Interesting Conversations Elsewhere ... 3

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wadax-server-psu-unit-has-now-arrived.36722/

 

Yes, this is about an ultra high end DAC unit being 'enhanced', by getting a 'better' power supply ... to those who are disturbed by, or find it ridiculous, the fact that huge amounts of money being spent on improving already absurdly expensive audio gear, the question is, why is this interesting? Well, even though purchasing such "grotesquely" pricey stuff  is completely off the agenda for me, what it points out  that those who wish to "buy a stairway to heaven" are seemingly following a never ending road - so, again, why?

Well, it's a combination of the facts that extracting subjectively top of the line SQ from digital is a highly precarious operation, AND that the better the playback chain gets, the more you can hear the subtleties that went completely missing before, AND that even the best audio designers don't have a really good grasp on what's going on, when it still misses hitting the mark. The last part is the killer - which is why the rave model from a few years ago now no longer cuts it; it's fallen off the perch of being SOTA

Video clips of interest ... 758

Was is just that recording? ... No. A completely different genre, on the same rig, showing the same symptoms,

 

The right hand of the piano makes it fairly clear ... there's so much good in the SQ here, but it's dragged down by a "boringness" to it - I lose interest in following "the action", of the piece, as music.

Again, so typical of the digital 'drabness' that is so hard to eradicate ...

Video clips of interest ... 757

 Something which should tick all the boxes ... but ...

 

What's wrong here? Easy to pick in the string section - this should soar, have a 'sweetness' to it ... but that quality is missing. Very typical for digital that is ever so close - but still trips at the final hurdle.

An Edifying Journey - Part 22

Part 22 ... hhhh?!! What this is all about is that earlier parts of this story exist on an audio forum, to which I no longer have access ... so ...

I'll fill the gory details over time - meanwhile, for those who know where this is up to, this is for you! 😉

Members of the family turned up, who hadn't heard the latest setup, the active Edifiers sourced via optical from a cheap Samsung DVD player, playing CDs, in latest trim. First impressions were very good, but over some time it settled back to a quite acceptable standard - but, wasn't in the zone that makes for special listening. Why? An issue that keeps coming back had struck again; the umbilical between the speakers had come adrift from a securing point, and was touching "the wrong things" - not enough to make it sound "awful", but plenty enough to undermine the quality of being really convincing. As is always the way, the next day, having had more time with the chain running, for it to stabilise better, and constantly making sure all the cables were decently configured, the SQ was in a good place again - could run at high volumes on pop recordings of the 1950's, and nail every track ...

So, that mounting location needs more!! 😃 The good news is, that the playback chain only needs a bit of cajoling to push it to a level where one has absolutely nothing to complain about ... laziness will be the death of me - but I always have good music a mere tweak or two away from an annoying sub-standard status, to energise me, once again, 😎.

Gosh, it's been thaaat long!!

Hmmm ... anyone who hung around after my last post would have to be a very dusty skeleton, now!

 

Okay, left the place here to put my thoughts down instead in an audio forum - but lately the tiresome, unthinking, silly responses have just become too irritating to deal with; so will continue my 'efforts' here, instead. Especially, regarding my latest project using active speakers, which will be called An Edifying Journey - Part ?? ... the first posts on this will summarise what it's about, and the moves made so far.

Hopefully, this will now remain active, on a more continuous basis! The current setup is highly satisfying, at a remarkably low cost, new - but is extremely messy, in a physical sense; and will remain so until I'm confident that I've got close to best sound quality out of it - then the untidiness will be sorted, step by step, making sure that I don't lose quality at each stage. Also aim to post some recordings of what the system sounds like, which hopefully give an idea of how it's behaving.

Howdy! ... I'm still around!

Sorry, nothing's happened here in a while - distracted by audio forums, audio conversations, house, life, the whole shebang! ... I really need to get back on track here, so aim to get my mind re-attuned to what I was intending with this blog, and start adding some more content ... bear with me.

Cheers!

"Historic" recordings of now defunct Philips HT system

Just to mention that there are now 3 recordings of a Philips Home Theatre in a box, that I used as a test bed for a number of years, on my YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzkx85ez3DVxRAnpkbQEA2w. These recordings are over 2 years old, made on a very limited quality Fuji camera, noisy and highly prone to having the recording circuit overloading - but they give some idea of how that system performed.

There's a solo blues guitar effort, some choral work, and just today added a pipe organ piece, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9LQh3UbWU - the latter I was motivated to do because there was discussion in an audio forum about such instruments, which I believe should convey majesty and richness in the sound, irrespective of the bass response of the playback system.