Hans, I am a great fan of yours simply because you offer the most extraordinarily balanced and educated information that I've ever come across. You alone have taught me to avoid developing a final opinion without very careful consideration of all the issues that might affect the quality of the sound. Thank you!

Be an audio Jedi - feel the force - trust your ears! - love it!!! - Thank you Hans

Hans. You explain things that some might rather have people not know, in a very easy to understand manner. Thanks for these videos. Glad I came across your channel.

When I learned to setup the bit perfect feature in Foobar, was en ear opener. It was a big difference, great video!

I'm stingy about giving praise but here it finally comes some. I look at all your posts & many thanks for your videos. They are really great and interesting!

Hans, I watched both of your videos. Excellent presentation as always👍👍

Your words are like music to my ears. Thanks for clarifying and explaining so much in this presentation.

Chapeau! Another great , well thought, informative video. It was intriguing , tasy and hot quite like a well prepared dish of "Pasta with N'duja sauce" that i really hope you had during your vacations... Keep on posting those videos wise Hans

I am glad that you mentioned the fact that PC's (and MAC;s) want to convert digital. Files must always be played as bit perfect without conversion (one of the common and very bad conversions is from 44 Khz to 48 or 96 Khz which is a disaster for sound quality). It really is important to make sure that there is NO conversion taking place before being sent to the DAC.

I found this very informative - it repays close listening. Thank you Hans.

All I know is, the more I listen, the more critical I become of my system and look for things to tweak. That’s what makes this journey fun. Some tracks sound so good and another track plays and a certain frequency sounds lacking. Make adjustments, buy a new piece of gear, fix that issue only to create a new issue. It’s the same with my golf game. Forty years playing I still can’t shoot under par. I’m running out of time. Excellent video by the way.

Very nicely balanced, subtle and measured treatment of this topic. The mention of IMF speakers took me back to the "old days". A brand that seems to have faded into the mists of time. I owned a pair of IMF Transmission Line Monitors a long long time ago (the size of a small fridge - 4 way with KEF B139, B110, Dome tweeter and super tweeter), but could not drive them properly with my small amp (Cambridge Audio P110 then Cambridge Audio Classic One, 50W per channel), so got rid of them. I learned early on about trying to drive inefficient loudspeakers to a loud volume with a small amp. At the time powerful amps delivering high quality sound cost an awful lot of money. The Cambridge Audio Classic One sounded gorgeous, but it produced a lot of heat in a small box and kept overheating. If the amp could have delivered enough power, I think I would still own that setup today. It sounded superb.

I'm going on 70, never had golden ears but through persistence over many years from the 70s, put together a stellar audio system. It portrayed pinpoint soundstages, subtleties/nuances were easily discerned & it was musically involving. I encouraged many co-workers & friends to share the enjoyment & even though they weren't audiophiles they were amazed at the ease & quality of the delivery. It all comes down to attention to detail with set up & equipment, not specs. One incredible example was installing better interconnects to our purposely chosen softer sounding CD player (harsh players were abundant), the difference was night & day. Thank you Hans for giving others your insight.

Thank you for the many great explanations. Qualifying the opinions with gear is important when taking in information when you want to quantify a result. People form a bubble around their arguments when they're implying "all things being equal" when they are never implicitly equal. Thanks especially for the explanation on XLR. I've been somewhat disappointed my Vincent monoblocks don't offer XLR but knowing that you have to double the circuitry, it wouldn't have been such a bargain for a great sound :)

Excellent video! At the end of the day it all comes to as said in 20:10 "If it sounds good, it sounds good!"

Dear Audio Evangelist, many thanks for ALL the advices. We need this kind of audio tonic!

Excellent, as always. Thank you Hans.

To be clear, this is a compliment. I love the dry factual academic style. I dont mind that it seems scripted. My father used to tell me that the best impromptu speeches were the ones you prepared for. The educational value IS the entertainment value for me . Great video.

Quality advice once again 👍

Thanks for that Excellent advice , as always as you say enjoy the music but as you know it's not easy for all of us is it , we can get a bit involved with our set up can't we !! Thanks again phil

Hans you are part of my audiofile journey ,The topics are so interesting, revealing ,phenomenal insight into The Audio world and their equipment. Truthful Information we all need to know about. So thanks Hans keep on wowing me. 👍

Thanks! this vid has a ship load ( 6:09 ) of info and great insight!!

Excellent done!

Well done, very good video!

Great video Hans. I've always said that the best measurement of whether something in the audio world is any good or not is your own ears. Your preferences are personal to you and just because someone else might not like it doesn't mean they are right and you are wrong and vice versa. Enjoy the music. 👍

Hello, thank you for honesty and your simple explanations on topics that matter! David Gill Montreal Canada

Great Video!!! You got a new Subscriber

Hans , you're my favorite audio evangelist , period.

Thank you. Thisis why I subscribe to your channel. I absolutely agree, trust your ears (maybe with a litte guidance).

Hans, You are doing excellent work here, music lovers/HiFi fans need this info!

Very nice said. I certainly feel the force 😀

Thanks Hans. It’s a wild world out there, appreciate the gift of your lightsaber to help cut through the ship! Maybe Solo should be your jazz name?

