[SteveHulk]

I love discovering new audio goodness in a system and making it patent as opposed to latent.

Then hearing even more beauty in the music.

Beethoven "Emperor" 2nd movement causing me to cry yet again, despite all the times I've played it before.

That's why I love this hobby: the incredible fusion of emotion and technology. Whole-brain total satisfaction.

 

[Kirklandia]

I'll quote Steve Huff: "While at that very young age (around 7) I never would have even known about serious audio gear or the benefits that come to us by spending just a little time each day to listen to beautiful tunes. Yes, benefits. Things like stress reduction is one of them. For me, listening daily has taken my stress to just about zero. While I do not see a therapist in life I consider my audio system to be doing that duty for me. It calms my mind and my brain. It keeps me happy and stress free."

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2023...er-hifi-audio-system-review-outta-this-world/

 

[cotic54]

like many of you here I have spent a long time building my system over many years and finally arrived at what I consider to be transparent, my second hand DAVE is the final piece of the jigsaw and I'm currently running it direct to power amps.
My System.
Audrivana/ Quoboz.
BricastiM5.
Gothic Audio silver USB.
M-Scaler to Dave with some fancy cables that I've forgotten the name of.
Gothic Audio 16-way silver Litz cables for all RCA interconnects.
Croft 7R hybrid monoblocks.
Troels Gravsen TL2 DIY with Hypex plate amp running the 18" drivers which pinches the signal off the speaker cables copying the gain off the Crofts which is handy as any amp is automatically gain matched, the Hypex also has DSP for room correction and the volume can be independently adjusted to suit your own taste.
Everything apart from the M-scaler and cables was bought second hand and the speakers are DIY.


I am fairly new to computer music as we didn't have fiber until a few months ago. I spent some time compiling and listening to playlists not paying much attention to whether it was 16 or 24 bit just enjoying what I was listening to.
Yesterday I happened to listen to about 5/6 hours of albums that are particularly (to me at least) beautiful-sounding, going back to the computer I realized they are all 24 BIt. The precision and clarity are quite astounding with absolutely nothing blurring into anything else. Next up was some 16-bit music and it just didn't sound quite right something was off just not as clear as all the previous 24 stuff. I qued up more 16 and found it to be very recording dependant with some of them having
similar clarity whilst others just didn't sound quite right.

Then I realized my system had turned me into a" bit snob" aaaaarrrrghhh. Is the condition recoverable from or is it all downhill from here on?

 

[JTbbb]

I love discovering new audio goodness in a system and making it patent as opposed to latent.

Then hearing even more beauty in the music.

Beethoven "Emperor" 2nd movement causing me to cry yet again, despite all the times I've played it before.

That's why I love this hobby: the incredible fusion of emotion and technology. Whole-brain total satisfaction.

Steve, can you send a link please to this piece of music?

 

[Meridian7]

I qued up more 16 and found it to be very recording dependant with some of them havings similar clarity whilst others just didn't sound quite right

I can really enjoy some Spotify 320kbps. Gotta be lucky with the talent of the mix/master minds.

Darko suggested, these guys also must obey the directions given by the Label, sometimes against better knowing..

 

[Meridian7]

Then hearing even more beauty in the music.

There are songs I resent on crappy gear, but bliss on good gear.
Making sharing a title with friends sometimes daunting. E.g. when the bass is richly textured low and heart of the track, or when phones fail to delineate complex phases...

 

[SteveHulk]

Steve, can you send a link please to this piece of music?

It's a reference to the 2nd Movement of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto.

There are many different recordings of it. I would imagine all streaming services have multiple versions.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

It's a reference to the 2nd Movement of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto.

There are many different recordings of it. I would imagine all streaming services have multiple versions.

Can you take a screenshot of the version you like? I would like to hear it

 

[SteveHulk]

Can you take a screenshot of the version you like? I would like to hear it

Try this one. If Barenboim can't play it, nobody can.

 

[Meridian7]

A coincidence or maybe Steve Huff is reading along finding good inspiration?

 

[gnomen]

I love Steve Huff's enthusiasm and his 'real world' approach, but if I followed all his recommendations I would have owned over 20 camera systems and a similar number of hifi systems in the last decade! Trying to find other info on the Daniel Hertz (Mark Levinson) equipment he has just reviewed, the cupboard is bare.

I owned top-end Mark Levinson gear about 20 years ago but Mark himself left the company 20 years before that. Steve says the Daniel Hertz stuff is great, and he has in the past been an enthusiast for the Chord Dave, so does that mean it is on the same level ... how would one begin to know??

 

[Reactcore]

and he has in the past been an enthusiast for the Chord Dave, so does that mean it is on the same level ... how would one begin to know??

Ive read his blogs too.
After praising it to heaven he weirdly quickly sold his Dave to a friend in favor of a Weiss Dac which is also gone after it. He probably never heard it modded

This guys reasons are sometimes hard to follow.

 

[Kirklandia]

Ive read his blogs too.
After praising it to heaven he weirdly quickly sold his Dave to a friend in favor of a Weiss Dac which is also gone after it. He probably never heard it modded

This guys reasons are sometimes hard to follow.

True, and his complete changes every few months have been entertaining. He cannot help but continue to chase the perfect system. But he does love music.

 

[chesebert]

I love Steve Huff's enthusiasm and his 'real world' approach, but if I followed all his recommendations I would have owned over 20 camera systems and a similar number of hifi systems in the last decade! Trying to find other info on the Daniel Hertz (Mark Levinson) equipment he has just reviewed, the cupboard is bare.

I owned top-end Mark Levinson gear about 20 years ago but Mark himself left the company 20 years before that. Steve says the Daniel Hertz stuff is great, and he has in the past been an enthusiast for the Chord Dave, so does that mean it is on the same level ... how would one begin to know??

He is a typical YT reviewer - their sole purpose is to pump up gear. I have the same view of all audio magazines (print and online) and their reviewers.

 

[paulrbarnard]

True, and his complete changes every few months have been entertaining. He cannot help but continue to chase the perfect system. But he does love music.

I think you will find he is chasing clicks not perfection…