desktopguy
Responses from desktopguy
| Thought I’d share: Nicely done and practical DAC review John Grandberg is the best. I read his reviews with great interest and appreciation. Not only does he write well, hear well and think well, but he often comes into the review with a novel approach or idea that makes it more than the usual "beauty ... | |
| Tube amps and a Stradivarius I've always heard (and believed) that tubes sound as good as they do for 2 primary reasons: 1 - They better convey the particular harmonic structure of notes from different instruments (accuracy of tone & timbre) 2 - And very often, they ove... | |
| Welcome to Hell, here's your 8-Track Yes, there was something good about 8-tracks. At a moment in time when the standard audio format was the LP, there were no real portable/automotive options beyond FM & AM radio. Good as those were/still are, something was missing. Much like V... | |
| Why do so many sellers take offense to offers on their listings? Early on in the audio game, I began inserting "No lowball offers, please" in my F.S. listings. I did so because I was often getting emails/posts offering 1/4 to 1/2 of my the asking price, usually w/no other questions about the item. That’s not a ... | |
| Warming up digital in my setup I can immediately think of 3 tactics to get rid of the glare: Get pretty much any competently designed R2R DAC--or better yet, a NOS (non-oversampling DAC). This will make a huge difference Get a tube buffer to put in line after the DAC. My NO... | |
| What Digital to Digital Converter Do You Use? Why? You can spend a great deal of money on a DDC these days. It seems that DDCs are audio’s new "flavor of the week." First things first: why to bother with DDCs, or their more primitive precursors, SPDIF converters? 1 - 10+ years ago when I got my ... | |
| Looking for good recordings of female vocals I have not yet tried... A couple particularly well-recorded vocal albums come to mind: Shirley Horn "Here's to Life" (1992, arrangements by Johnny Mandel) Helen Merrill "What's New" (1954) And any of Ella Fitzgerald/Norman Granz "songbook" collaborations on Verve. My ... | |
| Is it me or new audio gear is too perfect and give ear fatigue? Yes, burn-in can reduce initial apparent brightness over time. Yes, the latest crop of tube amps (as a group) are less warm & syrupy sounding. Yes, system-matching has a large effect on bright vs not-bright sound (brightness can be added or ... | |
| Best Sound Track Ever Vote for One Overall my vote for best is VERTIGO (Bernard Herrman). I listen to it once a month or so year round. Runner up would be the terrific Johnny Mandel composed soundtrack to I WANT TO LIVE, with Jerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, and others. Wonderful music... | |
| Getting good sound quality below 200Hz It’s the fact that you have these bass drivers in open baffles. That turns their radiation pattern into dipole (radiating to the front and back more or less equally), and that tends to rob the bass of impact unless compensated for in various ways.... | |
| what’s a song cover that you think is better than the original? Yes to Jimi’s "All Along the Watchtower." Two of my favorite covers are below. "A House Is Not a Home" -- this Bacharach/David tune was debuted by Dionne Warwick, and maybe the most popular cover was by Luther Vandross. Dusty Springfield never re... | |
| Turn down the Volume! Even in my twenties I didn't like to have a stereo be so loud you couldn't hear someone else speak. All those decades later, I can't handle loud volume, period. Re this: "To me, one of the most important subjective measure of a system is how it ... | |
| What is the best 2 channel listening chair? RE: " I’ve found the Steel Case Leap V2 (version 2. The V1 is no good)" @dreas, that’s your opinion. I have found the Leap V1 to be very good, indeed. I’ve owned three of them; just gave my first to my twin; sitting in second; have a leather v1 a... | |
| Why do hipsters prefer analog? What the hell is a "hipster"? I went through the exact tech sequence you mention and I’m anything but a hipster. In audio, I go where my ears take me...right now it’s R2R, specifically NOS digital. | |
| DAC diminishing returns DACs do make a difference. I find the differences aren't all that subtle, but more subtle than different speakers or headphones. I read nothing but good things about the Pontus. |