Audio Rhapsody

In many ways, photography shares a lot of similarities with audioing. That is, skill set is the predominant ingredient. Good photographers can get beautiful pictures working with low price equipment. Given state of the art equipment, the result will be even more staggering. The lesson is, you can't beat skill set and money in a single package. This is simply too good. For many, when money is taken out from the equation and everybody speaks in a common language, a fair playing ground is established. Unlike watches or cars, you either can afford it or not.

In the land of audio gurus, look, I'm not going to pretend to be one which I'm not. Not intend to be crushed by road roller, I still got many good years of audioing. Diamond in the rough in some ways, everybody must go through the mandatory learning process. Nothing substitutes experience.

Today, I wanted to share with you an audio wisdom. Not mine though. It goes like this, number one, gear upgrading is quick fix but hardly a permanent one. Get into a store, choose and pay, things do not get any simpler than that. Not many audiophiles know, gear upgrading will ruthlessly reveals shortcomings. If it does not, buddies, you should be questioning the move in the first place.

Next, cable experimentation. No big deal either, but this route is dangerously endless. Running to cables for audio remedial is liken a step closer to cable sinking mud. Audiophiles like to go down this path because mostly, cables are wallet friendlier and the result is immediate. No voodoo, I supposed. A renowned cable designer opines audiophiles conditioning themselves listening to new cables, to justify the new cables are better than the old ones during the break in period. The break in period is mainly the process of die-electricity of the insulation materials wrapping around the conductor. I suggest a read on http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

To DIYers, measurement is the ultimate reference and understandably repudiation of snake oil. They shake head mocking at exotic cables idea. I'm sorry to break it down for them, they have no idea what they are missing. A forbidden fruit, I presumed. Either as tone control or straight wire, both camp at the opposite extremes. This sticky debate is like religion, the staunch supporters from both camps are unlikely to give in. I'm not sure I wanted to be caught in cable war. Right at the middle, I hold my stand that speaker cable to be straight wire whilst interconnects, tone control due to cost considerations.

And lastly, soak in room treatment. Not everybody can afford to build his audio room from ground up, hence, room treatment inevitably becomes critical. Even in a golden ratio room, can you do without any acoustical treatment? I doubt so. Paying attention to four walls, a ceiling and a floor is your first commandment of room treatment. It is a good start. An empty room inherits enormous standing waves. Different makes, different sound. Naked brick wall without cement plastering is found to reduce a great deal of noise. As more furniture and fixtures in, they alter the mode of standing waves. I am not going to dial in too much on room treatment. Suffice to say if you want to make a statement in audio communities, a well-treated room is a necessity.

Working audio in living hall or odd shaped room invites unknown variables. Glasses, open wall, flimsy ceiling, partitions, hollow flooring, cavities and etc. will only complicate the issue. God knows the sonic effect of the mixed. Hard to believe, a slight move of my single settee in my audio room brings about improvement in sound. This phenomenon has led to me to suggest soundwave dynamic has great impacts on sound. Next, I sweat my ass off  realigning stuff in my room.

It is always untimely to declare audio victory. Because you may have not spun specific materials, does not suggest you're home free. Consistently, I run into some unassuming materials to admit my room acoustic is far from done. You never know when and where the downfalls.

Audiophiles are natural flaw seeker, blemish sucker. They don't give credits to anything, they seek perfection. They are biased too, who isn't? Only handfuls appreciate the efforts and the struggles. Do not go the distance to please them, please yourself instead. Do as in your might to avoid your system a one trick pony. Believe me, as you grow older, your music staple expands. I can't emphasize enough the significance of clean bass. Clean bass rewards gorgeously because everything revolves around bass. The cleaner the bass gets, the greater the sound. If your system not losing grip on complex passages, you might have yourself a winner there.

Audio to begin with is a hobby of madness. When a system gets expensive, you better be prudent in what you say. You do not want to step on people's toe as if you are fiddling with someone's self-esteem. There is no provision for honesty, there is no provision for innocence. Audiophiles put a lot of thoughts in their systems, into how they wanted theirs to sound. Hard to deny, every audiophile have their own idea of sound. Ahem, embrace diversity. Go and live life happily. We do not need an audio sheriff.