What Are You Listening To?

[Serpentboi1992]

[Thatguy]

4 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

maaaybe Thatguy

Nah. Too tech for me.

[AlSymerz]

In Malice's Wake - Light Upon The Wicked

[zackflag]

Destroyer 666 - Never Surrender (2022)

Surprisingly decent considering how bad the pre-released track was. Thankfully that is the worst song on the album. If you liked Wildfire, this is worth a listen.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

5 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

... no goats need apply.

Say no more, say no more...I'll bin my application.

 

Ritual Death - Ritual Death, black/death Norway 🐐

 

Udånde - Slow Death, black/death Slovakia 🐐

 

Nocturnal Desecration - Liberation Through Death EP, black/death Argentina 🐐

 

[AlSymerz]

Amyl And The Sniffers - Comfort To Me

 

[FatherAlabaster]

2 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Nah. Too tech for me.

Considering how much you like Archspire, I'm surprised you'd say that, but I kind of agree. It's also a bit soft. I'm on the fence about it. Did you like "Spaces Of Hope"?

47 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Say no more, say no more...I'll bin my application.

An excellent and well-considered choice.

[AlSymerz]

Amyl And The Sniffers - S/T

 

[RelentlessOblivion]

Out of curiosity my Spotify wrapped, I definitely wouldn’t have guessed Valhalla by Blind Guardian was my most played song

[Thatguy]

1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Considering how much you like Archspire, I'm surprised you'd say that, but I kind of agree. It's also a bit soft. I'm on the fence about it. Did you like "Spaces Of Hope"?

Archspire is a special case to me and an exception to my usual thing.

SoH is certainly a bit soft too, and the  - programmed I presume -  drums annoy me.

[AlSymerz]

The Chats - Get Fucked

[MarkhantonioYeatts]

PLANET ON A CHAIN - Deprogram

 

[markm]

Devil Master/Ecstacies of Never Ending Light

Mournful Congregation/The Incubus of Karma

Thou & Miznor/Myopia-Giving this another go-It is good.

[navybsn]

So I went to a fancy pants legit Hi-Fi store today. Hifibuys in Atlanta. Super nice folks. Listened to an unobtanium system (D'Agustino, Audio Research, Wilson Audio speakers, and some crazy turntable with an optical/light cartridge) spec'd out around 500k. A second system that I really don't remember the setup other than the KEF towers spec'd about 50k. And a third tube setup (Primaluna) with Vandersteen speakers and a Hi-Fi Rose streamer that came in around 20k. To be honest, I was most impressed with the last one. I could never see actually spending that kind of cash on a system, but it was still really cool to experience them. Dude asked me what kind of music I listened to and I kinda chuckled. I said generally poorly recorded rock and metal. I just let him drive. Jazz on the crazy system, Dire Straits on the second, and Tool on the third. Have to say that I would have loved to hear Archgoat or Blood Incantation on one of them, but it probably would have gotten me kicked out. Anyway, now that I'm home, I'm listening to Tool to compare my stuff to the system I really liked.

Tool - Fear Inoculum

Tool - 10,000 Days

Btw - for those wondering, my 1 minute review of each.

1) 500k system - obnoxiously sterile. Analytical to the point of being unenjoyable. I never knew what exactly people meant by analytical, but I do now and I don't like it. Give me some fuzzy warmth. Sounded like the band was in the room about 20 feet away. Could see it being ok with well recorded jazz and classical.

2) 50k system - better, but nothing special. I knew I was listening to a stereo but a really good one. Dire Straits sounded amazing, but lacking punch and a little forward although the music choice could be the culprit. Maybe even a touch bright. I think blues would be best suited.

3) 20k system - more along the lines of what I could do. Good sound, punchy, zero distortion. A 2 channel setup I could deal with every day. Listening to the same music now however, it's not worth the money. There isn't 18k difference between my stuff. I could probably spend another 5k on my own and achieve the same sound. I don't listen audiophile-like though, so it would be rather pointless.

[Innominate]

Helmet - Born Annoying 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

4 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Out of curiosity my Spotify wrapped, I definitely wouldn’t have guessed Valhalla by Blind Guardian was my most played song

Never heard the song but I totally would have guessed that. It was between that and some 20 minute funeral doom song.

 

Djevel - Naa Skrider Natten Sort,  Norway

 

 

Kingdom - Abusive Worship in the Chamber of Shame, Poland

 

[RelentlessOblivion]

1 hour ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Never heard the song but I totally would have guessed that. It was between that and some 20 minute funeral doom song.

