Welcome New Members to ASR, introduce yourself here.

[DavidF]

Not exactly a new member—just finally decided it was time to jump in.
I’ve been a music addict since age eight, so going on 57+ years now, and a self-identified audiophile for most of that time. My musical foundation has always been the classic sounds of the ’60s and ’70s—folk, rock & roll, pop, and jazz—but over the past 10–15 years I’ve found myself increasingly drawn more to the world of jazz.

My system currently consists of Parasound separates, a Technics turntable with Ortofon cartridges, and Oppo multi-disc players. Speakers rotate between KEF R3 Metas, GR-Research XLS Encores, and Magnepan LRS+—depending on mood and what the music calls for. Also incorporate a stereo pair of REL T/5X subs.

Not an expert on anything—just a lifelong music lover who never stops listening.

 

[Snarfie]

Hello. I just registered. Not really knowing much about this forum, but I've found very useful info around here occationally, so here I am. I'm located in Oslo, Norway, I've been a musician in the eighties, medical problems made me turn to my second passion; music recording and mixing. I ran a one-man studio for many years recording local bands, and I now have some of the gear left, right here in my living room (I live alone), and I enjoy playing around with old sessions and occationally helping people out with mixes and stuff, and following the technological development.

I've used Protools since the late nineties, so my main forum was the DUC for many years, now it's mostly UAD forum and Gearspace.

Great to have you here. Saw you working with Protools. These days there’s no shortage of multitrack files floating around any plans to dive in and make some of your own remixes mabey you al ready did for private use? Maybe strip out the vocals and let the drums, bass, or guitars take the spotlight? I find it fun to piece together your own instrumental album ( for instance) from the classics if available.
Did Peg from Steely Dan focused on Chuck Rainey bass done with Ableton. So much fun creates new associations an mabey feromons for thougts.

SoundCloud - Hear the world’s sounds

Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio

on.soundcloud.com

 

[horvi0001]

Hi guys, I've just recently upgraded from Yamaha AS-701 2.1 system to Denon AVR-X2800H 6.1 paired with identical JBL Stage 250b surround speakers and SVS SB2000 subwoofer, display is an entry level 50 inch Samsung UE50U8072F LCD Crystal LED TV with VA panel but very satisfied with samsung displays so far, it gets a backlight with D65 natural white osram led light (to deceive a bit my vision and increase the apparent contrast effect, the lumen value is more stronger than the recommended 10% of the display brightness) the source is a desktop PC. Audyssey MultEQ editor app has been used for disabling the midrange compensation dip. The measurement with REW has not done yet, but coming soon

 

[Kzmt]

Hello to everyone. I'm Marius, an ASR observer for the many years. Will mostly be here to document and share some of my (silly) diy projects. Have fun!

 

[「 ✦ JIM ✦ 」]

Hello to everyone here at ASR. I've been a follower of this forum for a few years and have found the information presented throughout the pages an absolute game changer, so I thank you all in advance! Through the advice scattered here, I've been able to unlock so much hidden potential in my system that I was totally unaware of a year or so ago. Anyway, I've decided to create an account and chime in so hopefully can contribute to some of the threads across the forum.

My main interest is 2 channel and my system consists of McIntosh amplification that powers a pair of Usher Mini Dancer2's. They're backed up by a pair of Arendal 1723 2S' (a sub next to each main). The system is bass managed to 130hz using a minidsp flex as a preamp and dac that is fed with a Blusesound Node as transport and also a NAS drive. Room is treated to a degree that WAF allows but I have the 1st reflection points covered. I have bass trap membrain panels behind the mains and all cables and interconnects are made by myself. For movies I use a Marantz AVR to power the center channel Usher BE616 and use the Stereo amp to drive the mains via the AVR preout. I don't bother with rear surrounds as I find my front sound stage enough for my needs. I have some IsoTek power conditioning due to falling for the hype some 10 years ago so use that as a overpriced junction box for the media player and other nonsense these days.

It literally takes wild horses to pull me away from my system these days, I've never been so happy.

