This content argues that new audiophiles often get bogged down by perceived "rules" and anxieties perpetuated by established enthusiasts, distracting them from the primary goal: enjoying music. It aims to debunk common misconceptions and gatekeeping in the audio hobby, encouraging listeners to trust their own ears and preferences.
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These are seven stupid things that new
audio files worry about and they
shouldn't. Aspiring audio files sign up
for our little club for better sound.
Not anxiety, not for rules, not a
checklist from a guy that hasn't enjoyed
music since 1997 and definitely doesn't
listen to the music that you enjoy. I
believe somewhere along the way people
stopped listening to music and started
listening to their equipment. And this
video is about breaking down the
gatekeeping. Pushing back on those
things that people repeat so many times
that most people just think, "Ah, this
must be the way it is." Well, it's not.
SO, SIT DOWN, GRAB A CUP OF COFFEE, and
let's talk about seven stupid things
that new audio files worry about and shouldn't.
The antagonist of our story, the
villain, is not bad gear. It's the
established audio file. Not all of them,
just the grumpy ones. You may have meant
them if you've heard this. I've been an
audio file for 40 years. That's not real
hi-fi. Buy real gear used. They don't
offer any solutions. They don't give you
any context. Just a whole bunch of
judgment. And now our new audio file
starts to doubt their own ears. And
instead of chasing good sound, they are
So, these are the seven traps that a lot
of new audio files fall into, and
they're not necessarily evil. I think
they're just overstated. They're just
not nearly as important as people make
them out to be. The first one is about
the music resolution. Basically,
high-res music. A high-res picture of
the inside of a dumpster is still just a
very good picture of garbage. Same thing
with music. We have bit depth, sample
rate. A compact disc comes in at 1644.1
and that is kind of the gold standard as
far as lossless music. Spotify came out
with I think it's 320 kilobits per
second, basically MP3. Now, one would
think that a CD at 1644.1 would be
better than Spotify at 320 kilobits per
second. And they're kind of right, but
what's really important is how that
track was mastered to begin with. My
point is that you can have high-res
music, but you don't necessarily need
it. Most of the audio files, myself
included, kind of feel that CDs sound
better than high-res streaming music
through a streamer. Now, that could be
just romanticizing physical media, but
there's way more to the story than just
resolution. An MP3 that is recorded
well, mastered well, is going to sound
better than high-res track that's not
recorded well, or mastered well. Doesn't
matter how good your digital to analog
converter is, a bad recording is a bad recording.
Oo, the amplifier obsession. And what
I'm talking about here is really class
A, class A B tubes, class D, class H,
class Z. I just made those last ones up.
Anyway, a lot of people say, "Well, all
class D amplifiers suck." They're not
necessarily wrong. Well, they're kind of
wrong now. They weren't really wrong 5
years ago. Early class D amplifiers, for
the most part, sounded harsh, and that's
actually a reality. However, new stuff,
especially the Texas Instruments 3255
amp chips set based amplifier, sound
pretty good, especially if they have a
powerful enough power supply. Tube amps
also aren't automatically warm.
Sometimes tube amps can sound really
pushed forward in the upper mid-range,
which I don't particularly like, and
they don't always control the bass very
well. Class A isn't a guarantee of
smooth sound either. But class D can
sound good. Class A can sound good.
Tubes can sound good. Class AB can sound
good. So, there's not one best fit for
everyone. The problem is the design of
the amplifier plays way more of a role
than just the topology of the amplifier.
So once again, we have to do a little
bit of homework. The trap that a lot of
new audio files fall within is that if I
just buy a class A amplifier, if I just
buy a tube amp, if I just ignore class
D, well then my life is going to be
better. Unfortunately, it's nuanced and
it's complicated. Here's
Here's
one that kind of hits home for me. It's
about room treatment and how a lot of
new audio files feel like they need to
have a whole bunch of room treatment.
That's not necessarily wrong. But did
you know that uh Floyd Tulle, I think,
is the guy that wrote a book about room acoustics.
acoustics.
He never used room treatment. And the
reason why is because of psychoacoustics.
psychoacoustics.
What is psycho acoustics? It's basically
our brain filling in any deficiencies in
a speaker or in a room. And after we
listen to something for a while in a
room, it starts to get normalized.
Basically, our brain is creating the
sound that we think the speaker should
sound like or the room should sound
like. I am not saying that don't do room
treatment. You can if you want, but I
don't think it needs to be something
that you're worrying about right off the
bat. I don't think you need to rent a
scaffolding and buy $5,000 worth of room
treatment. If you do want to play around
with it, though, there are some cool DIY
sound absorbers or stuff like that that
you can build. Basically, it's a frame
with some Cohen
Cohen
or what is it? Owens Corning insulation
stuffed in it. Buy the new stuff, not
the old stuff, because you don't want to
get messyltheloma
anyway. Put that at your first
reflection point. How do you find your
first reflection point? Grab a mirror,
slide it down, sit in your listening
position, have somebody grab a mirror,
maybe one of your children, and kind of
slide it along the wall until you can
just see your speaker out of the corner
of your eye. That's your first
reflection. Put a big old thick towel up
there and see if you hear a difference.
