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New Year: My Best Advice In Regards To Audio is...


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Consider DIY. After a little research, it is often not as hard as it may appear at first, and you may enjoy the process. On the other hand, if you know you aren't the type to enjoy this sort of thing, forget what I just said.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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One service that's generally lacking is help in properly setting up a system afterwards. You listen to some gear in an acoustically treated environment, spend your hard earned cash on it based on that only to struggle with the sound once set up at home. That's usually when the endless upgrade merry-go-round begins. I suppose some dealers may view this as a good thing but they might want to look into offering better after sales advice as a means to keep customers happy and hopefully less prone to buying online.

Bottom line - you can't get good hands on advice and service online. Dealers should consider capitalizing on that. Just saying...

 

Get Better Sound.jpg

 

Get Better Sound - Get Better Sound

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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The thing about speakers is they are in investment that can last for decades, unless some disruptive technology comes along. Being electronic components, amps and DACs are more likely to be superseded in the shorter term, so it makes economic sense to pony up more for the speakers, as the cost is likely to be amortised over a longer period.

 

Agree on speakers and DACs. I do think there are terrific amps that will make even critical listeners happy for decades.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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You are right, performance-wise, sometimes. But then I hear a live broadcast of the Boston Symphony, on the Internet, and there is nothing like it. But then even with less than stellar performances, no recording, no broadcast, no matter how good or bad, will ever sound like live acoustic music, played in a real space. And that's the real point, isn't it?

 

To my thinking the point is love of music, and in aid of that love, to try to asymptotically approach the live experience at home, though we may well never get there.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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+1: You could befriend a few folks from your local symphony and they might actually play **in your own home** if plied with good wine ;):)

 

The location where my wife and I intend to move this year has a chamber music series played by members of the symphony from the nearest large city. That was a consideration in determining where we wanted to relocate.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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And then there are those who swear SSDs make everything sound much better in all the usual ways.

 

I suppose this is possible if the situations are slightly different. Where active SATA I/O is going on, and the electronics of the SSD are relatively quieter than the mechanicals and electronics of the HDD it replaces, it seems logical the SSD will be quieter. OTOH, in lmitche's situation, where SATA I/O has been pretty well eliminated, what if the SSD has high idle power consumption and relatively noisy electronics?

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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No, but Arch (or any other) Linux can, and you mentioned that as well.

 

FreeBSD and I assume other BSDs as well, so perhaps OS X (and OS X server) also?

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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