Thanks again

Jim

 

[Bronte]

Hi from France
Manchester United and ASNL fan
King of ratatouille / prince of quiche lorraine of course
I feel sometimes I'm the only one on Earth to still listen mp3 music. (only 320k compressed)
And damn, why did I choose iTunes over Foobar2000? Why?

Seriously I'm only here to ask if anyone is kind enough to tell Paul McGowan of PS Audio to stop answering imaginary questions about hi-fi and electronics. Questions supposedly sent by people, when we all know it's him or someone on his team who comes up with them and prints them out.

 

[JSmith]

Seriously I'm only here to ask if anyone is kind enough to tell Paul McGowan of PS Audio to stop answering imaginary questions about hi-fi and electronics. Questions supposedly sent by people, when we all know it's him or someone on his team who comes up with them and prints them out.

I think you may be onto something there.

Welcome to ASR, I think you'll like it here.


JSmith

 

[Urastan]

Hello to everyone. I'm Marius, an ASR observer for the many years. Will mostly be here to document and share some of my (silly) diy projects. Have fun!

Hey Marius))

 

[Urastan]

Hello to everyone here at ASR. I've been a follower of this forum for a few years and have found the information presented throughout the pages an absolute game changer, so I thank you all in advance! Through the advice scattered here, I've been able to unlock so much hidden potential in my system that I was totally unaware of a year or so ago. Anyway, I've decided to create an account and chime in so hopefully can contribute to some of the threads across the forum.

My main interest is 2 channel and my system consists of McIntosh amplification that powers a pair of Usher Mini Dancer2's. They're backed up by a pair of Arendal 1723 2S' (a sub next to each main). The system is bass managed to 130hz using a minidsp flex as a preamp and dac that is fed with a Blusesound Node as transport and also a NAS drive. Room is treated to a degree that WAF allows but I have the 1st reflection points covered. I have bass trap membrain panels behind the mains and all cables and interconnects are made by myself. For movies I use a Marantz AVR to power the center channel Usher BE616 and use the Stereo amp to drive the mains via the AVR preout. I don't bother with rear surrounds as I find my front sound stage enough for my needs. I have some IsoTek power conditioning due to falling for the hype some 10 years ago so use that as a overpriced junction box for the media player and other nonsense these days.

It literally takes wild horses to pull me away from my system these days, I've never been so happy.

Thanks again

Jim

Welcome Jim!

 

[joqueval]

Although I already shared this introductory post when I first met you all, I wanted to share this video.

I think the profiles of those of us here share the common trait of being perfectionists in all aspects of our lives, both professionally and in our hobbies.

It seems like only yesterday, but more than three decades of passion have already passed.

 

[Stablemate]

I posted once when living in Los Angeles, but since moving the Portland, Or area, figured I'd say hello again in the off-chance we have some locals? If so, DM me!

DAC: Prism Callia | Turntable: Technics SL-1210M5G with AudioMods Series Five arm and Lyra Delos cart | Phono Pre: Avid Pulsus | Integrated Amp: Balanced Audio Technology VK-3000SE | Subs: Rythmik L12 | Speakers: Yamaha NS1000 & KEF LS50 Meta | Headamp: Shortest Way 51+ | Headphones: Drop HD6XX / Denon AH-D7000 / HiFiMan HE-5se

 

[manustiina]

Greetings from the colder part of Europe! I just joined, but for some years already I have benefited from the contents of this forum. I am currently in the process of incorporating Genelec 8330A stereo system into my living room setup, and designing acoustic treatment for that space.

I would not call myself an audio enthusiast yet, but I have always appreciated good sound. Perhaps I am on my way there.

 

[Sweelinck]

Hi, I'm Henrik, 29 years old and am from Germany.

I've been reading in this forum for some time, but today I decided to create an account. My main musical interest lies in the broad classical era, which for me personally ranges from early baroque period (mostly from 16th century onwards) all the way to early 20th century with Gustav Mahler. I enjoy many different instruments and arrangements, including for example small string ensembles, also organs and other keyboard instruments, and the human voice. Beside visiting concerts, I mainly listened via headphones, but grew tired of having the sound sitting directly on my ears.

