I find the quick switching of kit pretty useless, where I quickly lose track of how something sounds and it all blurs into one. The more I switch the worse this is. So I’ve changed to long term listening then changing something out and seeing what I notice. What technique do you find most helpful when evaluating kit?
I find the quick switching of kit pretty useless, where I quickly lose track of how something sounds and it all blurs into one. The more I switch the worse this is. So I’ve changed to long term listening then changing something out and seeing what I notice. What technique do you find most helpful when evaluating kit?
impossible to generalize, as 'kit' comes in all shapes and sizes. an infinite array of variations. system building and room tuning is serious business.
as a 'quick hit' method; i have 100-150 digital tracks on playlists i can go through, 30-45 seconds each, that i have strong aural references for. or maybe 5 or 6 particular one's to get a feel.
i might listen to those; then a few days later listen again. with casual listening in between to see how the change makes me feel. then remove the 'kit', put the original piece back in, and see how that goes. is my first impression of the change holding? better, worse, or just different?
i have to be in a neutral mental state of mind, and have the energy and time to be comfortable. if something is going on that is on my mind i don't try to listen critically at all.
vinyl references are only used to confirm things, as it's too forgiving to tell me much and too slow to step through. obviously if the 'kit' is part of the vinyl front end then it's vinyl that is used.
...I find leaving the demo piece in place for a while, and then switching back to the original set-up gives *me* the best contrast.
When I bought my MSB Reference dac, I had the Premiere for three weeks, and then the Reference for three more. Only then did I put the Dave/DC4/Gaia back in place. That worked very well for me and the contrast in presentation was easy to hear.
I demo-ed a Stromtank, but only had it for four or five days, but even then, switching back, I could make the decision to not buy the Tank. It was just too similar sounding to me (I have a good power infrastructure-I think the Tank is a good option for some).
Occasionally, because of demo term constraints you just cannot have it very long. Then you kind of have to get on the A/B train.
It that case, I feel if it isn't obviously better, I don't purchase it. Cables, I think are tough due to "burn in" guidance from manufacturers. Luckily, I can play that Reiner Box Set overnight, at 13+ hours for even a few days, with daytime listening or replay box set and get 50 or 100 hours pretty quick. If it's not set by then, what the heck? Can't demo forever.
I got a message from him a couple of days ago telling me that he knew someone that was selling the exact combo of stuff I have posted as a WTB in the classifieds sections he gave me an email to contact. I looked him up and found he was new that day and made 3 posts, this was one of them.
I became suspicious because the combo of products I listed in my post would be very unusual for someone to actually have on hand to sell, it would most likely be a special order.
Its obvious he was using the Wanted to Buy posts to find victims for his grift.
quick a/b would involve repeating the test tracks consecutively.
if listener repeats the same track playing on an optical disc player consecutively he will get a different sound the second time.
he needs to refresh the player and make sure that the test track is cued up to play in exactly the same way as the first time to ensure the exact same sound quality.
"refreshing" involves clearing previous playback memory. this involves shutting down player. in most cases, more complete memory erasure requires shutting down power supply to the player from the wall mains (including LPS or SMPS type players).
best is use track 1 on any optical disc recording
the reason is - once an earlier track on the disc has been played while you are trying to cue to your test track, playback memory would already have been imprinted, so when the test track commence playing, it would not sound optimal.
those with tpt/dac combination need to take note that there is a correct sequence which needs to be powered up first.
dac can be negatively affected by data stream stoppages caused by loading of new disc, powering down tpt, or by switching of inputs.
dac should be powered up last after tpt is refreshed and reloaded and ready to play.
if listener repeats the same track playing from a streamer service consecutively he will get a different sound the second time.
he needs to refresh the streaming service system to ensure the exact same quality.
"refreshing" involves clearing previous playback memory.
he needs to play another track on the same album/folder (for a few seconds), then exit the album/folder to go to another album/folder to play a song from there (for a few seconds), then come back to the first album/folder to play the original test track.
and vinyl? of course, dun expect the sound to remain the same the second time playing the same portion on the grooves.
other than supposedly groove deformation there is also the issue of friction from the needle coursing through the groove which will change the static condition on the groove surfaces temporarily. a wet rinse and drying contact-lessly would remedy this and help to minimise sonic differences of subsequent plays.
