Like many, I am a proud papa. My DIY effort sounds great to me. Of course it does. Built, not bought. A face only a parent could love?
I get frustrated when someone posts that they like the subjective sound of their system. No matter how many times they say its subjective. No matter how hard they acknowledge it's just a personal opinion and there is no way to measure personal satisfaction etc... they too often get flamed.
Where is the measurement? Did you conduct double blind tests? You don't know anything about X, Y or Z. Yeesh! I'm just a proud papa who enjoys listening to the I stuff built. It means nothing to anyone but me.
The picture threads work well. It's ok to proudly display a picture. Just don't mention you think it sounds good and you will survive.
But the challenges are also good. Often we do something, we truly imagine it sounds better. And there is a long time between listening sessions, so who knows? Maybe we do imagine all of this.
I go to an audio show and listen to systems that cost mega$. I think it's ok. But for all that money it does it sound much better than what we build ourselves? But again... long time between listening comparisons. How do you compare? If I could compare side by side perhaps I could focus on areas of deficiency and improve.
Out of curiosity I thought it would be interesting to record my system in a given config so I could A B compare before and after changes. It actually was revealing.
It would also be interesting to compare my diy system to YouTube postings of audio show demonstrations. To eliminate the YouTube variability, I just put my own recording on YouTube and that variable is eliminated. Played back with decent studio monitor headphones you can easily hear clues to the sound signatures. No it is nothing compared to being there, but quite a bit of the sound signature is at least suggested. Box speakers sound different to horns and open baffle. Is the sound closed in or colored?
I enjoy the sound clips from Aries Cerat horn systems with triode electronics. Here is a clip of a Melody Gardot track at Munich.
I like this track. Not the most audiophile tool to show transparency, but still a nice cut.
So I recorded the same track on my DIY system.
Just fun. Not a great recording. Just my Android phone with built in mics held in unsteady hands.
I get frustrated when someone posts that they like the subjective sound of their system. No matter how many times they say its subjective. No matter how hard they acknowledge it's just a personal opinion and there is no way to measure personal satisfaction etc... they too often get flamed.
Where is the measurement? Did you conduct double blind tests? You don't know anything about X, Y or Z. Yeesh! I'm just a proud papa who enjoys listening to the I stuff built. It means nothing to anyone but me.
The picture threads work well. It's ok to proudly display a picture. Just don't mention you think it sounds good and you will survive.
But the challenges are also good. Often we do something, we truly imagine it sounds better. And there is a long time between listening sessions, so who knows? Maybe we do imagine all of this.
I go to an audio show and listen to systems that cost mega$. I think it's ok. But for all that money it does it sound much better than what we build ourselves? But again... long time between listening comparisons. How do you compare? If I could compare side by side perhaps I could focus on areas of deficiency and improve.
Out of curiosity I thought it would be interesting to record my system in a given config so I could A B compare before and after changes. It actually was revealing.
It would also be interesting to compare my diy system to YouTube postings of audio show demonstrations. To eliminate the YouTube variability, I just put my own recording on YouTube and that variable is eliminated. Played back with decent studio monitor headphones you can easily hear clues to the sound signatures. No it is nothing compared to being there, but quite a bit of the sound signature is at least suggested. Box speakers sound different to horns and open baffle. Is the sound closed in or colored?
I enjoy the sound clips from Aries Cerat horn systems with triode electronics. Here is a clip of a Melody Gardot track at Munich.
So I recorded the same track on my DIY system.
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This reminds me of something Tom Danley said...
Quote (emphasis added):
Play music through a speaker and listen to it through a measurement grade microphone and good closed back headphones , JUST doing that, removes a big part of the problem, your 3D hearing system that ignores flaws and forwards data. The mono headphone presentation samples sound from one point in space, bypassing your stereo processor that “creates” the image of a single point from two sets of complex inputs.
Do this and you will find not only are your speakers warts much more pronounced but because the microphone has no directivity, you also hear more of your room problems.
Find a loudspeaker that can survive and be listenable after 3 generations in a generation loss recording this way and you have a faithful loudspeaker, while most sound bad at generation one.
Yes, of course you are allowed! Thank you for boasting and posting.
I am also a proud papa. Had a few miscarriages along the way, but I am forever grateful to knowledgeable members here that are prepared to share their designs and knowledge freely for me to copy and build. And most have the willingness and patience to help with fault finding. Thank you, guys! There are too many to name here.
One must accept and understand that we have a very diverse mixture of knowledge, experience, opinions, and personalities represented here. Some threads just blow out of proportion because of differing opinions, experience, motives, etc. So, I only stick to the threads I am interested in and can learn from – and there are too many, and too little time.
I am also a proud papa. Had a few miscarriages along the way, but I am forever grateful to knowledgeable members here that are prepared to share their designs and knowledge freely for me to copy and build. And most have the willingness and patience to help with fault finding. Thank you, guys! There are too many to name here.
One must accept and understand that we have a very diverse mixture of knowledge, experience, opinions, and personalities represented here. Some threads just blow out of proportion because of differing opinions, experience, motives, etc. So, I only stick to the threads I am interested in and can learn from – and there are too many, and too little time.
We are all looking for something else in our hifi. Hence the disputes. As long as you are happy, we all are happy for you. Enjoy.
What Ed said.
The advantage of making our own is having speakers that suit us, in our own rooms, listening to what we like.
And if your tastes, hearing, or room change, you can adjust for that.
The advantage of making our own is having speakers that suit us, in our own rooms, listening to what we like.