That's why I decided to go for a new audio setup last year, and I'm very happy with it.
My current setup is the following: Music output via foobar2000 on my PC, then through separate built-in USB card (for more stable connection than mainboard-USB) to my audio-interface Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd gen. From there two balanced XLR cables go to my Adam Audio T10S studio subwoofer. I've set it up to grab the frequencies from 80hz and below, and then it's connected to my Adam Audio T5V near-field studio monitors.
I'm not a music producer, but still went for studio monitors & sub, because I enjoy the original sound of the recordings I bought. The monitors have clean heights and mids, and the sub gives additional and precise support in low frequencies - without being intrusive at all, it creates a rounder picture.
Sounds great and I'm having a blast.

 

[hu.go]

Hello ASR Team
Now new while I'm reading messages since long time but now registered.
Writing and reading topics from Italy

Cheers,
Hugo

 

[antcollinet]

Hello ASR Team
Now new while I'm reading messages since long time but now registered.
Writing and reading topics from Italy

Cheers,
Hugo

Welcome to (posting on) ASR.

 

[hu.go]

Thanks antcollinet

 

[Sagittarius]

Title: A Linux-based, measurement-literate audio streamer — two decades of continuity

My background in computer audio goes back to the first wave of Linux-based, bit-perfect streaming. Between roughly 2010 and 2015 I was active on French and international forums (Forum-Audiophile, Hardware.fr, HCFR, What’s Best Forum) under the pseudonym Sagittarius. Some of those threads are now only accessible via web archives, but the technical ideas they contained are still directly relevant.

Where this started​

My entry point into computer audio was not “a PC replacing a CD player”, but a networked, headless transport designed around three principles:

1. The DAC must be clock master
   With USB Audio Class 2 asynchronous devices (e.g., Stello U3, TEAC UD-H01, Musical Fidelity V-DAC II), the DAC controls the clock and requests data from the host. This eliminates host-side jitter as a meaningful variable, a point already well established in AES literature (Gordon Rankin, Wavelength, 2008–2009).
2. The playback path must be bit-perfect and minimal
   On Linux this meant MPD → ALSA hw device, no software mixer, no PulseAudio, no resampling, no DSP unless explicitly wanted.
   This ensures that what leaves the kernel over USB is exactly the PCM stream provided by the player.
3. The transport must be electrically and logically quiet
   Very early on I used ARM “plug computers” (Seagate Dockstar, GoFlex Net) running Debian or ArchLinuxARM, booting from NFS, with no GUI, no disks, and often no local storage at all. One box acted as a pure NAS (NFS), another as a pure MPD endpoint, with USB dedicated to the DAC. Today this would be called a “network endpoint”; in 2011 it was just engineering common sense.

Vincent Kars (author of The Well-Tempered Computer) referenced this type of two-box ARM architecture on What’s Best Forum at the time, because it was measurably and operationally more stable than typical Windows-based setups.

Philosophy: engineering first​

My approach has always been aligned with what ASR stands for today:

• If a digital link is correctly implemented (USB asynchronous, proper buffering, no resampling), it is bit-perfect and therefore transparent.
• Jitter at the USB or network level is irrelevant when the DAC reclocks internally; only the DAC’s own clock and analog stage matter.
• Claims about “magical” transports, Ethernet cables, or software players must be evaluated against measurements and signal theory, not anecdotes.

That is why Linux, MPD, ALSA and small ARM boards were so attractive: they allow full control of the data path and make it trivial to verify that nothing is being altered.

What I run today​

In 2025–2026 the hardware has changed, but the architecture has not:

• Endpoint: Odroid-C1+ (eMMC), DietPi-based and other archlinux based systems
• Playback: MPD for local and remote control, Navidrome for library and clients
• Storage: rclone with a local cache, synced to pCloud and Synology local NAS
• DAC: Topping D50 III (USB asynchronous, state-of-the-art measured performance)

From a signal-integrity point of view, this is the same system I built fifteen years ago, just with vastly better DACs and more reliable storage and networking.

