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New Year's 2024 Audiophile resolutions

teched58

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It's that time of year again! I've been thinking about what I'd like to do audio-wise in 2024 and was wondering what others in the ASR community are thinking about.

Here are my three "resolutions":


1) Try some cheap schiiiit

In 2024, I plan to finally take the low-cost plunge and get a Class D amp. (Stipulating here that I know low-cost and Class D do not have a perfect Venn diagram overlap. However, while not all Class D amplifiers are cheap, nearly all amps that are cheap are class D.)

Oddly enough, the one impediment that stopped me from buying an Aiyima, which is essentially a throw-away item since it's so cheap, is that there is no A/B speaker selection switch on these things, since I have two sets of bookshelf speakers that I switch between (one is very bright, the other darker).


2) Explore multichannel

This past year, I've found myself listening to my budget 5.1 setup a lot more than my traditional and far more expensive 2.1 stereo. I've come to prefer the immersive experience. Whether I'll still feel this way once the novelty has warn off, I don't yet know.

One thing I've already noticed is that there's a big difference between native surround (Atmos, older 5.1, various DTS) and the "fake" surround you can get on any AVR.

So in 2024 I intend to try to get/buy/listen to additional native surround content. One problem here is that it's expensive to buy surround content. Most Atmos mixes thus far have been on blu-rays that are only available as part of expensive "super deluxe" sets. (With the two just-released Beatles remixed 1962-1966 and 1967-70 compilations, we may be seeing a permanent migration away from blu-ray/physical surround releases to them just being online. These Beatles comps are available in Atmos only on Apple Music. Unfortunately, I prefer physical media and I don't have Apple Music.)

My desire is to get access to more surround content, one way or another, in 2024.


3) Don't engage with pure subjectividiots

I've really tried to engage with these people, especially on that other forum that many of us spent time on before they threw us off and we came en masse over to ASR.

I don't mind if people have subjective preferences. Indeed, I myself always turn the bass way up. What I can't stomach is the ignorance of folks who think there are numerous undiscovered and uncharacterizable things -- nay, unmeasureable!! -- going on in the audio realm. These subjectivists have not a clue about what they don't know. The first thing they don't seem to understand is that audio is a mature technology (stereo was first developed in 1929).

These same subjectivist folks, who want a trained doctor when they're sick and a experienced pilot when they're flying, seem to be perfectly happy with Joe "I did my own listening" Blow telling them that electrical engineers "don't know everything." (Spoiler alert: I, and we, do!)

So, what's in the 2024 audio future for you?
 
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1) Have my audio stuff in place and working again after some home repair.

2) Attend Pacific Northwest Audiofest.

3) Get some sort of container/Pod thing and create a bit of room for overflow stuff.

4) Part with some gear to make room.

5) Have my kids hook up some streaming stuff for me.
 
Oddly enough, the one impediment that stopped me from buying an Aiyima, which is essentially a throw-away item since it's so cheap, is that there is no A/B speaker selection switch on these things, since I have two sets of bookshelf speakers that I switch between (one is very bright, the other darker).
Why not buy 2 amps since they are so cheap and small, drive them in parallel, and just power on the one(s) you want? Or use a line level switch on the inputs? Better to devote an amp to a pair of speakers and keep the speaker cables short.
 
I only have one New Year's audiophile resolution: I'm going to finally finish the soundproof listening/theater room that I designed and started construction on 5 years ago, then had to put on pause for most of those years due to family health issues, and is now finally rolling along again. It's currently awaiting framing/mechanical/electrical inspections, and then on to insulation and drywall. Still lots to do.

It's a 12' x 14' room in the corner of the basement. For soundproofing it has double stud walls that are decoupled from the rest of the home with sound isolation brackets. The ceiling is decoupled with RSIC-1 clip/channel. HVAC in/out of the room all goes thru big 200 pound mufflers that I built in the above floor joists, and are also hanging on isolation brackets. All electrical boxes are backed with sealed 2x thick MDF backer boxes. Floor will be heavy carpet over cork on concrete. In and out will be thru a Studio 3D Soundproof Door.

