Geek with Family

You may have guessed by now that I own very few jazz or classical music albums. Anime soundtracks featuring Yoko Kano compositions dominate my catalog, but I’m always wary of the CD’s fidelity (it’s hard to tell if your buying a Taiwanese bootleg or the Japanese original). The original Broadway recording of West Side Story is the one non-anime album I have (recommended by some audio magazine a few years ago as a great recording, so I can trust it to reveal system change benefits).

With my six acoustic panels in place I sat in my sweet spot Saturday morning to listen to the Broadway soundtrack. I was curious if the panels would clarify the soundstage of complicated recordings like an orchestra and a musical theater cast.

Continue reading DIY Acoustic Panels Reveal Depth and Clarity in Orchestral Recordings

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The above hi-fi music and home theater hybrid connection diagram shows how I connected my system for best performance with both music and movies as I explained in the previous post (click diagram for a larger view).

No matter the source, analog or digital, I run the front two channels and subwoofer through the analog amplification section (orange and down the left in the chart). The Rogue 99 pre-amp has an home theater bypass switch. When the switch is flipped to the HT position the pre-amp does not need to be on, all of its circuitry is, uh, bypassed and the Onkyo L/R pre-amp outputs flow straight to the Anthem MCA-2 amp and Hsu VTF-2 sub; when the switch is in the pre-amp position the Onkyo is out of the loop and I can listen to my analog sources (turntable, CD and the Onkyo receiver's DAC'ed Airtunes) straight through the Rogue 99 pre-amp and Anthem amp using its volume control.

Continue reading Now You Can Enjoy Hi-Fi Music and Movies in One System - Connection Diagram

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Who has the space and money for separate home theater and music systems in different rooms? I don’t, and neither does anyone I know. So we are all stuck with systems we built around a large TV screen, mesmerized by pretty DVD and HD video. Even if you spent a load of cash on a “flagship” AV receiver like I did (my Onkyo TX-DS989), telling your spouse it would be the last “stereo” you would have to buy to justify its cost, you’ll be disappointed by electronic compromises hidden in the “do everything” receiver. That fancy AV receiver is obscuring the best music from you because internal components share power supplies between seven channels of amplification, crowded in with DACs, FM tuners, DSPs and multiple in and out video circuits and good luck with the phono stage. So what can you do if you want the best music and home theater playback through the same system?

Continue reading Now You Can Enjoy Hi-Fi Music and Movies in One System

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Jon Risch’s DIY acoustic panels have changed my system more than any other tweak and component upgrade. After placing the panels at my listening room’s early and diffraction reflection points (two behind the speakers and four on the sidewalls (the two panels closest to me actually sit in easy chairs because I can’t move the chairs out of the way)) I heard these improvements. Since that initial listening session I’ve had mixed results from CDs played in my Pioneer DV-47ai and Taddeo Digital Antidote II: certain frequencies and instruments are too laid back. I’ll remove the Taddeo and see if I get the same great performance as from my Airtunes playing MAX ripped Apple Lossless tracks.

Read on for my tips and tricks to build these panels yourself and save up to 90% over commercial acoustic panels.

Continue reading How To Build Jon Risch’s DIY Acoustic Panels

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I’ve made major improvements to my music listening experience over the last year, some at no cost. The following distills the top five guidelines I’ve followed to optimize my enjoyment.

Continue reading 5 Hi-Fi Listening Room Habits for Healthy Audiophiles

Popularity: 22% [?]

Holy crap! My DIY acoustic panels (following Jon Risch’s recipe, my own how to experience coming soon) have improved my listening experience like nothing else. You have got to try these. I wish you could borrow mine. For the price of two sets of Black Diamond Racing Cones you can change your whole music listening experience for the better. This is the most noteworthy upgrade I have ever made.

So, what am I hearing that’s got me so excited? Clarity. Attack. Depth. Smoothness. Scale.

Continue reading Why You Must Acoustically Treat Your Hi-Fi Room

Popularity: 12% [?]

