Mainstream

Mainstream audio is boring, they are all beginning to sound alike. Naturalness is an ideology tough to sell because it itself too ordinary. Hi-fi sound, in contrast, is far more interesting. So, my approach is naturalness with a little twist.

Just when streaming rules today, there is a quiet revival of CD player, R2R particularly. Skeptical? Yes. I have never been a fan of high bitrate and up sampling. It lacks aura. It lacks warmth. It lacks human. It's just different. My dac machines evolves from PCM 1716, PCM63, TDA1543, TDA1541 single crown, PCM1704 and now back to where it all begins, TDA1541a. My ears led me to it. Music listening is about emotional affair, sound that moves you. I can't praise enough the dinosaur TDA1541a for its musicality, especially the way it renders voices. TDA1541a is the undisputed most analogue sounding dac chipset ever. I can almost get away from digital glare. OK, ok, ok, TDA1541a is last on resolution chart, it was later discontinued and replaced with 1bit bitstream for better resolution namely, TDA1547. TDA1541a dac is costly to produce as a dac as it demands highly regulated power supply, marks its death.

Given its glaring weakness, I use the most revealing and speedy cables to extract the last bit of resolution out from TDA1541a. Pick-up mechanism too, not to be overlooked. Many manufacturers will not reveal using cheap DVD pick-up mechanism that reportedly introduce digital sound. Engineers will argue DVD pick up or CD pick up makes no sonic difference but the difference is telling. Engineers stress specs over sound are not something new. Hence, their creations underscore engineering excellence than musicality, not for me.

In audio, your system is as good as what you feed. The first line of defend is the recording we have no control of. You can't do much about it if your favorite music in bad recording. So, don't hesitate on grabbing good recordings of your favorite music before it is out of press. However, it's not the end of the world but you pay more to get one. 

Your audio system, you have absolute control of. This is where your skills shine or shame. Agree? You want a system that plays music or to make your guests drool? That's your absolute prerogative. But when you step over the line with silly remarks, you only make yourself a fool. I watched my lines with great caution, neither do I want to waste my time on debate. The last I had a heated debate with a snob a decade ago, he is nowhere to be seen in this passion today. Talk about unfounded arrogance. Friends that visited him mums about his sound. I listened to his system, I too, a loss for words. 

Winning

Winning on a row or what? I'm ill-at ease saying everything I touch turns gold these few days. Boastful? I'm self-conscious. 

I long curious about Nihon Onkyo wood diffuser many high-end systems are using. I had experienced them in the Philippines in 2022 but couldn't attest its effectiveness because no before-and-after comparison back then. Alas, I returned home and forget about it. 

Watching Axpona show 2026 clips on Youtube, these wood diffusers struck me again. There are growing number of usages worldwide. Something like this is totally new as I have had tweaked many diffusers, not six-well diffuser, please and place it on somewhere else with great success. Tried them in at friend's place, they all heard the difference, still applying them until today. Hence, with Nihon Onkyo wood diffuser inspiration, I improvised a prototype that adhering its principal and place them in front of the loudspeakers last night. Holly molly! Count down started, 10, 9, 8, 2, 1, lift off, eh-eh! Ni terus lompat ke lift off, tak sedia ku. The sound popped with flesh and blood, the presence is unmistakable and the bass gained authority and weight. It redefines palpability at a new height I can offer no answer.

“Only fools think that they alone
Are wise, and hear no other point of view.
À wise man is never ashamed to learn,
To listen, and bend when the time is right.
When a flood sweeps through a forest, the trees That bend survive, keep every leaf intact;
The ones that don't snap off and are swept away.
A wise man knows when to slacken sail;
À fool refuses and overturns his ship.”

― Sophocles, Antigone - Oedipus the King - Electra

Acoustics is mystical. I'm a pragmatic man. I listened and pinched myself. A cleaner sound will indeed raise the bar of your hi-fi, there are ways you can bend acoustics to reduce intermodulation if only you know how. Competency is the name of this passion you cannot spend your way out of trouble. No way.

