[Luckyleo]

I'm pretty sure they're referring to this particular bit of aural bliss:



Live/Dead is one of the single-most enjoyable live albums ever to come out, and—please correct me if I'm wrong, guys—I think it perfectly encapsulates what they're looking for in an audio system.

Especially the Dark Star—St. Stephen stretch alone has never failed to draw me in and blow my mind. It's my personal highlight of The Dead's entire catalogue. Whatever they smoked that night, it just fucxing worked.

Great album indeed! I believe they had been "electric" during the performances. My personal gateway to the bus to never ever land...

 

[Erratic Gravy]

Several years back I took the listening challenge as T.H.E. They were using an Onkyo DAP and had songs with MQA and with out. They wanted to control the dial and I said I would do so and was allowed to. I had no idea what "version" was playing as I do NOT look at little lights that inform me there is a "difference" present. With out looking at the DAP I listened to the music and changed the MQA/No-MQA throughout each selection.

I never heard a difference. N E V E R. Other's had swoooooned over the supposed difference but then they knew when to swoon as they "saw the light", LOL! Kmart Blue Light special, indeed.

Stewart is a farce. His laundry fold/unfold BS is just that BS. I was told I had to "seriously listen" in order to hear the magic. Pffft! Why would I want to do that? That is patently dumb. On top of all this, we have to pay to be lied to?! Yup. And even if I never use the "feature" I have still paid an entry fee to Stewie. Like Hades I will.

Like Lone Wati said to the elixir salesman in the film "The Outlaw Josey Wales" when that pusher tried to get him to try/buy his wares, "You drink it."

At least Stewie ain't trying to sell me tennis shoes to go with his Fool-Aid.

ORT

Thats a fair point about paying for something you don't use or want - oddly it's what led me down the Schiit road as i have almost exclusively a disc-based playback system!!

 

[JCS17]

And now back to our regularly scheduled program -- sort of...

Found out recently that I'm going to be a grand dad. It was difficult to accept at first as I don't wish to admit that I'm old, but I'm coming around to the idea of a little kiddo that the wife and I can spoil and then send back home for the daughter and SIL to deal with. Hopefully she (it's a girl) will love music as much as I do and won't poke the tweeters on my speakers.

Congrats!!! As a grandparent of two (now kinda young adults), I can say with conviction that grand parenthood is everything it's cracked up to be! Enjoy!

 

[Paladin79]

I'm pretty sure they're referring to this particular bit of aural bliss:



Live/Dead is one of the single-most enjoyable live albums ever to come out, and—please correct me if I'm wrong, guys—I think it perfectly encapsulates what they're looking for in an audio system.

Especially the Dark Star—St. Stephen stretch alone has never failed to draw me in and blow my mind. It's my personal highlight of The Dead's entire catalogue. Whatever they smoked that night, it just fucxing worked.

There are also live and dead rooms for audio, I knew about the album so perhaps it is the sound of the album they would search for? I can only think of a few dozen albums I might want to hear to see how my system does. Specific Jazz, Rock, folk, classical etc.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

And with the addition of this-here Modi 3E*, the travel rig is complete.

Not to pander to an audience, but this little stack has no business sounding anywhere near as good as it does.
I dare you to show me another maker of audio gear that is this compact, yet delivers a sound that can easily hold a candle to products that cost twice as much or more.

* to be replaced with a Modi MB, once it's back from its supply chain hell induced hiatus, in whichever shape or form that might be.

 

[dhcarquinez]

Moar Louder

Ear Bleeding

Furniture Rearranging

Intestine Churning

Just kidding! I will say that live Dead recordings are a reproduction challenge for any system, up there with a dynamic symphony orchestra (but that's much less of my listening). And, the Intestine Churning comment comes from actual experience: amplified cellos at an ELO concert.

 

[ghfiii]

Look at what NAD has built to tempt @OldRoadToad

https://nadelectronics.com/product/c-3050-le-stereophonic-amplifier/

With just 1972 copies, this is going to go fast.

I love it, I saw this yesterday and knew someone would post it

 

[OldRoadToad]

And with the addition of this-here Modi 3E*, the travel rig is complete.



Not to pander to an audience, but this little stack has no business sounding anywhere near as good as it does.
I dare you to show me another maker of audio gear that is this compact, yet delivers a sound that can easily hold a candle to products that cost twice as much or more.

* to be replaced with a Modi MB, once it's back from its supply chain hell induced hiatus, in whichever shape or form that might be.

