[A Jedi]

Question for everyone: I have an acquaintance in Richmond (VA) who has some pretty high end gear and cans, and he’s always been scared of Schiit as it’s priced too low to be any good. Anyone in the area willing to let him have a listen? Seems a good guy, but needs a Bit of education. Obv I really am asking for a friend!

I have a solution. Choose the component your friend wants to try. Ask him how much he thinks is required for it to sound good. $1000? $5000? $20000?

Send me the money and in return I'll send him said component. We can do this indefinitely until he's auditioned the entire Schiit catalog.

I can also do white glove delivery but that's extra (for the experience).

 

[Ripper2860]

What is that old Audiophile axiom? Oh yeah -- 'One's willingness to perceive good sound is directly proportional to the cost of their equipment.'

 

[dstrimbu]

It is far less convenient than streaming, but I found that I got immersed in albums when using physical media, instead of jumping from track to track, as I do with streaming,
...

As for vinyl... that takes inconvenience to a whole new level, but I love it!
...

I enjoy all of them, for different reasons

Well said, sir. I totally agree. The concept of listening to an album has been lost to the masses, as many have probably never purchased physical media. Think about that one for a second! Glad that you're experiencing the same joy that I am...

 

[Erratic Gravy]

Agree with the 'why bother' concept...

If he's in it for the 'prestige' of owning expensive gear going for $$$$$, it's unlikely he'll see the value proposition.

Hope they enjoy their gear music!

Agree with the 'why bother' concept...

If he's in it for the 'prestige' of owning expensive gear going for $$$$$, it's unlikely he'll see the value proposition.

Hope they enjoy their gear music!

Back in the early nineties I was in the HI FI retailing game - and boy is that an eye opener !!! Customers fell into basic sub groups - Music lovers , kit lovers and Review slaves - the customers who were passionate about their music and were trying to achieve a consistently high performance level from the kit they already had and the kit they were thinking of buying were the customers I spent the most time with .

 

[scotdouglas]

NC is always looking for 'good' people. Just bring a pallet of cardboard with you, and you'll be welcome with open arms. Probably given a key to the city...!

Earlier this year we traveled down to NC to have a look around. My wife was looking at an exec position near Greensboro (I'm 100% WFH, so I was in); the job didn't work out, but we both fell in love with the area. Everyone was so incredibly nice - which isn't always to be found where we live.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

I believe you are correct. The cultural aspects were remarked upon in the final report IIRC. The US and Europe has done a lot to address CRM in recent years with significant improvements IMO. I'm sure that @Roy G. Biv can comment more fully on changes in this arena.

IMO the Asiana accident was a direct result of the cultural aspects of the airline. Specifically, the hierarchy of command is enforced by cultural norms. In this case, the captain in the left seat was receiving instruction from an instructor/check airman in the right seat. Therefore, the pilot in the right seat had absolute authority in the eyes of the pilot in the left seat.

In all fairness, US and European airlines had the "captain is God" mentality up until the 15-20 years ago.

I couldn't find the exact numbers so I'm going from memory here, but in roughly 75% of airline accidents the captain was the pilot who was flying the aircraft. With that in mind, my airline now recommends that the first officer conduct the landing if there's an emergency in progress. We now more fully utilize the experience and skill of our FOs, as we should. Very frequently my FO has more flying time in our particular aircraft. Why wouldn't I utilize him/her to the fullest extent possible??

Unlike Asiana, my airline explicitly empowers the FO to call for a missed approach/go-around if something doesn't seem right.

An aspect of CRM (Crew Resource Management for non-aviation folks) that we've added in the last few years is the concept of threat and error management (TEM). In its simplest form, before every takeoff and landing we discuss potential threats and how we intend to mitigate them. It seems obvious, but it's taken a long time for us to get here.

 

[Paladin79]

Back in the early nineties I was in the HI FI retailing game - and boy is that an eye opener !!! Customers fell into basic sub groups - Music lovers , kit lovers and Review slaves - the customers who were passionate about their music and were trying to achieve a consistently high performance level from the kit they already had and the kit they were thinking of buying were the customers I spent the most time with .

I would think most of us in here are music lovers. Personally I do not read, watch, or listen to many reviews, I just never have. I have been involved with enough listening tests to have a pretty good idea which DAC's, amps, speakers, headphones and pre-amps I like. My preference is tube sound and if need be I will design and build my own amps to achieve a specific sound for my own music enjoyment. That can help keep the cost down. Now on rare occasion I have heard a specific amp with specific speakers that I truly love, or a headphone amp with just the right headphones for me, when that happens I pursue them, within reason. I try to be pragmatic when it comes to spending a great deal of money for slight sound improvements.