 

Djevel - Naa Skrider Natten Sort,  Norway

 

 

Kingdom - Abusive Worship in the Chamber of Shame, Poland

Nah Evoken took fifth, and somehow the only doom band to feature…

 

[Innominate]

Thorns vs. Emperor

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Klada - False Gnosis, Bulgaria

 

Svart Vinter - Mist, Italy

 

[navybsn]

This morning:

In the Woods - Diversum

The Secret French Postcards - Life Got Claws

Hangman's Chair - A Loner

Now:

Scolex - Torn From Beyond

Rush - AFTK

Rush - Different Stages

Torche - Meanderthal 

[markm]

14 hours ago, navybsn said:

So I went to a fancy pants legit Hi-Fi store today. Hifibuys in Atlanta. Super nice folks. Listened to an unobtanium system (D'Agustino, Audio Research, Wilson Audio speakers, and some crazy turntable with an optical/light cartridge) spec'd out around 500k. A second system that I really don't remember the setup other than the KEF towers spec'd about 50k. And a third tube setup (Primaluna) with Vandersteen speakers and a Hi-Fi Rose streamer that came in around 20k. To be honest, I was most impressed with the last one. I could never see actually spending that kind of cash on a system, but it was still really cool to experience them. Dude asked me what kind of music I listened to and I kinda chuckled. I said generally poorly recorded rock and metal. I just let him drive. Jazz on the crazy system, Dire Straits on the second, and Tool on the third. Have to say that I would have loved to hear Archgoat or Blood Incantation on one of them, but it probably would have gotten me kicked out. Anyway, now that I'm home, I'm listening to Tool to compare my stuff to the system I really liked.

Tool - Fear Inoculum

Tool - 10,000 Days

Btw - for those wondering, my 1 minute review of each.

1) 500k system - obnoxiously sterile. Analytical to the point of being unenjoyable. I never knew what exactly people meant by analytical, but I do now and I don't like it. Give me some fuzzy warmth. Sounded like the band was in the room about 20 feet away. Could see it being ok with well recorded jazz and classical.

2) 50k system - better, but nothing special. I knew I was listening to a stereo but a really good one. Dire Straits sounded amazing, but lacking punch and a little forward although the music choice could be the culprit. Maybe even a touch bright. I think blues would be best suited.

3) 20k system - more along the lines of what I could do. Good sound, punchy, zero distortion. A 2 channel setup I could deal with every day. Listening to the same music now however, it's not worth the money. There isn't 18k difference between my stuff. I could probably spend another 5k on my own and achieve the same sound. I don't listen audiophile-like though, so it would be rather pointless.

I used to love the gear discussions we had over at M-F. I've let the upgradeitus urge go. I haven't listened to my dedicated rig in a while just because it's in a converted spare bed bedroom/office space and more convenient for me to hang with my wife in our living space next to the kitchen with my laptop and toggle back and forth between checking out some nonsense with her on TV or the news and listen to stuff on my laptop with my Be's.

Now that I think about it, we used to have a desktop that I had wired to my system through a DAC with a headphone amp and I could access my digital files as well as computer audio and stream stuff or listen to stuff you guys reo'd directly. Now my wife and I both just use our laptops and I don't bother taking the laptop into the room and connecting to the DAC so the only time I listen to my fig s when I'm listening to my own digital collection and I've become spoiled listening to my laptop without the need for the big boy rig.

Metal is such a hard genre to really get perfect on speakers. I'm not as tech as you but I know you need good low end and impact, and like you said warmth is nice but then you don't want to sacrifice clarity, detail, mids and highs. 

When I was piecing my set up I went to those high end audio shops to and there is an annual audio show here in D.C. where I found a lot cool gear. And they usually had a Head-Fi group for headphone gear. It was cool. But like you said, they're playing classical, jazz, Steely Dan, Floyd and not much else. 

There's this shop in McLean VA near where I grew up that I visited few times. They specialized in tube gear. They had a nice set up with various listening rooms, cozy little private rooms with comfy furniture. It was like a friend turning his system over to you and leaving the keys. They had their set ups connected to Sonos on Spotify or something as a server which was great as I could look up any band and usually I could be alone on one of the listening rooms and crank all kinds of stuff. 

The entry level system was about twice what I spent on mine or more-10-20K. I remember thinking tube gear sounded great with jazz of course, and with a lot of well recorded rock blues, stoner, doom and generally better recorded metal albums-the Steven Wilson kind of stuff recorded on analog equipment-but you know, BWP and Lateralus is going to sound good regardless. 

