 50Hz anyway.



BTW: I have EXACTLY the same reaction to a Ferrari. "Sorry about your penis, dude!"

[Firth]

While 6 figure cables do tend to make the audiophile hobby look a bit silly, understand, that those kinds of products are the exception, not the norm.

The vast majority of audiophile products, while arguably more expensive than they have to be, are based on solid technology. People tend to find companies making 'magic' wood blocks, or 'magic' stones, and then paint the entire audiophile industry with the same 'woo' broad brush.

As a member of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, with several thousand members, I have had pretty extensive experience hearing systems from moderate price ranges, up through the extreme high end/high priced. And I can tell you, the kind of detail, dynamics, scale, harmonic accuracy, imaging and soundstaging that some of those extreme high end systems are capable of, is pretty astonishing.

I've heard systems playing classical at full fortissimo, without strain or dynamic compression, where a triangle at the back of the orchestra can be heard as clear as day, with proper attach and decay, despite the volume of the rest of the orchestra, and it sounds like it is coming from behind the orchestra, 30' behind the speakers, just where it should. With all the instruments in their correct places in the soundstage, from front to back, and side to side. I've heard the same system reproducing a 3d image of a singer/guitarist, sitting on a stool between the speakers, with accurate size, with details like, the sound of their fingers touching the strings, not just the sound of the notes produced by the guitar, as most systems do.

Did the multi-thousand dollar cables connecting these systems make any difference over cables costing many times less? Probably not. But that says nothing about the actual quality of the rest of the components (amps, preamps, speakers, DAC, etc) that do make a difference.

But here's the thing, if someone can afford products of these prices, why begrudge them their enjoyment of buying them? If they can afford ridiculously priced cables, it's not like they are going to be skimping on other aspects of their lives.

I hardly ever see people being ridiculed for spending $200K for a car. I mean surely a $60K Corvette will be almost as much fun to drive as a $200K Ferrari, and still get one to their destination in the same amount of time. And I'll bet that many of those people here, ridiculing audiophiles for their extravagances, will be the first to ooh and ah if they see a Ferrari parked on the street.

I can't help but think that a certain amount of this ridiculing audiophiles comes from the place of "sour grapes".

Have you heard the ELAC Uni-Fi UF5 Floorstanding Speakers? https://hometheaterreview.com/elac-u...kers-reviewed/