[Dalek]

During the last few days, I've had the chance - due to a flue - to follow some hot threads in this sub-session and mulling over the general, rife idea of audiophile portable gear.

I know It's a tough and mined terrain, but I'd like to jot down some considerations about the audiophile feeling arising from these little devices.

Well.. when can I reasonably consider my X item a true audiophile one? From the latest threads it seems that we have a wide range of tolerance..
Here it is my very personal list of all must-have features for a hi-end hickey:

A well conceived project
this involves great technical skills and deep audio knowledge; a big task for major brand with heavy budget, and a staggering one for small companies.

Ergonomic design
here the key factor is the word ergonomic. fashion is subjective, awkwardness is objective for portable gear.

High quality components
that's referred to all parts, till the last screw.

Accurate assembly and severe final controls
so.. not cobbling together all the stuff in a hurry.

Hi-end sound performance
no unwilling distorted effects, no hisses and so on.

A trustworthy marketing policy
yes.. when I'm going to buy an ampli or a dap, I also consider this point as buying entails supporting seller and seller's audiophile philosophy. Poor boosting strategy achieved through shilling, trolling, spamming into forums and the habit of churning out new half-done products every year or so are good examples of what I'm chary of.

No bargain price
really, do not pretend the full service for few bucks; the above things have substantial costs..


So... please, let me state one more time my intents here: all the previous traits have to be fulfilled, in order to use peacefully the term audiophile. That's my own point of view...

..but Head-fi is a wide international board, and I'm craving to glean different opinions from different people living in different cultures.

Am I too severe or too indulgent?

 

[superpiper]

Audiophile is simply the pursuit of the best SQ practically possible

by practical, I mean afford/carry/live with.

 

[crossmd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by superpiper /img/forum/go_quote.gif Audiophile is simply the pursuit of the best SQ practically possible by practical, I mean afford/carry/live with.

I don't know how true that is. That's a pretty tolerant and a very broad application of the term. My 12 year-old brother is in the pursuit of the best SQ practically possible according to his constraints and falls upon Skullcandy as his best option. Does that make him an audiophile?

I know that I really appreciate the OP of this thread, even if it is a maybe just slightly overbearing and unrealistic. We shouldn't be worried about challenging the conventions of what are considered assumedly typical.

 

[Young Spade]

I think you're making too much of what it is. This isn't an exclusive club where we find the perfectly crafted audio equipment to hit that "special" level of music.

 

[shigzeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by superpiper /img/forum/go_quote.gif Audiophile is simply the pursuit of the best SQ practically possible by practical, I mean afford/carry/live with.

It certainly isn't a pursuit of the best. It always has been and always will be a marketing ploy for most manufacturers. Whether it is in headfi or not, that has always been an aim: to secret into an 'audiophile' object the least amount of audiophile stuff for the most price.

And it won't and cannot change.

Audiophile (real audiophile stuff) is expensive to produce because it sells in so few numbers. And, to make it actually work as expected, it needs to operate within narrow tolerances.

But audiophile is a buzzword that I think, users and manufacturers just zap onto products now without any regard for real, tangible performance. For some, it may mean as slovenly a goal as community codecs: flac and ogg, for instance; for others, it may mean an expensive DAC, or a beefy output.

The problem is that no single item can be taken into account without acquiescent obliging of other components. I think that is why it's fair to use portable amps and cables, because no company will give us a great GUI with gapless, great EQ and other parameters without taking away something else.

There will be hiss, roll off, low power, poor battery, poor GUI - there is no way a company dedicated to pure 'audiophile' componentry (haha) has the resources to sprout a perfect device and is the reason I think it's fair to use today's devices to their best and not hope for more.

 

[Dalek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crossmd /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know that I really appreciate the OP of this thread, even if it is a maybe just slightly overbearing and unrealistic. We shouldn't be worried about challenging the conventions of what are considered assumedly typical.

Sorry.. It wasn't my intention to be overbearing at all.. but I believe that hi-end and/or audiophile stuff usually looks very severe and dictatorial and we do consider it normal, don't we?... my purpose was simply to pin down the idea of audiophile portable gear...

 

[Dalek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Spade /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think you're making too much of what it is. This isn't an exclusive club where we find the perfectly crafted audio equipment to hit that "special" level of music.

I don't know... I'm not use to spend much time here, but when I check the forum, I always find a lot of long and accurate reviews and at least one hot thread.. so, what are all these guys doing? I guess their effort is oriented to survey and attain the best sound performance.. that is verging towards audiophile borders..

 

[shigzeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalek /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry.. It wasn't my intention to be overbearing at all.. but I believe that hi-end and/or audiophile stuff usually looks very severe and dictatorial and we do consider it normal, don't we?... my purpose was simply to pin down the idea of audiophile portable gear...

