At 5:43 in the clip, SG starts to face his existential question: would [the gear] ...[turn out, objectively to]
sound alike?
As a noob, I'm assuming the answer
should be "yes." (Except for Lyngdorf, I see.) I assume differences remain, at this point, only because ASR has not been around long enough to de-bullshit-ify
every type of gear. (But thanks for doing Lyngdorf. I can't believe those guys can sell a single unit!)
I love ASR because it identifies the boxes that you
can't hear, because I'm
not part of the performance. "Switched On Bach" was my first encounter with a really obvious point: "reproduction
can be part of the performance." Of course then I noticed it everywhere: Jimi Hendrix burning his (electric) guitar (pickups) on-stage, Blue Man Group, and so on... In the end, I'm trying to get what the artist wanted me to have. (...Of course, to
@amirm 's point in another thread, I'm also a gadget freak.)
So my "ask" for this forum, if I had one, would be to bring together the data and do the "inaudible levels" like
@flipflop produced in the post on "Audibility thresholds..." and basically identify the cheapest price at which, say, the DAC is no longer detectable. At that point, DACs should become commodity. Right now, according to the chart, the Katana from Allo seems to be that first commodity DAC. (Except I don't know what other elements of a DAC can be heard, so... That's why I'm a noob.) Seems to me to be binary: hear it? (not). Then: price? (list of inaudible models) Then: other features? (I get my gadget fix, ahhh)...
The pair of Chromecast analyses is my favorite ASR example so far! Those posts are awesome! Also the room acoustics for dummies is great! Next I'm gonna read (just discovered) "How to Listen." Admittedly, it seems like I have this bass ackwards.
On that note (forgive me) I'm starting to think there's prolly an efficient learning path, like a lot of things. Seems like the collected brains on ASR have all this sitting around, and it's only fair that people get paid for their expertise. But I'm glad to have access to this in the meantime. (The internet is truly amazing in driving down the cost of information, for better and for worse.) There's a lot of value-added here...
For example, I am starting to feel confident that:
- (a) I have typically bad room acoustics,
- (b) I'm not sure my wife is going to let me cover the windows with sound deadening materials, thus...
- (c) my room adds +/- "n db" of noise to whatever is coming from the speakers. Therefore,
- (d) I should have "n db" of sense of humor about my gear selections.
- ... Still, Katana is cheap, so can get perfect for that!
I'd feel guilty if I didn't at least try to help out, since I've received so much already. So how about an income model that is NOT advertising? How about looking at the "two-sided" model of
GlassDoor in employment? [Note: I'm obviously not a marketing guy, but ASR is a good thing, and engineers make the best marketers, according to my marketing prof. And you guys appear to be mostly engineers, so...]
- Firstly, you have this forum and its "flowers" already.
- I believe that I (a consumer) would qualify as a "bee" in this model.
- As I understand it, Glassdoor charges employers to post jobs on the site. Employers (the sell side) willingly pay to harvest job seekers, who love to read people's experiences -- and hopefully to avoid bad bosses.
- In ASR's case, equipment producers (the sell side) want to harvest my money... (Um, my honey bee metaphor is falling apart...) BUT you require them to post their work in "@flipflop-style" comments -- very much NOT advertising,
- The objectivity of the gear testing remains, without incentive to "sell out." Vendors can comment, but it better be good or they'll just embarrass themselves.
- For the audience that just wants a list of the "top 5" you sell those reports behind a pay wall. I should explain myself, on this point, that I think the 'what do I buy?' question is real and one-time. It's hard to get at that from the detail on ASR. But the ASR owners would be able to "boil it down" into a clean report, since that is the very nature of detailed analysis. Some categories of gear would be more binary than others, I think... I'd happily pay $20 per unit x as many pieces as I need. I am aiming at $200 components. Later on, I'll pay up to 10% to avoid blowing $2,000 on an imperfect amp.
- And hopefully then you'd have a reason and a budget for getting to the bottom of these "hearability" questions, and probably patenting some metrics and tools into the bargain... I'd happily pay $100 or more for a box I could plug into a USB port at a dealer store. Amazon has a workable return policy. I guarantee I'd post about getting screwed by a manufacturer or dealer who wanted me to buy unconditionally. You. could. shift. the balance of power!
Come to think of it, I'm kinda passionate about this because...
- I've been hovering around audiophile shops and gear since high school, and I've never paid for any of it because it just... Well I'll put it this way: I am fascinated with Vegas casinos, but in the many times I've been there, my math mind has never allowed me put my money down.
- It took promotions and close-out deals for me to PAY $15 for chromecast audio (CCA). Otherwise I've been using bluetooth and an iPhone.
Now, thanks to the certainty of ASR, I have a toe in the water.
(Unrelated to ASR) I have some Zu speakers on the way too... (gulp)
It all started because I found ASR while trying to determine whether the CCA is usable with any hypothetical amplification chain, and if so what. ...Ever since then, I've been reading ASR obsessively and rewiring my living room accordingly! (Aside: who knew CCA had
optical out and
ethernet in?!? 
) ) I'm sooo pumped!