Those sweet tube amp set ups often don't sound good with a lot of the poorly recorded metal, punk, etc. we tend to listen to. They sound too fuzzy and don't always get the details I want with more complex and tech oriented metal-and it doesn't have to be tech death-there is a ton of crazy, layered, chaotic shit in lots of styles of metal that as I recall didn't really translate through some of the pricy tube systems......

[AlSymerz]

The Chats - High Risk Behaviour

 

[navybsn]

1 hour ago, markm said:

 

 

 

1 hour ago, markm said:

 

Pretty much nailed my feeling on it. Mid-fi is great because you get good sound with the type of music we all lean towards without the unbelievable costs. I don't want some fancy jazz or classical to sound amazing on my gear at the expense of the other stuff I listen to more often. I want everything to sound good no matter what I'm playing. Maybe one day I'll have a dedicated listening room with proper acoustics and dampening. I'd probably put a crazy system in there somewhere around the 10k range. Still budget for the serious guys, but all I'm really willing to tolerate.

I listen in the living room and my office. I like to hear music throughout the house. I stream to those 2 and the bedroom. I do laundry, cook, clean, and work around the house with the tunes going. Or like now, I have it cranked and I'm sitting on the porch drinking a beer. That's not a job for 10k speakers much less 100k speakers. Hell, I felt guilty spending 1k on a set. Both my setups sound perfectly fine for what I do. Would I like to upgrade? Fuck yeah, but I'd be assed as to what I would get.

Tube gear is cool, but I think the best thing for rock/metal is a tube buffer or preamp with a bypass. All the benefits with the ability to go straight if you need to. My little FX Audio buffer sounds great and cost $35. Pairs nicely with the detailed Allo Boss DAC and the Marantz 2240b. Takes less than a minute to pull out of the system. You don't have to spend a lot of dough to get good sound and get to play around.

My next upgrade will be a new purpose built streamer and a server upgrade. I'm in the middle of the server upgrade now, reripping my entire collection and putting it on a fresh drive. NUC Intel guts. Maybe even wire the whole house with CAT6. Eventually, I'll build a streamer along the lines of the Hi-fi Rose I saw yesterday. Can't bring myself to spend 5k on something like that I could build.

NP:

Opeth - Live at Royal Albert Hall

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

Hum - Inlet

[Serpentboi1992]

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, navybsn said:

Mid-fi is great because you get good sound with the type of music we all lean towards without the unbelievable costs.

Tube gear is cool, but I think the best thing for rock/metal is a tube buffer or preamp with a bypass. All the benefits with the ability to go straight if you need to.

I don't even know what this means. Buffer? Bypass? Go straight? I would have no idea where to start setting up a server. I'm a fucking luddite.

I'm lo-fi all the way. I have a desktop computer with digital music files, that's Mp3's not FLAC. I have a $100 Micca Origen. I have a pair of $300 JBL monitors which I'm quite happy with (and an additional pair of $500 Vanatoo speakers for the laptop that aren't even hooked up right now) and some half a dozen various headphones mostly in the $200 range. A couple were a bit pricier than that, but I got them used for much less than their original MSRP. But right now I'm listening 99.9% through my speakers anyway.

Also have a DAP with some cheapo $25 iem's (I honestly can't tell the difference anyway, as long as they have some bass I'm happy) which I don't really even use anymore since I don't go too many places. That's the sum total of my audio equipment. My inexpensive stuff sounds fine to me, I'm not even mildly tempted to go down that audio rabbit hole. I tried buying a fancy Chinese G-D audio DAC/amp with great reviews (used) one time, but I never could figure out how to get the drivers to make it work, so it's basically a $250 paperweight.

I did have a reasonably decent lower mid-fi component system once upon a time many many years ago (80's & 90's) with an 100w Onkyo amp and a Technics turntable and stuff, capped off with some large walnut Cerwin Vega speakers with 10" woofers that sounded great to me and got real loud. But since I stopped playing vinyl and cassettes and discs and just went all digital I don't even know where any of that stuff is anymore. Must have left it stored away somewhere at my ex's house when I moved out back in 2011. And I've since left all my vinyl at a friend's house in Denver when I left there 5 years ago, so I really don't even need the old outdated 40 year old stereo system anymore.

 

Vephar - Ascension Through Torture, Polish dm