Good video 👍👍

Thank you for your effort. Cheers!

Excellent video very informative new subscriber thx

Thank you for your Videos Hans. I really enjoy! Are you also in Headphones or just Stereo? Something like a ZMF Aeolus on the Feliks Euhoria sounds so gorgeous and for me, it's easier to maintain.

From one adult to another, this is eduction for all of us to take in. Good subject, by all means ;-) Cheers from Denmark

thanks for sharing your vast knowledge .i was going to buy xlr connectors for my rotel preamplifier .its not truly balanced so will stick to my wireworld rca conectors many thank for all your vast knowledge .😊😊😊

You've said the magic word; SEASONED marketers.

If laundry detergent marketing was true, we would have transparent clothes by now.

Great video. Surprised to hear that use Audio Note amps, given you generally discuss digital!

Thanks for another great video!

This is an angry video, well done!

The voice of reason always!

because of your sincerity I support you financially as well. Keep doing what comes from your heart ...

I wish you were a US citizen, I'd nominate you for the Presidency, thank you for this, so many useful bits of information, with just enough honey to make taking our audio medicine a little easier. Be safe, and keep up the great work.

Good evening, congratulations for the tutors are really interesting and well done. I am not very familiar with English and I help myself with Google translate, sorry. In the 80s I started to love high fidelity and after a break I have now started to get interested in liquid music; my question is related to the request for advice about the use of a computer for liquid music to then interface with the audio amplifier: is it better to use a mini PC + external DAC or the Raspberry + external DAC? What are the minimum features that the mini PC / Raspberry must have? Thanks for the attention.

You are one of my favorites brother, i love how logical and methodical you are but you keep your ego out of it.

Highlight of this video for me was the mention of IMF speakers. I still use the huge IMF rspm mark IV but do wonder if my 90wpc tube amp is enough for them. I hope so. Sounds good to me. 👍

Hello! I'm a new viewer of yours and I have a question regarding bit perfect playback on computers, wouldn't setting the sample rate to the same sample rate as the file, provide bit perfect playback on a computer? Or is there more to it? I'm a beginner and use an aftermarket PCI-E sound card. Thank you.

Thanks, I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, and don't understand everything but still informative and i'm learning. One question, I experienced the "power" of valves when I bought a class A 15 Watt guitar amp. It was very loud over the 12 inch speaker, too loud for home use and sold it. But why have these more power, 1 Watt equals 1 Watt? The speaker doesn't know and has a fixed sensitivity (indicated in Watt)? Bedankt Hans.

Hans knows his stuff. The Optimod in broadcast radio and TV has been squashing audio for decades. Not entirely a bad thing, the audio needs to be intelligible on both a $4000 audio setup AND a portable TV with a 2" .25w paper driver. The video in a typical home is all over the place too. I see huge TVs with crunched black levels and fluorescent color all the time. Hans speaks the truth, though. His conclusion at 20:07 speaks volumes. Not everyone can live in a quiet suburb with space for a dedicated audio room.

Hello Hans, quick question, have you ever tried using USB Audio Player Pro App? If you do, do you recommend bit perfect mode or upsampling mode? Thanks

Thumbs up 👍🏼 Even tho i would like to mention that higher priced equipment doesn’t always sound better.. (Not that you made such a statement but some people might conclude so after this video)

Appreciate the myth busting on tubes. I have XP with both and am actual going back to Tubs after a long stint with SS. In particular, I own a brand whose SS amps are supposed to sound like tubes. This amp does but not totally, it compromises. The design produces more mid-bass/ bass energy than a typical tube amp does. Pair it with a pair of bass heavy speakers, it becomes too much of a good thing. So, in the need to establish synergy I am switching to a technology that always seem to have a more pronounced midrange. Like you, what I have found in my Audio Journey is well designed SS gear sound a lot like tubes and visa/versa. I find warmth depends on the amplifier. SS can sound warm too. Brands like McIntosh and Audio Research are extremely accurate designs that I consider not having a lot of warmth. Cary and Prima Luna not so much on nutrality but have more that tube qualityy. I am sure another SS design would fit the bill. Nonetheless, to my ear no matter what brand you use, most Tubes Amps seem to do a better job bringing the midrange center stage. Never heard one that had a lot emphasis on bass that certasin SS designs can. Although I am sure there is one out there, I do not have the resources to do a lot of equipment rolling. Therefore, I am going with a technology that is pretty much a sure bet.

Hans, I hope the measurements freaks do not get their knickers in a knot over your gentle remonstration lol!

Dear Mr Beekhuyzen, In regard to eliminating interference signals “living inside your computer” (15:36). Is the significant effect of cleaning up the signal by an Uptone audio iso regen dependent on the quality of your DAC? That is, if your pc is connected to a good quality DAC by a usb 2.0 cable, would inserting the Uptone audio iso regen between my pc and DAC still be worthwhile to do (adding another conmponent to my audio chain)? In my case just bought the Denafrips Ares 2 that you reviewed several weeks ago. Would you recommend me buying the Uptone audio iso regen to further enhance the quality of my audio signal? Many thanks in advance!