I doubt I fit your sub-groups well since I have the ability to repair much of my own gear and think nothing of buying a 25 year old Cary tube amp and maintaining it myself. For a turntable I might select a vintage Thorens.

 

[Ripper2860]

What group contains people that love music, buy equipment, and then SEEK out reviews to validate their audio gear purchasing prowess?

 

[wout31]

I turned on the first CD and my wife yells from the kitchen "That sounds SOOO GOOD!!!" There is something in the core of the sound with CD that is not there in streaming.

After all these posts about CD's sounding better. I have to ask / comment.

A. What is your streaming service?
B. What input/output are you using for A the CD, B for streaming?

If you use USB for one and SP/DIF for the other (other combinations are also possible) there is no comparing possible.
If you use Spotify as a streaming service ..... well what can I say.
If you do upsampling on the streamer
If you use PC, what is you path etc. etc. etc.
Many many questions why just saying A sounds better than B is .................

So, CD may sound "better" in your chain, but due to what?

It would be nice to compare CD with streaming (Qobuz) one day, but until Urd is released such comparing is not really possible.

 

[Paladin79]

What group contains people that love music, buy equipment, and then SEEK out reviews to validate their audio gear purchasing prowess?

Sometimes it is a matter of timing. During college I could afford specific gear, often Dynaco kits and many of us built our own speaker cabinets. Later it is buying houses and cars and helping kids with college etc. I am at a stage in life when I can reward myself with audio without thinking I should be investing the money instead.

Oh and rather than reviews, I might learn from the engineers or designers of specific product. It never hurts to know how a piece of gear might function with other pieces in your setup.

 

[StimpyWan]

Earlier this year we traveled down to NC to have a look around. My wife was looking at an exec position near Greensboro (I'm 100% WFH, so I was in); the job didn't work out, but we both fell in love with the area. Everyone was so incredibly nice - which isn't always to be found where we live.

I have a Southern Gentleman mentality. It's always "yes Sir", "yes Ma'am", and "take care" from me, regardless of the ages of the people I'm speaking to. So, I was surprised to learn from a New York co-worker, that women from the North, would be offended, if I referred to them as Ma'am? I don't get it, as I just like to be polite...!

 

[DougD]

EDIT:
Today I ordered a Ragnorak v2 (I have a v1), Lyr+, and Bifrost 2/64. Don't listen to me.
(Folkvangr already ordered)

Warning to everyone, aka Learn From Mike-Wi's management crisis:
* If you have NOT been diligently monitoring your "HeadphoneAmps to Sweaters Ratio" on your KPI executive dashboard, you too might have to initiate an emergency corrective action like this. That's $$$$, and may not have been in this year's budget. Watch your dashboards.

Personally, I would have just thrown away a few sweaters, and thus attacked the problem from the denominator side.

OTOH ... an orchestrated emergency to justify such purchases is a really sneaky acquisition strategy. Maybe I should run down to the thrift store and buy some sweaters, refresh the family KPIs, and present the acutely deteriorating trend to the CFO/wife. Can't argue against data, right?

Hmmmm .... maybe that's what cunning brilliant strategist Mike-Wi did. Hmmmm. I am in awe.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

What group contains people that love music, buy equipment, and then SEEK out reviews to validate their audio gear purchasing prowess?

It's called confirmation bias and it transcends the audio world.
Take a moment and ask a Tesla (or Porsche, Mustang, Jeep, Genesis etc.) buyer if they feel like they make the right purchase.
And yes, I still look for reviews of my audio gear to validate my purchasing decisions.
Isn't this entire thread somewhat based on the idea?
(Ducks and runs for cover...)

 

[Bonehead7171]

After all these posts about CD's sounding better. I have to ask / comment.

A. What is your streaming service?
B. What input/output are you using for A the CD, B for streaming?

If you use USB for one and SP/DIF for the other (other combinations are also possible) there is no comparing possible.
If you use Spotify as a streaming service ..... well what can I say.
If you do upsampling on the streamer
If you use PC, what is you path etc. etc. etc.
Many many questions why just saying A sounds better than B is .................

So, CD may sound "better" in your chain, but due to what?

It would be nice to compare CD with streaming (Qobuz) one day, but until Urd is released such comparing is not really possible.

I see your point. I use Qobuz through a Bluesound Node vs a CD from an Xbox. One is optical, the other is RCA. Both go into a new Gungnir.

Why it sounds better I cannot tell you, but it clearly does.

 

[Ableza]

re: CDs. I can maybe hear a slight difference between playback of some CDs and the same track from the same CD that has been ripped to my server. But not enough of a difference to make me want to give up the convenience of the server. In most cases I can hear no difference whatever. YMMV.