The Ill-Tempered Audiophool

Vanatoo active speakers

My Rating: * * * * *


Summary:

• Active bookshelf speakers that don't suck
• Advertising is actually understated
• 24/96 capable, with analogue, USB, Optical and Coax inputs
• Internal direct digital DAC/amp
• Honest DSP implementation
• Pleasing fit and finish
• Moderately priced at ~$500
• No

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I've pretty much come to the conclusion that audiophiles are either a bunch of pathological liars governed by mass hysteria, or they must hear things fundamentally differently from the way everyone else does.

I wonder if this is a form of synesthesia. Maybe not the extreme forms, like people who smell colors, but nonetheless, the experience is neurologically atypical. This would explain a lot of the frustration on both sides of the typical arguments about perception.

Originally Posted by wgscott

I used xdl, converted from ALAC -- > wav --> ALAC --> wav

The two wav files are in two different directories.



zsh-% md5sum *.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c 04. Flume.wav
zsh-% md5sum ../*.wav
e9b48a469feff84092293186eff04e6c ../04. Flume.wav
zsh-%


The corresponding alac files differ, presumably because of the tags:


zsh-% md5sum *.m4a
43ee81e94b567157cdd4d9cbfd6d9082

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The latest addition to my "listening room", which everyone else calls the "living room" and insists upon sharing, is my mountain bike.



I bought a fluid trainer to put it in:


Although quiet by bike trainer standards, this does nothing positive for the noise floor. The simplest solution: turn the volume up. Way the hell up.

Nothing like high volume music ...

One of the low points of the Redeye Remote system (see Remote Control, Part II) is their clunky web interface software. In case you haven't noticed, impatience and irritability are my two most attractive and dominant personality traits. Waiting for the interface to load so I can turn down the volume or mute the system really annoys me.

The underlying IP/IR command system is actually quite fast. There is very little latency when I issue a url command from the terminal of my computer, ...

Originally Posted by bottlerocket

Is there an easy way to check for 8 wasted bits on 24 bit files on a Mac? Based on the Joni Mitchell thread, I want to add this to my routine when purchasing 24 bit files.

I am looking for something simple and I do have access to Windows too if necessary.

Thanks in advance.

The original source: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f1...24-bits-13901/

Originally Posted by wgscott

If you expand this at the root level, it will populate

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You need two downloads, each of which is free:

1. Soundflower. Download Soundflower for Mac - Allows applications to pass audio to other applications (beta). MacUpdate.com

2. AU Lab: http://images.apple.com/itunes/maste...ocs/au_lab.zip

Install, reboot. For use with iTunes, you need to select Soundflower 2.0 as the (virtual) output device.

Open AU Lab, and set the input device to Soundflower 2.0, and the output device ...

Originally Posted by wgscott

I tried the "Dirac Live Room Correction Suite".

This is commercial software, which sells for €487.50, which is about US$650, which is a bit more than I am willing to spend. I suppose if you think of it as replacing the need to purchase a box with an analogue equalizer, that isn't so unreasonable, but it is far more than I have ever paid for any software. Hence my observations are limited to the free trial, which gives you 2 weeks of uncrippled use.

There

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Diamond Light Crystal - A Programmed High Frequency Clarifier, $39 each. Introductory Offer - Buy 2 Get 1 Free! The leaded glass crystal comes with string attached and removeable damage-free plastic hook for wall mounting. The crystal is mounted 7 feet high on the wall behind the speakers near room corner(s), and/or 7 feet high on wall centered between speakers. Customer Comment - "The highs sound better, the lyrics

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I was reading the Zu website, as I have some curiosity about high-efficiency speakers.

This caught my eye first:

In 2001 Zu began tracking and investigating the effects of signal and power on various cables and loudspeaker systems and has stumbled on a few tricks and process that get us pretty excited. Electric burn-in seems to relate to the stressing of the insulator's electric behavior (Wave Mechanics or Quantum, both seem to get you there in this case), standing

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If you haven't been following this story, and are concerned about artistic (or any other form of) freedom of expression, this is about a Russian punk rock group who have been jailed following a sham trial for criticizing Putin.

Amnesty International has adopted the three women convicted of thought-crimes as "Prisoners of Conscience", a designation the politically impartial human rights organization reserves for the most blatant forms of political incarceration.
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After messing with a number of different remote control options, including the functionally similar Logitech Harmony Link, the details of which I have blogged previously, I decided to get the RedEye Remote, based in part on Chris's Review of The RedEye Remote, and also because I can run things from the comfort of a desktop web browser.

I've sunk some time into this now, so I am creating a new ...

i decided to try something new, primarily for mental health reasons.

If someone posts something idiotic, inflammatory, and stupid (in my objective opinion), instead of pointing this out and mocking them in my usual cheerful and engaging manner, I am adding them to my ignore list.

So, if you post something like "Apple computers are overpriced junk used by computer illiterates", please know that it isn't that I am agreeing ...

You probably need this:



(Click the image for Amazon.com link).

I had a reasonably minor but audible hum in my subwoofer, and I noticed it went away when I detached the cable from my TV. The TV power was turned off, as was my receiver. (Not just standby, but off). Nevertheless, there was a ground loop from the cable to my TV to my connecting HDMI cable to my receiver to my ...

Although I have never been called an "objectivist" before posting here, I guess my outlook is more sympathetic to that camp, given that I think it is unlikely the human ear can distinguish unmeasurable differences, and that claims to the contrary require compelling evidence to be taken seriously.

Given some of the stuff I have read recently, I am beginning to wonder whether those with "objectivist" sympathies, i.e., the "flat-earthers," the "close-minded" ...