Tasted the first fruits of success, not wasting any time, I get on to perfect my prototype and expect finished product in a couple of days. No looking back.

My secret sauce

"Getting out of the (music) way" notion took me more than thirty years to comprehend. The vicious circle of sound progression, had me chasing my own tail. The truth is that we can always come up a thousand reason for upgrade, a single reason to ditch it, don't we? We can always come up with the money too for upgrade. We are trapped in a samsara and still have fun. The catchphrase, we only live once, YOLO but I had sworn that my last upgrade was the last. The temptation is too strong and my will is too weak, that makes my swear is not trustworthy, I cheat and lie to my wife. 

Unrestrained dynamic and pace, my gut feeling that my system could a little more of these. I perceive there is a drag with my a little hesitant crescendo, anything but a gush of wind. Now, not that my system is not dynamic, audiophiles are perfectionist in nature. My hunch is that changing cables can get me there. However, I can't have a cake and eat it, compromising tonality is inevitable, a price I'm willing to pay.

The good news is the cables that I bought cost peanut compares with audiophile cables. Audiophile cables are tone control. Too much of tone control compromises, you guess right, PRaT. Too lush and smooth. Yet, too many pro sound cables in a system make the sound bland. Thus, I'm doing all pro sound signal cables and two pieces of tone control power cable. My dirty little secret sauce. to attain the best of both worlds. 

At this point of time, these cables probably will be at my doorstep in a day or two. I shall see if my expectations realized. 

A minority

I was listening to a clip via a cheap earpiece one day, the sound came through was way better than the mobile phone speaker of any kind. I know, I know, I grumbled about judging sound quality of the clip over an earpiece, my argument still stands, I still have a decent grasp on the tonality. It was the familiar Jennifer Warnes's The Hunter through Diapason Adamantes. Adamantes was underrated and mostly out of the radar of the local audio community. I recalled Diapason was shortly represented here in the 90s and no more now. Diapason and Opera were beleaguered by its countryman, Sonus Faber, the world first lays her eyes on fine Italian finishings. Everyone wants to have it.

Diapason Adamantes V version was released in 2013 since it was debut in 1989. The evolution was slow over the span of 25 years, it's a sure sign of good design. Vocal was magical and uprightness, bass was rather weak and lack weight. Beyond its weaknesses, its sound is like air vibe and beautiful nuances. The diamond cut box with a purpose, the walnut cabinetry, it was voiced through the understanding of the human perception of the sounds and the research of the most realistic recording techniques. The aesthetic is something you will treasure with time, it looks expensive. Sounding natural, tilting toward rich and warm side of neutrality, courtesy from walnut cabinetry. 

My sound ideology aligns to Diapason school of sound, faithful to music, devoid of hi-fi embellishment, more relaxed, full-size and covers more ground. My sonic mission is to cut to the heart of music by not stand in the music way. Allow me to use Chinese recordings versus Linn recordings analogy. No hyper details, no hyperbole and little compression. Now, DSP is compression in disguise. This alone makes me a minority. 

The general audio enthusiasts aspired to be sound engineer (in their own right), championing measurements, technical supremacy and sound effects over communicative sound and celebration of harmonics. Perhaps, a little warmth, I want my sound to sound like nothing. No hi-fi firework dazzlement. 

Happy audioing, no EDM and discover more music.

Your choice is....

Will you ....

A. Fine dining 

B. Bak Kut Teh

C. Economy mixed rice

D. Dim Sum

Select A, you are an elite audio enthusiast who wants the best that you can afford.

Select B, you have a peculiar taste on sound who care less about what others think.

Select C, you are a utilitarian who is about natural sound.

Select D, you are a gear fetish.

Voicing

I popped in a hi-fi sampler I shall not name and can't help being annoyed with the sound. The sound is not natural and heavily edited. The sound is too clean to be real. It is attention grabbing by bending the sound to highlight in your face presence. A nerve catching sound with the thin-out midrange and lightweight-ness literally killed my listening appetite. I felt "at home" popping in Mercury's Living presence, not shouting for your attention.

