The gentleman speaks with experience, and conviction. That's the good part.
The better part is that most of the stuff he talked about are obvious stuff that people choose to ignore either out of ignorance, or under the influence of ignorant guides, or willingly ignore, for an explorer soul the journey is more important than the destination. Overall, most points he made are valid IME.
I found one sticking point though. I disagree with his 2nd point.
I have been into digital for a long time and have seen it grow from barely-able-to-produce-listenable sound to feels-so-surreal-so-alive sound. As of 2021, the DAC is no longer the hardest thing to get right. Even high-end among entry-level stuff is pretty good these days. What is the hardest to get right in a digital front end is the transport. The transport is where the things can be made or broken. Get the transport right and even a mid-range DAC will help you create the magic that the gentleman speaks about.
Thanks for sharing, BTW. People beginning in this hobby can learn a few things from the video and indeed save themselves a hell lot of money and time.
Did you also check his comments about high end DACs in the comments section ?The gentleman speaks with experience, and conviction. That's the good part.
The better part is that most of the stuff he talked about are obvious stuff that people choose to ignore either out of ignorance, or under the influence of ignorant guides, or willingly ignore, for an explorer soul the journey is more important than the destination. Overall, most points he made are valid IME.
I found one sticking point though. I disagree with his 2nd point.
I have been into digital for a long time and have seen it grow from barely-able-to-produce-listenable sound to feels-so-surreal-so-alive sound. As of 2021, the DAC is no longer the hardest thing to get right. Even high-end among entry-level stuff is pretty good these days. What is the hardest to get right in a digital front end is the transport. The transport is where the things can be made or broken. Get the transport right and even a mid-range DAC will help you create the magic that the gentleman speaks about.
Thanks for sharing, BTW. People beginning in this hobby can learn a few things from the video and indeed save themselves a hell lot of money and time.
I had not read any comments but whole heartedly I agree on this point.Did you also check his comments about high end DACs in the comments section ?
He says high res audio is only for entry level DACs.. A true high end DAC will make 16/44 sound fabulous.
I found one sticking point though. I disagree with his 2nd point.
I have been into digital for a long time and have seen it grow from barely-able-to-produce-listenable sound to feels-so-surreal-so-alive sound. As of 2021, the DAC is no longer the hardest thing to get right. Even high-end among entry-level stuff is pretty good these days. What is the hardest to get right in a digital front end is the transport. The transport is where the things can be made or broken. Get the transport right and even a mid-range DAC will help you create the magic that the gentleman speaks about.
And it is true too. Same is the case in amps with balanced amps and well implemented single ended amps.Did you also check his comments about high end DACs in the comments section ?
He says high res audio is only for entry level DACs.. A true high end DAC will make 16/44 sound fabulous.
Agreed 100%. I find myself enjoying my music through crappy speakers/headphones as well. I'm in it as i have a gear fetish.On the video itself... There is one fundamental and fatal flaw in his argument... He makes an assumption that everyone in the audiophile game is after perfect sound imaging or holographic sound (or whatever is the en vogue vague phraseology of the week). Many of them are not. Equal or more number of people are in to the gadgetry behind hifi. I know some of my friends use audio equipments like speakers to listen to their dac, not the other way around. There yet are others who spend lot of time on streamers and softwares some others on linear power supplies. There are a few experts I know who only deal with 20khz sinewaves!! There also a whole bunch of audiophiles who just rotate(buy/sell) speakers all the time. Who is anyone to tell them what any one shd or shd not buy. Sound is not the only goal in audiophile. It may be nice if it was. But i dont like such incorrect and arrogant assumptions that determines on who shd buy what.
Cannot disagree.On the video itself... There is one fundamental and fatal flaw in his argument... He makes an assumption that everyone in the audiophile game is after perfect sound imaging or holographic sound (or whatever is the en vogue vague phraseology of the week). Many of them are not. Equal or more number of people are in to the gadgetry behind hifi. I know some of my friends use audio equipments like speakers to listen to their dac, not the other way around. There yet are others who spend lot of time on streamers and softwares some others on linear power supplies. There are a few experts I know who only deal with 20khz sinewaves!! There also a whole bunch of audiophiles who just rotate(buy/sell) speakers all the time. Who is anyone to tell them what any one shd or shd not buy. Sound is not the only goal in audiophile. It may be nice if it was. But i dont like such incorrect and arrogant assumptions that determines on who shd buy what.
Did you also check his comments about high end DACs in the comments section ?
He says high res audio is only for entry level DACs.. A true high end DAC will make 16/44 sound fabulous.
Same feeling here.I do not understand the meaning of High end audio as there is no dividing line for this.
High End Audio and Audiophile are just two marketing jargons to create a hype and increase the price tag.
I always see what professionals are using like in a studio and try to learn from them.
No offence intended.
Source material is what source material is. Its like fretting about the weather - it may be great or horrible but nothing we can do about how spotify compresses it or how AR Rahman recorded it or sound engineer of tips mastered it. Everyone can point to it but no one has any control over it. You can only control your equipment. The oft repeated analogy of how a wonderfully mastered 44/16 sounds better than a horribly recorded 192/24...i mean I will puke if I hear that one more time. What's that got to do with the user?!
Measuring extremely well by studio standards is quite expensive because studios also look for consistency and reliability ($2-4k). Only the "we get excited by graphs" folks over at audiosciencereview seem to consider stuff made by dodgy manufacturers high end based on what, I suspect, are cherry picked samplesSame feeling here.
what does he meant by high end dac? What’s his criteria?
Is it pricey and expensive ones?
Or is it MEASURING EXTREMELY WELL?
And why should a DAC add sonic signatures to the audio source? Isnt the purpose of a DAC - to reproduce as truthfully as it was originally recorded in the current digital format/file?
How can a DAC make a bad recording sound good…..if it remains a truthful DAC? (I mean it can’t add coloration to the source, right?)
I am beginning to think audiophiles will not consider a cheap DAC which measures extremely good - a high end DAC. The DAC has to have heavy esthetics and price .