I Don’t Understand This Forum...

[Out-Of-Phase]

It couldn't get better if I was paying for it. You use Audacity for playing music?

Yes, sometimes. I use Audacity to listen and to analyze music files as well. I also like the pitch control it has and all the different effects it offers. Foobar is also excellent, it offers many different addins or 'components'.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Why can't you just rip the CDs you already own but buy new files from hdtracks.com and others?

Because I have thousands of CDs and taking the time to rip them all (or even a large subset) is a huge time investment I have trouble getting myself up for.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

We don’t all hear the same, jackass.

That's true, but there's reasons for that sir. But that doesn't mean that an $8500.00 integrated amplifier will automatically sound better than one costing $850.00. Just because it's more expensive, uses high-quality parts, is DC coupled, uses a large toroidal transformer and uses brushed aluminum control knobs in front, doesn't make it sound better.

 

[Irvrobinson]

FLAC lossless compress typically 30 to 50% of the source file and a terabyte of data is drop in the ocean these days. I've recently bought recently 10TB WD external drive from BestBuy for $150

If I spend the hours necessary to rip all of those CDs I'm putting the files in a secure place so I never have to redo the work, and that means the cloud. Amazon would be $60/yr.

 

[Pogre]

Yes, sometimes. I use Audacity to listen and to analyze music files as well. I also like the pitch control it has and all the different effects it offers. Foobar is also excellent, it offers many different addins or 'components'.

Foobar is what I use. I have a retired laptop pulling entertainment duty in my tv stand.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Some of us are on a budget. The cost for my whole system might be your lunch budget for the week, but I had to do a lot of work to pay for it all. There's no way I can afford the super high end "best of the best" and appreciate budget conscious suggestions.

I spent a lot of my life on a tight budget, so I understand the situation. I'm not advocating everyone buy expensive equipment; not at all. What I do have an issue with is the attitude I see a lot on this forum that if it's expensive it's dumb. Sometimes it is, but not always, and especially not when chosen wisely. That I think my Tascam CD drive is a POS is not a reflection of my overall philosophy. My HT system has $600/pair Klipsch speakers (which are good) and I use a $500 Marantz AVR as a pre-pro, which I'm quite happy with.

 

[Irvrobinson]

So, just so I understand. Unless you’re a budget shopper, and there’s nothing remotely wrong with that, you can’t be a part of your little club? You can share what you bought, but I can not? It’s bragging when I do the exact same thing you do? I do appreciate you’re not hiding the hypocrisy. Science matters, of course it does, but it isn’t all that matters since NOT EVERYONE HEARS THE SAME, WANTS THE SAME, SHARES YOUR PRIORITIES. I’m guessing in your world there would be just one choice? The one you think is best? We don’t all hear the same, jackass. I would recommend you do as I have and block/ignore me. Thankfully I won’t read your responses.

Don't let them pull you into the mud. You know what they say about wrestling with pigs.

I will say this, again, your original post was almost searching for the dark side of this forum. All of your arguments are going to get you nowhere.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

What kind of issues are you having with the Tascam CD unit? Mistracking?

 

[Irvrobinson]

What kind of issues are you having with the Tascam CD unit? Mistracking?

The remote control buttons and markings are practically invisible and illogically placed, the track/time display is tiny and nearly impossible to read from a distance, it is slow to load and unload a disc, the power switch cannot be remotely controlled, the connectors on the back are flimsy, and the case is cheaply made out of thin bent sheet metal. Of course it sounds fine, because it just generates a bit stream, but it can be very annoying to use.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

^^^ That's not good. I recently gave up on an old Denon player from 1991 (Made in Japan) because it started mistracking. A repair tech quoted me $150.00 to repair it. I said no. That's when I started ripping. That old Denon would just not quit, it was made well. However, my Blu-ray player plays my music CDs just fine. That's my backup.

 

[Auditor55]

I spent a lot of my life on a tight budget, so I understand the situation. I'm not advocating everyone buy expensive equipment; not at all. What I do have an issue with is the attitude I see a lot on this forum that if its expensive its dumb. Sometimes it is, but not always, and especially not when chosen wisely. That I think my Tascam CD drive is a POS is not a reflection of my overall philosophy. My HT system has $600/pair Klipsch speakers (which are good) and I use a $500 Marantz AVR as a pre-pro, which I'm quite happy with.

Give an example of when hyper expensive gear isn't dumb. I'm not saying it is dumb, I want know how you see it.

 

[Alex2507]

Give an example of when hyper expensive gear isn't dumb.

When it gives you a boner.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Give an example of when hyper expensive gear isn't dumb. I'm not saying it is dumb, I want know how you see it.

I didn't say hyper-expensive, I said expensive. For example, I consider my Revel Salon2 speakers to be expensive, at an MSRP of $22K per pair, but I've never heard better, only different. I also consider my Benchmark DAC3L pre-amp/DAC to be expensive, but it has very robust output circuitry which I need for my system, a technically flawless DAC section, a very precise remote-operated volume control, and it never makes a thump through the speakers or any other noise. I also like ATI amps, which are not cheap either.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Oh yeah, I also admire Funk Audio subwoofers, which have awesome performance, but they're expensive too.

 

[Irvrobinson]

When it gives you a boner.

I'd give you a dumb rating, Alex, but you do make me laugh. You have the sense of humor of a middle-schooler.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

I didn't say hyper-expensive, I said expensive. For example, I consider my Revel Salon2 speakers to be expensive, at an MSRP of $22K per pair, but I've never heard better, only different. I also consider my Benchmark DAC3L pre-amp/DAC to be expensive, but it has very robust output circuitry which I need for my system, a technically flawless DAC section, a very precise remote-operated volume control, and it never makes a thump through the speakers or any other noise. I also like ATI amps, which are not cheap either.

Now I know why you seemed a little defensive in earlier posts when talking about expensive equipment. Your components are nice.

 

[Pogre]

When it gives you a boner.

I was gonna give you the "friendly" heart in the like button thingy for this post to be funny but ultimately decided I didn't wanna leave that much room for ambiguity...

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Just a neutral opinion here... AH seems to me to be geared towards the "bang for the buck" crowd. But I get that a lot of guys here have and make good money. But I think the median for this forum is the everyday middle class guy. That's just the tone of the place.

On the flip side, whenever I read the forums at Audiogon, it feels like everyone has systems worth more than my house! I read but never post. It's a different set of folks there, and a different set of expectations of what grade of components are expected to be in your system. But that's the tone of the AG forum.

Neither is right, neither is wrong. But a forum is kind of a living thing and conversations always tend to gravitate towards the mean.

 

[Auditor55]

Just a neutral opinion here... AH seems to me to be geared towards the "bang for the buck" crowd. But I get that a lot of guys here have and make good money. But I think the median for this forum is the everyday middle class guy. That's just the tone of the place.

On the flip side, whenever I read the forums at Audiogon, it feels like everyone has systems worth more than my house! I read but never post. It's a different set of folks there, and a different set of expectations of what grade of components are expected to be in your system. But that's the tone of the AG forum.

Neither is right, neither is wrong. But a forum is kind of a living thing and conversations always tend to gravitate towards the mean.

Well the founder is this forum tends to lean towards the objectivist side.

Audigon types are the extreme subjectivists, the type that will pay $4,000 for speaker cables.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Well the founder is this forum tends to lean towards the objectivist side.

Gene also has L/R speakers worth more than my entire system.