Hans, why would the "Balanced outputs/cables" from a SACD player have a much lower volume going into the balanced inputs of a preamp than unbalanced RCA? Have you come across this before?

Thank you for your wisdom Hans. You are perfectly right

A system also has three outcomes (perhaps for another video) : it’s main purpose, servicing and (multi)room(s) placement limitations. Purpose has to be related to « lifestyle ». Having a small kid running around might not be compatible with hi-end uncovered speakers 🔊 to be punched by playmobil pirate swords and cables running at length (booby traps for the said 4-old pirate). Not having enough time to be actively engaged in the sole music listening experience because of family life and spouse acceptance factor made me choose for two listening experience : a Yamaha multiroom set, and a Sony LDAC/AAC headphone/BluRay player/iPad combination with a CD quality Deezer account usable for both. Then comes servicing. I know my WXA-50 (paired with focal 706v WITH GRILLS and a yam NS-200 sub) and WXC-50 (paired with MSP-5 I already had for keyboard playing) are mass-market products. Good ESS chip onboard and B&O Ice Module though, loads of features, small form factor, later on I discovered with very low distortion etc. If they ever break-down I might find a dealer easily or maybe not even bother and get another unit (next product ?). I have even lower-cost 90s Hi-Di(stortion) moved to bedrooms hooked up with dirt cheap wxa-10 and a musiccast 20 (mono effectively) in the kitchen to have my music following me, for I must cook etc. You have to have realistic expectations. I cannot crank up the volume, and the front-ported Focal speakers must stay in corners, each side of the TV 📺, as a sound bar replacement. I thus killed the bass with the built-in dsp and transferred it to the Yam sub out. The other day, I was listening to Don Grusin’s Piano r recorded at PS-Audio in DSD (Octave records « out of Thin Air ») played from Audirvana + through my home Ethernet network. The Piano was There. I my small flat, loud and clear. That’s all that matters in the end.

Essential viewing for anyone who wants to get the most out of digital playback. I used to think everything was the same in the digital domain but I found my ears disagreed!

I always loved Sony ES components, but was always a bit offset (if not upset) by their tech-terms. For instance, what on Earth does "Spontaneous Twin Drive" mean?

Here I think you simplified the section on XLR cables a little too much. There can still be an advantage to XLR cables, even when run into a single-ended amplifier. That’s because receiving equipment (the preamp or amp) can have two different single-ended methods of sensing the input signal: it can either look at one hot pin and ignore the other, or it can look at the difference between the hot pins (they both carry the same signal, one being inverted). The latter is called a differential input, and if the cable picks up some common mode interference along its run, this interference is cancelled out. This is because the interference is the same magnitude on both hot pins and the difference between them is not changed by the interference. A balanced input will also be differential, but will reduce distortion because again, some of the distortion is the same magnitude in both halves of the signal, and the speaker only sees the difference.

How about the dogma that from a certain age on one shouldn’t bother to buy good audio equipment because you won’t hear the difference anyway? I know this is not true but I would like to hear or read your view on this.

I honestly struggle to hear a difference between my Apple Music Airplayed and CDs. I guess I’m happy in my ignorance so can enjoy the convenience of Apple Music for a modest monthly cost.

Not to disregard here, but in the intro I understand that companies are "trying to fool" consumers with trade mark names when in fact the quality is the same...and then, at the end I understand that is actually good to buy more expensive gear, just because it's coming from a "name in the industry" that's using high end parts. It's kind of confusing. I wonder, if these "facts" can be measured somehow? And I'm not referring to measure them with an oscilloscope, but to actually do double-blind test and see the difference. Being an mixing engineer, I tried myself few audio interfaces ranging from $500 to $1500 but I couldn't tell the difference, or the difference was too small to justify the price. Now, if I have to spend $5000 on an audio interface just to hear a tiny difference when I'm recording/mixing songs that are streamed on Spotify at 320kbps, I think it defies the purpose :)

So we should ignore all specs and just experiment? 🤔

I understand that measurements are vital in the design of equipment . But If, as you say, they aren't meaningful in assessing audio quality , why do you measure at all?

You need a good streamer/server but the pricing on nicer units is soo extreme for what you are getting. The marketing is creative and poor to understand, for these pretty boxes. Amps and dacs are complex, but streamer/server components are far less complex and basic, yet pricing is sooooo high. This are is more commodity. Why is pricing so high? Am I correct? Next vacation, go to Yosemite.

How about cable length? Speaker cables are better when shorter where interconnects can be longer... e.g. mono block amps put closer to wider speakers will perform better than a central multi channel amp with longer speaker cables. Then you have things like cables (silver vs. copper, material treatments, termination types). Power Conditioners, power cable upgrades, and lifters to get the cables off floors. How about measurements? Places like ASR will use SINAD + THD + S2N as a comprehensive benchmark if a product is good or bad without regard to personal preferences to subjective audio qualities.

I only use a cartesian set-up. It doesn't exist. 🤣

Why can't current be measured and shared with amp buyers? Is it impossible? Sorry I am no physics man.

I listen...😏not analyzing Music...