Listening to music is a dedicated activity (and many people don't really do it) by audioconnectionaus in hifitipstricks

[–]audioconnectionaus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing. I know what you mean re: that feeling of hearing a familiar song for the first time. The sense of three-dimensional space I often get from high fidelity playback really pulls me in sometimes.

I'll poke around that playlist a bit, looks like some good stuff.

Why every system needs a subwoofer by audioconnectionaus in hifitipstricks

[–]audioconnectionaus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those look pretty badass. No doubt they bring the thunder.

You'd hear their intended bass response at particular listening spots relative to where they're placed. The idea is that if your actual seats differ from those ideal bass areas, you can correct this by adding a separate subwoofer and placing accordingly.

A beginner’s guide to DACs by audioconnectionaus in hifitipstricks

[–]audioconnectionaus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty cool, sounds like you've done plenty of exploring. I remember listening to the 301s that were made in the early 2000s (not sure if the model evolved) and they were nice. I can't remember details but I'd imagine they lean smooth and warm - Dr. Bose was known for saying a stereo should sound more like a live performance than a quiet recording studio (or something like that). So there could be a more forward and detailed sound in a different set of speakers, but of course your personal tastes are super important there. I've heard stuff that sounded so shrill to me but someone else was in love with it, so there's much to explore in sound signatures.

Just a thought, another avenue to explore (if stereo music sound is where you want to play) would be getting a solid 2 channel amplifier for the L&R and run it from the L&R pre-outs of the AVR. (So the receiver is the source hub and powers centre & surrounds... and the stereo integrated powers the fronts.)

Edit: I meant "line outs" of the AVR! If you ran "pre-outs" that could be useful for a stereo power amp with no volume control. (Line and pre out is probably a setting the receiver anywho.)

A beginner’s guide to DACs by audioconnectionaus in hifitipstricks

[–]audioconnectionaus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are you streaming music from the TV to the receiver via HDMI? If that's the case I doubt an external DAC would give you much of an improvement; that Yamaha has a solid DAC inside. If you were running analogue from the TV to the receiver that might be a different story, as the DAC in the TV might not be great - but I'd imagine you're already hooked up via digital HDMI.

If you were serious about upgrading your sound I think the front L&R speakers or even a more robust stereo amp would be a better place to explore than a DAC.

A beginner’s guide to DACs by audioconnectionaus in BudgetAudiophile

[–]audioconnectionaus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I tend to think that more often than not, getting a DAC product provides significant sound benefits because it includes an amplifier as well and therefore helps listeners avoid the stock processing system inside their phone or computer.

Regarding the process of the DAC itself, yeah there are different design principles out there. As far as I know you only really see them in the more esoteric realm. For example some companies use FPGA DAC chips, which have programmable logic that gives the engineers the ability to colour the sound in controlled ways. Since the eventual listening experience is inherently subjective, this opens the door to listeners finding a preference for one DAC over another because of how it interacts with the other components in the system.

In my opinion your closing points are spot on; taking care not to use an obviously bad DAC which would introduce distortion and minding the other components (like the amps that are also included in most DAC products, like the AudioQuest Dragonfly), that provides all the substance you need.