That looks really cool. Almost...Dare I say it? "Metropolis" cool! Well done, sire!

ORT

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I will say that live Dead recordings are a reproduction challenge for any system, up there with a dynamic symphony orchestra (but that's much less of my listening).

Yes to the first part.

No to the second.

Some well-recorded lossless concerts, Yggy OG, Lokius, Freya+ with the right tubes, a pair of Tyrs, some good interconnects and a set of at least somewhat decent speaker cables (14 AWG or chunkier and well shielded), and a solid set of sealed (as in: not ported) floor standers, and no (!!!) sub — and you've got yourself a pretty darn decent approximation of a symphony orchestra in your living room.

…just ask my neighbors…

Cheap? No.
But not really a challenge, either.

 

[Bonehead7171]

Yes to the first part.

No to the second.

Some well-recorded lossless concerts, Yggy OG, Lokius, Freya+ with the right tubes, a pair of Tyrs, some good interconnects and a set of at least somewhat decent speaker cables (14 AWG or chunkier and well shielded), and a solid set of sealed (as in: not ported) floor standers, and no (!!!) sub — and you've got yourself a pretty darn decent approximation of a symphony orchestra in your living room.

…just ask my neighbors…

Cheap? No.
But not really a challenge, either.

Sorry to disagree but I went to the opening of the NY Phil last week to see The Pines of Rome and it reminded me that speakers will never even come close to reproducing the electricity in the air when an orchestra plays live.

I am sure that system sounds AMAZING, though. I am only saying that it is not the same as real people playing live.

 

[valiant66]

With just 1972 copies, this is going to go fast.

I love it, I saw this yesterday and knew someone would post it

Apparently they'll also be doing a regular production model at two specs/prices. The less featured entry model will be around US$1100.
.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Sorry to disagree but I went to the opening of the NY Phil last week to see The Pines of Rome and it reminded me that speakers will never even come close to reproducing the electricity in the air when an orchestra plays live.

I am sure that system sounds AMAZING, though. I am only saying that it is not the same as real people playing live.

There's zero need to be sorry. What you wrote is completely fair.

So let me amend what I wrote with this:
The laws of physics apply. You will never be able to perfectly reproduce an entire orchestra and the size and acoustics of a hall in your living room, not for 20k bucks or half a million.
But you can get surprisingly close if you know what to look out for, and which mistakes to avoid. (Subs and ported speakers, for example, are great for pop and rock, but counterproductive for acoustic music, jazz, and classical.)

Is the system I described able to perfectly reproduce a philharmonic orchestra and its hall?
No. That's why I carefully chose my words when I said that "it'll get you a pretty darn decent approximation" of one.
If it's "perfect" you're after, nothing will ever beat buying a ticket. Which, incidentally, is also of course the preferred approach to support the performers and the art form itself.
But it comes surprisingly close based on my own sensibilities, and it's more than enough for the girls I go out with.

 

[golfbravobravo]

And now back to our regularly scheduled program -- sort of...

Found out recently that I'm going to be a grand dad. It was difficult to accept at first as I don't wish to admit that I'm old, but I'm coming around to the idea of a little kiddo that the wife and I can spoil and then send back home for the daughter and SIL to deal with. Hopefully she (it's a girl) will love music as much as I do and won't poke the tweeters on my speakers.

Buy her the drum kit NOW!

 

[rfernand]

IMHO MQA is a solution in search of a problem.

It sounds different. It is distortion. Some folks like it and some don’t. Some producers seem to like it as well.

There is something to be said about standardizing filters across manufacturers in an attempt to reproduce the same output.

It’ll find customers or it won’t. People vote with their ears more than politics in this hobby, after all.

 

[dstrimbu]

Love the notion of an embedded authentication code - I have already posted about the horrendous variation in sound quality of streamed content from various vendors even within the same broadcast parameters

- me too. If I'm paying for the music, I want to know that it "is as the artist intended".

LIke @ArmchairPhilosopher, I have also spent most of my career in software development. But since I'm at least twice as old as he, it's been more like forty years... <g>. Fractal encoding works super well for image compression, but it's critically important to remember that it's a lossy algorithm. If the MQA organization wanted to embed a watermark / authentication code, they could do it by embedding an encrypted signature in the file header of a FLAC container, toot suite. Done.

The claim that "extended" musical data is "folded" into the file using n-dimensional bull-Schiit is patently ridiculous.