audio thread-anybody here consider themselves an audiophile?

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who here considers themselves an audiophile [lover of good audio and good audio equipment]? I started this thread because I am curious if aspies in general are more or less likely to pay attention to this subject and its complexities [e.g., audible differences between amplifiers, speaker cables et al]. I've long loved hearing well-reproduced sound in the home, and made a vow with the moon and stars that if I ever landed into a fortune of $$$$$$$ that i'd indulge my audio fantasies and invite others in to listen to their music on my grand state-of-the-art system.

Sort of. My first failed career was working in broadcasting which is partly why I came up with the screen name Videodrome. I worked in the control room and Tuned playback shows off the old Color Bars and Tone. I suppose my biggest takeaway from that job is encountering poorly tuned Audio where the needle is clearly smacking into the Red or Video that was never White Balanced annoys the hell out of me.


I have splurged in my modest budget to get 2 good Headphones. One is the Razer for gaming and the other is an $85 Sony set that folds up and travels with my Tablet. I'm not so familiar with Amps and Speakers, but take note of the quality I can afford for Headphones since I live in a small apartment.

^^^I [nicely ] envy your supreme good fortune to be able to work as an audio/video professional, I had no "in's" to get into that profession [or any other, for that matter]. my fave cans are a ancient pair of Sennheiser HD580 Precisions, which I use for remastering work [on my own collection of music, in addition to the rare paying restoration gig], and Sennheiser HD565 Ovations [for ordinary music listening]. i'm also a BIG fan of Ohm Walsh loudspeakers, they are a quasi-omnidirectional design, they are both mellow AND detailed, usually you can get one OR the other in a speaker or can, these are one of the rare exceptions. I have an ancient model I've had for a while now, unfortunately one of 'em has developed a rubbing voice coil. anyways, nothing else images like they do, they "disappear" when you close your eyes and try to point out where the speakers are, all one notices is that one is in a hemispheric bubble of sound.

I don't think so, the word implies a certain level of elitism in my mind. You can easily pay many thousands for the absolute best of the best equipment. I wouldn't ever use some of of the junk headphones that come with phones, but I also wouldn't be paying a ton of money for good audio.

I've owned maybe ten to twenty pairs of headphones over the years, the most expensive being the Shure SE530 IEMs. They had pretty awesome sound for an in ear driver.

Nowadays my favourite headphone is my pair of Sennheiser HD 598s. It's the first open back headphone I've used and I much prefer the way they sound over any closed back headphone I've used before.

just like a Francophile loves all things French whether or not he's rich or poor, an audiophile loves all things audio, regardless of their socioeconomic status, just because one is poor doesn't mean they absolutely cannot enjoy good audio at least in the abstract, in their dreams at least. it doesn't prevent them from appreciating the fancy sound systems belonging to friends, acquaintances and relations, and so for that reason it IMHO doesn't have to be truly elitist per se, even though there are lots of rich audio snobs who I deem insufferable stuffed shirted bags of bad air. I have listened to systems that if one closed one's eyes, one had a visceral feeling of being in the very venue of where the recordings took place, with the musicians seeming "reach out and touch"-able. once one has experienced that, it is addictive and makes one perhaps play the lotto a bit more in the hopes of landing enough money to get such a system for oneself. of course it is not just the audio equipment per se, that one needs- but also a proper listening environment, an acoustically correct listening room of sufficient size [at least 300 sq/ft. with tall ceilings and solid construction/symmetrical dimensions] and adequate acoustic damping of early reflections] in a quiet neighborhood. all that costs major moolah, of course. but at least if one lives in one's own isolated space [forget about it if you're in an apartment with lotsa other people close by on the other side of paper-thin walls], now and then one can find a bargain on Ebay at least, and over the years build up a passably good-sounding music system that one could live with.

I'm actually not in broadcasting anymore more, but I don't really miss it. The equipment was interesting, but our station just ran syndicated garbage.

Another consequence of small apartment living is I do not pursue a fancy home theater. I watch Netflix on my computer, but with my decent Sony headphones.

However, when a really good movie comes along, one can still appreciate a good A/V presentation at a decent Cinema. As I think Auntblabby is trying to say, you don't necessarily have to own a small fortune in equipment. Also oddly enough, one can also appreciate how the equipment is used and tuned. You can have the best electronics and have it setup well or sloppy. One can also pay attention to poorly tuned audio which I've also encountered is some small town Cinemas which is awful.

One more thought on Cinema Audio appreciation, one thing that comes to mind is the bank shootout from the movie HEAT directed by Michael Mann. I think it is the best ever recording of gun fire in any film I've seen.

^^^have you ever heard Dolby Atmos? [sound height reproduction]

I have never even heard good audio in my life....not even once...I'm sad to say.

I've watched vids about these high-end systems, but never heard one.

you owe it to yourself to visit a high-end salon sometime, determined not to buy any of their overpriced products but just to listen to your favorite music that you will bring with you there. you can tell 'em you're comparison-shopping. better off trying to find a place that sells gently used high-end audio components/speakers, set up for listening, you can find 'em here and there, especially at some used music/record stores.

I don't really consider myself an audiophile. I consider my self more as an audio conscious person. I am willing to spend a bit more on audio equipment than the average person.

My current signal chains are:
PC (running Fedora with gstreamer codecs) ==> ODAC ==> O2 headphone amp ==> HD600s
PC (running Fedora with gstreamer codecs) ==> ODAC ==> APA150 stereo amp ==> New Philharmonic AAs

The stereo setup laughably sounds better than my local theatre. Worth every penny

Last edited by RushKing on 15 Jun 2018, 12:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

^^^^

how do you like their stereo imaging? I monitor with a 2+decade old Senn HD580 cans [predecessor of the 600], they were the least expensive accurate [neutral] headphone I could find at the time.

and another thing - WHY OH WHY are there so few FEMALE audiophiles?! they [generally] have keener hearing so it stands to reason they'd appreciate fine audio even more than most men. one of life's mysteries, I guess.

i don't know -- the discription of audio-phile is towards gear i think,
i looked up the boxes i have, old heavy loudspeakers named translator, not bad i suppose,
i got them when someone didn't want to move them

when i was thirteen maybe, with my father i made, put together, big loudspeakers that i liked to put myself between to hear and feel the sound and vibrations, but still that's not audiophile
sorry

The imaging is decent, not perfect. They get the job done.

What really stands out is the attack, also the crispness and presence of the treble. It makes action scenes sound very intense. The midrange is clear. The low end is tight, and there is enough to not require a subwoofer.

Last edited by RushKing on 15 Jun 2018, 12:56 am, edited 2 times in total.

these?

they sound like a good design. i'd say you were sorta audiophile

I suspect that if you got 'em well away from room boundaries in all directions, that they would "float" a good stereo image to the point where you couldn't tell the sound was coming from the speakers.