And if your tastes, hearing, or room change, you can adjust for that.
I've always considered high end audio to be a game of diminishing returns. The biggest steps are made with selecting/designing/building the base setup and after that the steps get smaller and smaller while costing more and more money.
The thing with diy equipment is that you can fully build it to suit your specific preferences/situation. If you don't have the knowledge/time/money to build your equipment yourself, you can go with tweaking/modifying existing equipment so it will approach your preferences.
With elaborate setups like you show in the foto's, those will always sound different at home, in another room etc. That is why before buying equipment, you should always listen to it in your own home. I'm pretty sure that you spent a lot of time building and tweaking your equipment before you thought "this is exactly how I want it to sound", which is why you are a proud daddy.
I know one thing for sure - DIYers are the happiest audiophiles I know.
"My system sounds great (to me...). Am I allowed to have that opinion here?"
Haha - of course! :-D
I cant recall anyone being "attacked" in any way for a straight forward, freestanding (i.e. non comparative), description of ones own system sound. Particularly if it involves DIY efforts. I think what you see is when more or less commercial interests is "hawking their wares" and making unsustained claims of superiority between "products" especially in combination with listening impression that has very weak foundation in accepted knowledge or truly impossible to be real.
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Haha - of course! :-D
I cant recall anyone being "attacked" in any way for a straight forward, freestanding (i.e. non comparative), description of ones own system sound. Particularly if it involves DIY efforts. I think what you see is when more or less commercial interests is "hawking their wares" and making unsustained claims of superiority between "products" especially in combination with listening impression that has very weak foundation in accepted knowledge or truly impossible to be real.
//
Yeah everything selfmade sounds the best anyway but in addition it can actually sound pretty good in absolute terms, it might actually be better than other systems we have access to no doubt. Thats the goal right, sounding better than expectations and having fun time, a success ?🙂 I see debate when there is question why something sounds good or how to make it even better, if possible.
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There are costly systems that one switches off after only a short time. This happens to me a lot. There are systems that are being used/enjoyed on a daily basis. The latter are in the category "my system sounds great and I am satisfied".
In my opinion quite often the relatively simple setups with a small feature set perform OK both sonically and ergonomically. The continuous pursuit for "newer", "better" and "more" has a low return on energy/time/satisfaction but one only knows this afterwards 😀
Yesterday evening I tested a new ESS based DAC and for comparison I compared with a cheap AKM based DAC made in 2015. The older AKM sounded more musical and did not cause fatigue. Great hobby.
In my opinion quite often the relatively simple setups with a small feature set perform OK both sonically and ergonomically. The continuous pursuit for "newer", "better" and "more" has a low return on energy/time/satisfaction but one only knows this afterwards 😀
Yesterday evening I tested a new ESS based DAC and for comparison I compared with a cheap AKM based DAC made in 2015. The older AKM sounded more musical and did not cause fatigue. Great hobby.
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I know one thing for sure - DIYers are the happiest audiophiles I know.
DIYers are focused on sound, by creating their own stuff. Moding, tweaking, tuning, comparing. Sound is always the goal. I personaly do not care about looks, just sound.
Audiophiles, on the other hand, who only buy stuff and assemble system by purchasing can be often derailed by magazine reviews, brand name lure, advertisement, specs.
That's why i hang around here, puting shades on mona lisa, and not audiogone, even we have disagreements about distortion or double blind stuff.
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To each his own, but the gap between the -invariably small- VituixCad crowd, the ATH4 crowd, the Camilla crowd, -just to name a few advanced loudspeaker design threads- and the rest is still huge, even here on DIY. "Focused on sound" -whatever that may be- won't do: neither does tweaking. The Danley quote sums it up nicely.
I think sharing your personal experience on the web is like taking your car for a drive.
Maybe you put down the top and want to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.
Some people are just wanting to get from point A to B as best as they can.
Others have something to prove. They must dominate and have to get there first.
They’ll flash you with their high beams repeatedly until they get their chance to pass…at which point they’ll give you the finger and yell that you’re driving a piece of $hit.
“Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave.”
😉😁
Maybe you put down the top and want to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.
Some people are just wanting to get from point A to B as best as they can.
Others have something to prove. They must dominate and have to get there first.
They’ll flash you with their high beams repeatedly until they get their chance to pass…at which point they’ll give you the finger and yell that you’re driving a piece of $hit.
“Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave.”
😉😁
And some of us are confusing to others.
We have two convertibles.
Someone asked if we had put the top down on a sunny day, I said I had never had the tops down while driving.
(We just need the long doors for legs that do not bend well.)
Don't like the sun beating on my head(mad dogs and all that..)
We have two convertibles.
Someone asked if we had put the top down on a sunny day, I said I had never had the tops down while driving.
(We just need the long doors for legs that do not bend well.)
Don't like the sun beating on my head(mad dogs and all that..)
If it's a "phone" recording, I pretty much wont even bother to press play. I did once and was like "c'mon..." an never again...
You know, I wish there was a standard for this, something that everyone does who bothers to present recorded sound (of some playback system) intended for others to listen to how it sounds. Akin to a gated swept-sine for indoor speaker measurements, as the gold standard.
Closed back headphones, open air, mono microphone, stereo velocity microphones, in ear mics - whatever - just pick something and make it the standard that almost anyone can do; certainly choose equipment just about anyone can listen effectively with easily.
Phone recording...pffft! Waste of planetary resources to even upload. How desperate do you have to be to show off through something guaranteed to render it crap - for the intended purpose - coming out the other side.