If you do, maybe build something for 30
bucks and put it up there. But do not
worry about room treatment right off the
bat. It's a trap. It's not really a
trap. It's just a way to throw away a
bunch of money. And for most people, if
they have carpet, if they have a bunch
of furniture in their room, then you're
already getting the benefit from a lot
of dedicated room treatment. And it's a
Ah, the specification trap. We all get
warm and fuzzy when we look at spec spec
sheets. We say, "Well, this one's got
more power than that one." The whole
industry knows this and that's why they
used to put power ratings on the side of
boxes at Best Buy because they knew, the
manufacturers knew that people are going
to gravitate and buy the product that
has the most power. And there's entire
communities that really concentrate on
the specifications or the measurements
of a certain device, whether it be an
amplifier or speakers. They aren't
wrong. This is how people manufacturers
create products. But just like the late
'7s, there were the receiver wars. And
basically, it was an arms race for
power. I would say today we have a THD
war. The lower the THD, the better. How
many zeros can you put after the 0.00000000?
0.00000000?
It's super easy and comforting to look
at two spec sheets and buy the one that
has better specs. But again, that
doesn't tell the whole story. An
amplifier designer can put a whole bunch
of negative feedback into a design which
lowers the THD. However, that can kill
the personality of an amp, can make
things sound sterile. I have heard
amplifiers that have similar
specifications sound entirely different,
remarkably different. And if
measurements were everything, then tube
amplifiers wouldn't exist because their
THD is super high because they have even
order harmonics, which are actually very
pleasing to hear. However, that
negatively impacts the measurements. Zoo
Audio makes speakers and they don't
measure flat, but people love them. The
point is, [clears throat] it's
complicated. The CF LS50s and the new
Concerto Meta, I don't think sound good
at all. But if you look at their
measurements, well, that would be a
speaker that most people should
consider. This hobby boils down to what
subjectively you like the sound of. And
if you like the sound of a Zeus speaker
paired with a tube amp, well, then
that's the right choice. I wish it was
Ooh. Number six is forums and absolutes.
We don't live in absolutes. You will
hear things like amplifiers should only
amplify. Otherwise, you're not hearing
what the artist intended. Amplifiers
like Macintosh, especially this stuff,
the vintage Macintosh.
Warm, robust, awesome. It wasn't just
amplifying the signal. It was imparting
a little bit of its flavor, its
personality. Listen to a Crown amplifier
for pro audio and then listen to a
Macintosh amplifier. you're going to
hear a difference. The term what the
artist intended is probably the most
damaging thing in audio because people
use that argument when it's convenient.
Whether it be with speakers, with
amplifiers, with your room, we don't
know what the artist intended or the
mastering engineer intended. We only
know what we like the sound of. Do you
see a theme here? You are the person
that determines what sounds good, not a
forum, not me, not a reviewer. This
would be the equivalent of letting
someone choose the restaurant for you.
Now, we'll go to reviews. We'll go to
Yelp or whatever it's called and say,
"Oh, we maybe we should try this
restaurant." But it would be like
somebody standing over you and you
eating something and be like, "God, this
isn't very good." And then them saying,
"No, it is good." And you like it
because this is what the chef intended
it to taste like, obviously. But some
people don't like the taste of fondant.
Me. The point is, don't outsource your
enjoyment to strangers. that definitely
don't know your taste or live in your
room or have your speakers or your
amplifier or your source or tell you
The last point in this video is letting
other people make the decision for you
or really seeking their approval when
you're making a decision. Letting
someone else tell you what you should be
getting or what you should be enjoying.
The one really inconvenient thing is
that you need to try out a lot of gear
and you need to know what you like. And
the problem with new audio files is they
don't know what their preferences are
yet. That's why you should do way more
listening than buying. And if you can
become a part of a good community,
sometimes there's gear sharing. It's
like sharing custody of a speaker or an
amplifier, except you probably don't
have to meet in a McDonald's parking lot
on a Sunday evening. This is a fun hobby
and it should be fun. And if you feel
anxiety because you don't have a treated
room, you don't have an amplifier that
measures just perfectly, you're enjoying
a Zoo speaker, a clip speaker, you're
not wrong. As long as you enjoy it,
that's all that matters. There is no
universal right answer for everyone.
When a new audio file stops listening to
what other people say they should get
and starts trusting their own ears,
well, that's step one. And the most
wonderful thing about this hobby is more
of the journey than the destination.
There will always be new gear that will
measure better. Trends will change.
There will always be new amplifier
technologies. Class D GAN amplifiers,
new codecs for your audio, atmas audio.
But the only thing that truly matters is
your opinion. Maybe you just like buying
gear. That's cool, too. We're all gear
heads. I started my whole channel
because of the CE LS50s.
I was told that they sound good and they
didn't to me and it made me angry. So,
trust yourself and trust your gut.
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