The primary goal is all about a lower noise floor. I don't expect silence, but I do expect a huge upgrade from my current situation in the open living room next to all sorts of windows. I live about 10 minutes from the Minneapolis Internatinoal airport, so there is fairly regular airplane noise. I cannot wait to have a quiet room to listen to music and watch movies! I also know I'm get a lot more of a buffer for how loud I can listen before annoying my wife, but I'm not sure how much that is, and it's not a primary goal. Whenever it's all done, I'll post a thread here on it.
 
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4) Figure out whether to keep buying "super deluxe" dinosaur rock reissues, to get the blu-ray Atmos disc that's usually only included in the most expensive edition, or go 100% streaming (which looks like the long-term future of Atmos; the two just-released Beatles compilations (1962-66 Red album and 1967-70 Blue) have the Atmos mixes available on Spotify only.)

EDIT: The Beatles' Red and Blue Atmos are on Apple Music (and Tidal according to AdamG) not Spotify
 
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4) Figure out whether to keep buying "super deluxe" dinosaur rock reissues, to get the blu-ray Atmos disc that's usually only included in the most expensive edition, or go 100% streaming (which looks like the long-term future of Atmos; the two just-released Beatles compilations (1962-66 Red album and 1967-70 Blue) have the Atmos mixes available on Spotify only.)

Both Albums are available on Apple Music and both are Dolby ATMOS and Hi-Res Lossless. Same goes for Tidal. Both albums are avail either in Hi-Res Lossless or Dolby ATMOS.




 
Not spend a cent on audio equipment until 2025.

Buy records only occasionally (no duplicates).

Teach myself electrical engineering/design.

Teach myself classical and blues guitar.

Become a better cook. Or make my peace with the fact that I'm not a great cook. Or, failing both, just pull my dang weight in the kitchen. (Edit it: this may not be strictly speaking an audiophile resolution, but it's related. Part of the idea is to pull myself away from the computer/stereo long enough to do handle annoying little things like eating and sleeping.)
 
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No more spending on audio gear. I'm done for the foreseeable future (unless I have to replace a cartridge).

I shall now turn my attention to Home Theater upgrades, in order to drain my expenses...
 
Finish reading the book Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms written by Dr. Floyd Toole.
Can't believe I didn't read it earlier.
 
Everything is working fine right now, so more CDs.
 
I am VERY pleased with my main music room system and MOSTLY pleased with my bedroom gear. There is a remote possibility of a speaker change in the bedroom -
‘Just because!’

My plan is to listen to music new to me in addition to my old favorites - especially modern “classic” composers. I will use the “What are we listening to now” forum to find
what the ‘hive mind’ has of interest.
 
Mine is;

Get rid of all my Hifi gear.

Buy some powered speakers, Neumann
KH150's most likely, possibly Genelec.

Get a one box DAC, CD, Pre-amp combo, suggestions welcome, so far it's looking like a Quad Arterra Play+.

Spend money I would normally spend on D.I.Y builds and chasing better equipment on actual music, sit back with a whiskey, job done and enjoy my final system.

The way I see it, nothing is going to touch the DSP variants of the Neumann's or Genelec's, it's literally end game speaker right there, and when you look at their cost, already having amplification as well, it's just a no brainer.
 
  1. Get a Dirac Live DSP
  2. Try a FiiO M17 or wait for an equivalent with dual ES9039PRO DACs instead (just to have the latest :rolleyes:)
 
Probably won't get through all of these (maybe any) but here are mine:

  1. Sell the old B&Ws and NC500 amps, buy Genelec for the desk
  2. Do some room correction on the new living room system
  3. Somehow convince my wife to add acoustic treatment in the living room
  4. Try 3D printing a QRD diffuser
  5. Set up my downstairs system (random Bose junk)
 
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