Why I am on ASR​

ASR is one of the few places where computer audio is discussed the way it should be: with measurements, protocol-level understanding, and no tolerance for folklore. My historical work on MPD, ARM endpoints, and asynchronous USB was an early, practical demonstration of the same principles Amir and others now validate with modern analyzers.

I am here to contribute from that long-term, engineering-driven perspective, and to help separate what actually affects the signal from what merely affects expectations.

 

[antcollinet]

Title: A Linux-based, measurement-literate audio streamer — two decades of continuity

Welcome : You are going to fit right in.

I am slightly less of a purist - jitter on modern DACs with decent clock recovery, is a solved problem (audibly). Toslink and SPdif are fine as interfaces to DACs. And for me bit perfection is not a requirement. Upsampling, ASRC, digital volume, EQ, do what you like : As long as whatever DSP exists is correctly implemented it will have no negative audible impact. In many cases (room compensation/EQ) it has a significant benefit.

 

[Dilis]

Namasté,

call me Dilis
Happy to challenge my english, open for upgrade advices!

I'm here after reading https://petoindominique.fr/php/cablemodulation.php
And login because , as it was written, this website seems to offer reviews

with measurements, protocol-level understanding, and no tolerance for folklore

Well, I early started to try to get the best of parent's

and

, tweaking all what I could.
Then, claiming for the best portable component at town :

around 3000FF at this time, that was quite a lot, but it had all the specs!
Still have: is it sound or noise right now?!

(No expectation on my age now)

At first job, in the main music room :

• Teac AR 600 integrated amplifier + jamo Classic 8 floorstanding+ Pioneer DVD player "not to bad audio" , then Yam MCD 1330 integrated amplifier then Audio Analogue Puccili 70 rev2 integrated amplifier + MA Silver 500 floorstanding + denon cd 900 CD player

I have only one quite serious experiment that I remember:
Just bought the AR-600, I bring it to a friend to compare. Friend was music player and played in studios, had around 1000€ MARANTZ amp, a professional 2 hand CD reader from France Inter radio ( 45000FF ?), a reader and JMR Studio 4 http://haute-fidelite.chez-alice.fr/jmr/images_jmr/documentations/studio4.pdf .
Listen a jazz piece while talking with a drink, and, after a quarter, both at same time, jumping on foot and looking each other :" it really plays now!" I was just discovering that systems have to warm up.
( I also little experimented the "wow" effect when I changed my double RCA cable (15€) for 2 chinese (10€) , incredible change for the price, and questions about cables! )

Then, for secondary room:

• small Onkyo CD stereo CD reader + Eltax M3 bookshelf speakers; some Monitor Audio BX BR then Bronze 2 bookshelf speakers with Teac CR H500 integrated CD stereo reder
• Aiyiama D05 then A80 mini Class D amp on Yam NS BP400 bookshelf speakers then Oran 4305 little columns.

And also some surprising Mifa A20 BT portable speakers; and Focal Listen Pro & Sivga Robin SV21 headphones
Listening CDs or smartphone in BT ( I know :) so, interesting on knowing wich are the good ones for music
I choose my old 2 hand car for 30% the decision on the sound system.

I try to upgrade my systems looking for the best balance Q/P, but for very low prices, like less than 1000€, more often with 2 hand.

I'm here to learn and upgrade my systems ( DIY filters ?), help if I can, in english!

 

[antcollinet]

1 - Welcome to the forum.

2- If you want advice, this is not the thread for it - this is for introductions. I suggest re-posting your request for advice in a more appropriate location.

3 - When you do - please don't just post model numbers - then you are forcing your readers to search for the model numbers to find out what type of device it is, and how your system is set up. Instead post the model number plus description (EG Teac AR 600 - integrated amplifier)