Since the Windows emulation software, Parallels, has graced my new MacBook Pro, I’m reminded of all the little applications that posters on audio and video forums have produced or recommended. Exact Audio Copy (EAC) is a perfect example of a Windows only app that I’ve desired for a while. EAC promises to rip your CDs with massive error correction, making a perfect bit for bit copy of the music. 6Moons has a nice article explaining the need for EAC and its use (via Sonicflare). Unfortunately, EAC doesn’t recognize Parallel’s virtual CD drive. While looking for a fix I came across Slim Devices’, of Squeezebox fame, wiki of CD ripping technologies for the best audio quality. At the bottom of the page I found MAX, an open source Mac OS X equivalent to EAC.

MAX takes forever to rip a CD when compared to iTunes, maybe longer than real time. The extra time is due to MAX triple checking disc sectors after compensating for disc read errors. I’m planning on some more listening test comparing iTunes ripped (with its error correction on) into Apple Lossless and MAX doing the same. I’ll play the albums over my Airport Express as I’ve laid out in my Airtunes posts. I’ll also listen to original CD.

Like EAC, MAX can encode your ripped CD into almost any compressed and uncompressed audio codec. If you don’t have an Airport Express or other device that understands Apple Lossless, you can use MAX’s other major lossless format, FLAC.

The two apps, TAG and COG, are related to MAX and the three make up “OS X audio alliance.” TAG is a meta data editor for audio files; COG is an audio player that will play more obscure codecs than iTunes.

So, rip it up with MAX and report back if your digital audio collection’s sonics improve.

Popularity: 26% [?]

You’re not going to believe this, but dialing in the volume, crossover and phase on your subwoofer with a computer running Room Equalizer Wizard (REW) is totally fun. I walked a mile back and forth between my Hsu VTF-2 sub and MacBook Pro last night. I enjoyed every pace.

Here’s my formula for fun:

Continue reading How the Room Equalizer Wizard Woke Up My Subwoofer

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My DIY acoustic panels project is on hold until I can breathe again (nothing like a cold over Labor Day weekend). I've built the wooden frames but haven't begun to work with the fiberglass because I can't imagine coughing through a respirator. So, to feel like I was making progress I threw together two Jon Risch Quick and Dirty Bass Traps (scroll down to "New Quick & Dirty Recipe").

You construct the the bass traps by just stacking a few bags of fiberglass insulation and shoving them in the corners of your listening room (that's the quick and dirty part). I bought four bags of the cheapest insulation my local Home Depot sold: R-13, 3.5 inch kraft faced, 15 inch wide rolls. The rolls' dimensions while rolled up in their bags is approximately 23" wide by 16" diameter. I stacked them one on top of the other by the long dimension and duct taped the middle of the pairs together, making one long piece 46" x 16". I then placed them in the front corners of the room for instant bass traps.

Continue reading Jon Risch Quick and Dirty Bass Traps Dressed Up By Ikea

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In my mind, I’m an evangelist for audio and video calibration to international standards (or at least my standards). In the real world, I’m a bumbling nerd who spouts random and contradictory facts and theories that never end in a coherent point.

When a co-worker or acquaintance asks my advice on the next TV or AV receiver they should buy, I make them sorry they asked by the end of a few sentences,”Wow, yeah, I don’t know…a plasma TV, huh? What else do you have in your system? Sony Dream Theater hooked up to some old Bose bookshelf speakers and surrounds that were installed by the previous owner of your house? Ouch. You have no light control? In a green house, yeah, humidity may be a problem. Sure Circuit City sells things. No, I can’t help you, unless you’re willing to spend at least $3000. $500? For that kind of money I could suggest a great boutique AC power cable. Sorry.”

Here’s my clear bit of evangelism: You must calibrate your TV. I don’t care who does it. Hire a professional ISF calibrator. Hire me, a semi-professional (my emphasis) calibrator. Or do it yourself with a calibration disc or two (like Avia Guide to Home Theater or Digital Video Essentials).

Continue reading Why Everyone Must Calibrate Their TV

Popularity: 8% [?]