I just watched a review posted about 9 months ago by Steve Guttengerg. He was reviewing the NAD M23 which is a class d amp based on the Purifi Eigentakt module. It caught my attention because a year or two ago I built an amp from a kit that uses the Purifi Eigentakt evaluation modules. My experience with my kit, compared to the McIntosh amp it replaced was very similar to what Steve found in his review - that it is very transparent and just passes the source through without alteration (other than making it larger) and with negligible regard for the load (speakers) being driven. Based on my own experience and Steve’s comments, I’m at a loss for what more to ask of an amplifier- other than more power, whether I need it or not.
According to Steve, the amp being reviewed exceeded the others he compared it to in clarity, transparency, detail, speaker control and probably some other things. This got me to wondering - is this what everyone wants?
My goal has always been to have a system that will reproduce what the microphone heard or what the producer intended me to hear when a recording was made. With such a system, I can use dsp, tone controls or an equalizer to color the sound any way I want but I always want to start from the baseline of being able to hear what was recorded.
Listening to some of Steve’s comments in his review, I’m led to think that some people are seeking a system that colors the original in a particular way suited to their taste so I thought I’d ask you guys. What are you looking for in a system?
As someone who played music professionally as well as spent a couple of decades tracking, mixing, and working with other mixing and mastering engineers, I have never been under the impression that I needed to hear a recording the way an engineer intended. I’ve always found this assertion silly (no offense to the many competent “audiophiles” that continue to perpetuate this ideology; to each their own).
Their intention was never to ensure a recording was heard as if you were standing in the studio (or in the booth) with them or the artist/band; they didn’t expect you were going to be listening to the most transparent, neutral, and clear DAC/Amp, reference monitors, headphones, etc. This is your prerogative; not theirs. Their intention, indeed their job, is to produce a recording that is well-balanced and mixed relative to itself – to create a mix and master without sonic issues, where every instrument, vocal, and effect blends together (or is emphasized) in a way that makes sense for that specific track or record.
The reality is, most engineers are keenly aware the vast majority of listeners are going to consume their media on everything from $10 Skull Candy earbuds, to terribly tuned, bass-forward car stereos, to TWS ANC headphones using low-quality codecs. Or worse, that one guy you know that listens to his music through his iPhone speakers, or one of those ridiculous portable bluetooth pills, whose popularity defies all logic (I realize this is going to make what I’m about to say seem hypocritical).
It’s safe to say, I’m no purist, or elitist. I have $20 DACs that I love, alongside DACs that are in the thousands. The DAC that gets the most use is a $100 Qudelix 5k, or the DAC/Amp in my Apogee Symphony (my audio interface), simply because they’re both at arms length and drive everything in my collection. When I’m working on a track, I’m running a pair of HD600s, or LCD-X most of the time (or checking for sibilance on DT770/1990s). But when I’m listening for pleasure, I prefer color and warmth and love sets like the Focal Radiance, Apos Caspian, HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite, Fostex TH900; or IEMs like the SA6 Ultra/MK2, FatFreq Maestro series, all the way down to cheap Chi-fi brands like Simgot, Kiwi Ears, the HBB Khan, Wan’er, PR2 (the good one), or even Beats Studio Buds+ or Beats Fit Pro.
I also love gear and I will continue to buy and experience things that interest me, most of the time that’s audio or guitar equipment (and keyboards, but that’s another story). I love it all; I don’t have a filter. I was just as excited about the 64 Audio Volur as I was about Simgot’s EA1000 announcement. I guarantee I will find something to love about each, and I’m probably never going to think, “yeah, this is the one.”
The long and short of it is that I’ve always found this hobby somewhat confusing. I’ve fallen into it by default because I’m a former musician that also loved to work in a studio. We used to call ourselves “HiFi enthusiasts.” Another label I disliked.
But at the core, I just love music. I listen it for catharsis, to motivate, inspire, or even to bring intense trauma and pain back to the surface so I can grieve or relive those moments in my life and remember how I felt at the time. Music has informed every aspect of my life; even now, as my career has shifted to a completely different market and skill set, my journey to that career happened because of my experience in the music industry, or working with individuals close to it. I love nearly every genre, listen to everything I can get my hands on, from 2Pac, to Sleep Token; Pink Floyd, to NF; Taking Back Sunday, to Deftones; from Tool, to Sia. I have playlists featuring everything from Story of the Year and Bring Me the Horizon, to Kate Bush, Deadmau5, and JVKE.
My goal is to continue enjoying music; that’s literally it. I get that there are other hobbyists whose love for the technology, or for what makes it tick, is just as valid and meaningful. So while I own a lot of great gear, it is out of consequence, not intention. I probably couldn’t tell you which chip it’s using. I can’t hear the minute difference between my Topping and Schiit stacks; and I’ve never purchased an expensive cable, but I have sat people down in my studio in front of my monitors, or placed a pair of good headphones on their head, and watched them smile, or cry, or get a mean case of ugly face.