What electronic audio products you want tested most

[Saidera]

ATH-M30x and M40x.

Xperia 1 III

Sonata HD II (ESS)

 

[amirm]

A thought would be perhaps adding something like a Chroma 615xx programmable AC source to the test suite that can generate complex AC source waveforms simulating line harmonics and seeing how good equipment is at rejecting it beyond just basic 60Hz rejection.

This has been on my Todo list for quite a while. Just have to find the time to do it as I have a programmable AC generator.

 

[spigot]

Cheap head/earphones for exercising or prolonged use.
Most head/earphones aren't suitable for long periods or being active. I use JVC HAS160B Flats ($18.95 4.4 stars from 6147 ratings) when exercising, they stay on your head, are light (for running), good sensitivity, sweat resistant and boom. For podcasts/youtube I use Philips SHS3200BK/37 earhooks $14.99, very comfy. Neither of these would be hifi but I suppose most most head/earphones sold aren't. My ancient HD600's are great, but they're frequently not practical.
https://www.amazon.com/JVC-HAS160B-...ld=1&keywords=JVC+Flats&qid=1621875586&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHS3...ywords=philips+earhooks&qid=1621873895&sr=8-3

 

[RichardJackson]

I have used cassette a lot in the past. But right now I have been watching videos on YouTube for listening songs in different types.

 

[Phos]

Kinda out there but I'd be interested in seeing if a cathode ray oscilloscope sees any difference between a delta-sigma and multibit DAC, particularly with more complex wave forms. Was thinking existing testing was perfectly adequate, then I see that review of that NuForce dac that seemed fine until it fell apart to the multitone.

 

[audio2design]

This has been on my Todo list for quite a while. Just have to find the time to do it as I have a programmable AC generator.

Which AC Source do you have?

 

[audio2design]

Kinda out there but I'd be interested in seeing if a cathode ray oscilloscope sees any difference between a delta-sigma and multibit DAC, particularly with more complex wave forms. Was thinking existing testing was perfectly adequate, then I see that review of that NuForce dac that seemed fine until it fell apart to the multitone.

Scopes don't have the resolution required for DAC testing. Your can think of an Audio Precision unit as a high resolution audio speed digital oscilloscope.

 

[Nango]

DAC section of certain audio dedicated mobile phones.

 

[urfaust]

Amps. I think this is still the weakest link nowadays, at least after speakers themeselves, but im sure there are a lot of good ones that we just don't know about.

 

[audio2design]

Amps. I think this is still the weakest link nowadays, at least after speakers themeselves, but im sure there are a lot of good ones that we just don't know about.

Amps under more complex loads would be the main thing I would be looking at, and after that, looking at more complex testing on existing products, things not within the usual test suites like thermal compression on loudspeakers (from voice coil heating), etc.

 

[adamjohari]

SMSL DA 9 please! Have a long thread going on it but still waiting on Amir's review

 

[Gorgonzola]

As a person will occasional interest in DIY, I would be interested in testing and comparison of volume control devices, that is, potentiometers versus stepped attenuators versus digital volume controls.

 

[benji]

The headphone out ports of apple (and others) laptops. So we can get an idea in objective terms of what you're gaining by buying an external dac/amp.

 

[idratherusegoogle]

For class A/AB they are not insanely expensive and are supposed to sound great. The idea being buy a inexpensive ish AVR like the Dennon X3500H whenever the video tech requires an upgrade and keep the Parasound long term.

Suggestion: Let TVs do what TVs do best and keep the AVR out of the video chain entirely. Use eARC.

I'd like to see AVRs lose the V. That's the real benefit of ARC, not this handwavey BS about fewer cords (provably false anyhow). Why pay for video handling in 2 components when your TV already has that?

 

[audio2design]

Suggestion: Let TVs do what TVs do best and keep the AVR out of the video chain entirely. Use eARC.

I'd like to see AVRs lose the V. That's the real benefit of ARC, not this handwavey BS about fewer cords (provably false anyhow). Why pay for video handling in 2 components when your TV already has that?

So as opposed to running one 10-15 foot HDMI cable to the TV, you want to run 5 of them, then another back to the AVR?

 

[idratherusegoogle]

So as opposed to running one 10-15 foot HDMI cable to the TV, you want to run 5 of them, then another back to the AVR?

Yes. As opposed to 5 HDMI cables to the AVR and another one to the TV.

For me it's just 1 and 1 since the only video source I use is a PS5 and the cables are all run in-wall. But now I'm in the market for a new TV and AVR set and I'm scratching my head wondering why I'm worrying over what version of HDMI the AVR supports when the TV is already on the next one and why it needs to have upscaling when the TV already does that, and with a shitload more research behind it.

I'd prefer to pay less to the AVR companies and have them focus more on audio quality in their R&D. But there's nothing to say they can't do both if they want; I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would prefer to route their video through their AVR and pay more for it.

 

[idratherusegoogle]

Dsp and multichannel audio processors slash avrs

+1000

I'm glad to see someone else asking for multichannel audio processors, because here's my hot take:

I would like to provide my own preamps and amplifiers to multi-channel audio. All I need a processor for is splitting and algorithming the digital signal into however many channels it has, and then provide a unity gain line level buffer on the output so I can route it to the preamp array of my choosing. In fact, I'd love to see a digital audio processor that takes eARC in and provides this kind of analog out as well as per-channel AES digital out so I can even provide my own DACs. 5 years from now I'll probably want something that understands newer formats but still has the same outputs, but I still don't want to pay for whatever ****** gain stages it's going to have. Unity gain buffers are well-understood, super low noise, and cheap.

Why? Because DAC, preamp, and amp technology doesn't change very fast and once you have good ones you're set for life-ish. My gain stages are all class A for my listening envelope and way better than any AVR could provide, and I expect I'll need to replace capacitors every decade but those are cheap. You can use high-quality dacs for your front channels and cheaper dacs for all of your surround and sub channels. Changing from AVR listening to 2 channel listening is as easy as switching the input on your L/R channel DAC.

 

[audio2design]

How about testing the https://quantasylum.com/collections/frontpage/products/qa402-audio-analyzer
I had their older products, but have not looked at the new ones. Would be interesting for people looking to get into testing on a budget.

 

[AudioKnob]

Cables: especially well thought of, expensive varieties

 

[Head_Unit]

Cables: especially well thought of, expensive varieties

Somewhere I saw a test of different speaker cables with multitone testing. The measurement point was IIRC at the speaker terminals between a real amp and real speaker-different cables showed different amounts of "fuzz" in between the pure tones. I don't recall where that was, but a re-test would be great, to see that confirmed or refuted. And to aid my memory as to whether those amplitudes were significant or not.