Dalek, the problem for audiophilles is that there isn't anything set in stone. some want a great EQ, some want FX. Others want warm sound, and some want cold. Others hate hiss, some don't mind it - there isn't and never will be a device which will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, no matter how much research is done, everything will fall short.

 

[swanlee]

I think we need to add high capacity storage to the list for an audiophile grade DAP.

Audiophiles will more than likely be using either lossless audio or high bit rate audio so we are the ones that need the most storage on our device to have a decent amount of music with us.

No point in having all these high end components in a player if you have to use low bit rate audio just to have a decent portion of your music with you.

100+ GB is a must for me.

 

[Junliang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know... I'm not use to spend much time here, but when I check the forum, I always find a lot of long and accurate reviews and at least one hot thread.. so, what are all these guys doing? I guess their effort is oriented to survey and attain the best sound performance.. that is verging towards audiophile borders..

You do know that a number of them, the reviewers, are receiving these audio products for FREE right ? Free shipping from the companies themselves.
In turn, they will need to write a review for them.
Of course, the reviewers would be in a bias tone, to increase the probability that the company will pick him again for their next new product.
And since this reviewer is not a staff or member of trade, so there is no "Against the rule".
Giving out free prototypes, and in return, a nice review in one of the most populated audio-fan, head fi, of course its a good trade =/

Which is why.
When you are reading reviews on head fi, take it with a LARGE pinch of salt, be it who is the reviewer, thats the number 1 rule, which many of the head fi-ers I saw that commented just took their words for it =/

That being said, opinions might be more valuable. But who knows ?
There are tons of peeps who just comment and give opinions without even hearing the phones for a mere few seconds. To be frank, most of the people here, i believe, are just normal peeps, coming across head fi forum while googling for hi fi audio, or skull candy or whatever audio related stuff, and got "influenced" a.k.a poisoned here. next, online store, click, wait for hp at home.
"Oh.. I got a taste of "HI FI" AUDIO !!! and there goes one more victim..."
I am real glad that I have 2 shops in SG that provide free auditioning of the items before sales..

Seriously, head fi is such a commercialised forum.. Its true that we DO "benefit" as we get to hear a higher level of sq, but take a look at head fi *gosh...*

I can assure you, I am not a "true audiophile" or whatever you guys call it.
True audiophile ? dot dot dot

 

[Dalek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dalek, the problem for audiophilles is that there isn't anything set in stone. some want a great EQ, some want FX. Others want warm sound, and some want cold. Others hate hiss, some don't mind it - there isn't and never will be a device which will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, no matter how much research is done, everything will fall short.

I agree with you.. there's no perfect device out there and we all have our own preferences regarding EQ, warm or cold sound .. I'll put these things into the fashion box otherwise it'd be an endless fight.

But in my opinion hisses, roll off and so on are major issues and have nothing to do with top portable gear.. and I'm always surprise in seeing that a lot of people consider these features chaff..

or are we really supposed to believe that hissing is acceptable for a $$$ device?

 

[Dalek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swanlee /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think we need to add high capacity storage to the list for an audiophile grade DAP. Audiophiles will more than likely be using either lossless audio or high bit rate audio so we are the ones that need the most storage on our device to have a decent amount of music with us. No point in having all these high end components in a player if you have to use low bit rate audio just to have a decent portion of your music with you. 100+ GB is a must for me.

most storage is welcome of course for players.

do we need an audiophile dap with 4 gb of memory? This pertains to our habits of course.. so it's tough to fix a lower limit in storage that suits our tastes, but I guess that here more is better...

 

[Dalek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junliang /img/forum/go_quote.gif You do know that a number of them, the reviewers, are receiving these audio products for FREE right ? Free shipping from the companies themselves. In turn, they will need to write a review for them. Of course, the reviewers would be in a bias tone, to increase the probability that the company will pick him again for their next new product. And since this reviewer is not a staff or member of trade, so there is no "Against the rule". Giving out free prototypes, and in return, a nice review in one of the most populated audio-fan, head fi, of course its a good trade =/ Which is why. When you are reading reviews on head fi, take it with a LARGE pinch of salt, be it who is the reviewer, thats the number 1 rule, which many of the head fi-ers I saw that commented just took their words for it =/

Yes I know and I don't agree with this policy. Maybe it works fine for magazines but I don't like to read biased reviews on free forums.
For sure I prefer to read a genuine review from someone who forked out his own money.. and please consider I said genuine review..

Quote:

Seriously, head fi is such a commercialised forum..

Well.. it's a strong statement and I have no clues tallying with it.. all I can say is that, for me, head-fi was and still is a rich lode of valuable info if handled with a grain of salt..