Do you play a full album or selected pieces? Your answer will reveal if you are into music or sonic firework. Hi-fi demo cds play only crescendo, the climax. Carmina Burana, for instance. You are missing the buildup, the art of conducting, the composition that leads to the closing drama. Listening requires a learning process. Chill, let the music plays. The more you listen the more you appreciate music. A silky high will mean anything but a beaming high that lasts a few milliseconds more to beyond human listening capability. Some argue that we can feel beyond 20kHz, can we? Yes, we can. Will I pay extra for that? No. I have a tweak that could compensate it. 

A tweeter that blends smoothly with the bass driver is more worthwhile. The measurement in this regard serves as a guide, voicing via listening is still golden standard. In this context, it is your voicing when I listen your system given your audio perimeter. 

EDM

I'm sorry, most audio enthusiasts know little about timbre truth. They don't go live concert, they don't learn about sound, they don't have a clue about sound. They seek sonic firework. Now, if you want to be serious about sound, you ought to learn sound and get educated. Instead, they create sound in their head. Can you imagine the debate? Here go the blind men and an elephant. The loudest voice and the better system always win the debate. 

Now that the young audio wannabe with their Electronic Dance Music aka EDM, they care less about timbre truth because it doesn't have any of it. These are electronic music, they bend them as their will, incredible sound with electronics. To excel EDM reproduction, a system that is fast, dynamic and bassy will do just fine. They are not wrong to have a system to enjoy their EDM. I recalled attending an audio show years ago, I reacted WTF to a high-end system playing EDM. Do I have to pay this price for a system to play EDM? Imagine playing classical music through these systems, the balance will be off. IMO, classical music is an ideal to calibrate tonal correctness because you know exactly how it should have sound. 

I say this with a caveat. Yamaha trained, a piano tuning friend once told me he can tune a Yamaha to be like Steinway. This is not my line of work, I cannot attest to this. But coming from the expert, with his electronic tuning device and tuning fork, I have to give the benefit of doubt.

The irony

People, or mostly likely the dealers, post an exotic system on social media. It will receive unwavering likes and endorsement unless they heard and approved them. Otherwise, intelligibly gear-fetishism, a rabbit hole, an audio technocrat cult. I considered SOTA equipment a highly precision instrument will require meticulous set up to realize its full potential, but sadly .... not the case. Without good sound backing, it is a poster system with little substance. Good for picture taking. 

Sound is the real prize. These clips deliver a fraction of the sound, given the compressed file and the limited bandwidth of your laptop and mobile phone. You would not be able to discern the imaging, macro dynamics and soundstage, the inherent of two channel system. 

These systems under capable hands will deliver the true edge the technology promises. The irony is the wealthy people are generally not audio enthusiast while true audio enthusiasts are not wealthy. 

Crossroad

 A lot, I mean a lot, had been done on acoustics since my last posting. A new revelation after another, more sound is unveiled. Oh man! I can't stop and keep going with acoustics. Beyond excitement, this is like ecstasy. A private journey, a private achievement, a private fulfilment, nevertheless. This would not be possible without the love of labor. Passive tuning shows me the straight path to Rome. I know that many will not agree with, I get it, all of us walk different path, experiences and pick up things along the way to congeal their stand and approach. I can live with that.

Upon audio pursuit, you will come to a crossroad. Be honest with yourself on your audio pursuit, a system for music enjoyment or to build a technical flawless system. Both call for different approach. I'm all for the earlier system.

I got a few myths to bust. 

Accuracy is a fallacy. To begin with, you need to know real sound to benchmark. We never know the real sound of the recordings to verify. In this case, a believable sound becomes a more realistic objective, timbre that you build in your memory along the year.

Flat frequency response is a fallacy. Listen for yourself, they sound hi-fi. I can't bear the highs emphasis. not realistic, the epitome of a measure perfect system. Timbre is out.

Cable loom is a fallacy. Too much of good thing backfire. Rarely, a cable loom works if you are after timbre correctness, mix and match to dilute the character is the way to go.

Perfect system is a fallacy, there isn't any.