Audio Unleashed Brent Butterworth & Dennis Burger

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedThis week, Brent and Dennis talk about the flaming dumpster fire that is Spotify, get straight to the heart of what a “Speaker Improver” actually improves, and ponder the age-old question: When do DACs stop burning in?
And for Patrons: a virtual tour of High End Munich 2024.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
Further Reading: 
“Spotify Is Not Offering Refunds After It Bricks ‘The Car Thing’” by Collin Woodard: https://jalopnik.com/spotify-is-not-offering-refunds-after-it-bricks-the-car-1851499512
“Spotify says it will refund Car Thing purchases” by Will Shanklin: https://www.engadget.com/spotify-now-says-it-will-refund-car-thing-purchases-193001487.html?guccounter=1
“Spotify raises prices on premium plans to boost profits” by Wendy Lee: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/spotify-raises-prices-premium-plans-162702081.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
“Spotify's Phony War On Bots” by Benn Jordan: https://youtu.be/kVY7-Ti77UQ?si=EMKay-FMnVHz6dxT
“The Problem with Music” by Steve Albini: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-music
“Ted Gioia on AI's Threat To Music” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/ibMd_Jx9daw?si=LKqRpAn8_InPxliv
“Akiko Audio Speaker Improver” by Malcolm J. Gomes: https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/akiko-audio-speaker-improver/
“Burn in for DACs” by Paul McGowan, PS Audio: https://youtu.be/LYtBuoaYwNY?si=lJFIqbbr793cFNXo
 

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedThis week, Brent and Dennis ponder whether Class D can really live up to the performance of Class A and Class AB amps, talk about testing USB cables and why they aren’t in Singapore, and deconstruct a new manifesto by John Darko.
And for Patrons: Which company has ruined its own cred with a disastrous software update? 
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
Further Reading: 
“Is Class-D Amplification Now Better than Class-A/B and Class-A?” by Robert Schryer: https://pmamagazine.org/is-class-d-amplification-now-better-than-class-a-b-and-class-a/
Lachlan does another blind test of USB cables, nobody can tell the difference, chooses to discount the results and prefer his magic USB cables” by u/blorg: reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1crkiz3/lachlan_does_another_blind_test_of_usb_cables/?share_id=iyNIc119UUqLVBbEe5qIB
“The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto” by John Darko: https://darko.audio/2024/05/the-music-first-audiophile-manifesto/
PDF grab of Darko homepage, May 13, 2024: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jIrdTzbJbKgKaVtjq7MsPfuYpGH5j0woY4ZF53Gj2Wg/edit?usp=sharing

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedThis week, Brent and Dennis dig into a blog post by John Siau of Benchmark Audio about audiophile snake oil, deconstruct Jorge Sadurni's Spherical Dual loudspeakers, and weigh in on a Facebook feud about whether diminishing returns are even a thing. 
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
Further Reading: 
“Audiophile Snake Oil” by John Siau: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audiophile-snake-oil
“Sadurni Acoustics with Wolf Systems and House of Stereo” by Jason Victor Serinus: https://www.stereophile.com/content/sadurni-acoustics-wolf-systems-and-house-stereo
“The Magico M9 & The Myth of the Law of Diminishing Returns” by The Absolute Sound: https://youtu.be/uqm9P8HSq08?si=v-n_Ryq3P1nvFmsg
“If DAC Chips Perform Perfectly Then Why Don’t All DACs Sound the Same?” by Jerry Del Colliano: https://futureaudiophile.com/if-dac-chips-perform-perfectly-then-why-dont-all-dacs-sound-the-same/

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedY’all have been waiting for it! We’re here to deliver. This week, we dig into the Tekton Design/Erin’s Audio Corner/ASR hullabaloo in the way that only Audio Unleashed can. Is Tekton founder Eric Alexander the real victim here? With that done, we dig into an article about a guy you’ve never heard of who’s out-streaming most artists you have. What does this mean? Is it an AI thing? And in our third segment, we try to figure out what the heck the Gryphon Audio PowerZone 3 power strip thingy even is.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
Further Reading: 
“Tekton Troubadour Review: Take 2” by Erin’s Audio Corner: https://youtu.be/ItAwcW-3Kv4?si=TQpkTjBegdT3nds-
“The Legal Risks of Being an Audio Reviewer” by Audioholics: https://youtu.be/V-1A68sdGMQ?si=aE2IVYtJdY9J_hyH
“Tekton Design Impact Monitor loudspeaker” by Herb Reichert: https://www.stereophile.com/content/tekton-design-impact-monitor-loudspeaker
“The History of Tekton Design's Patented Tweeter Array” by Tekton Design: https://youtu.be/8GFnarjmG1c?si=SINzoSm49gheX70f
Patent US9247339B2: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9247339B2/en
“The Rise of the Anonymous Music Star” by Ted Gioia: https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-rise-of-the-anonymous-music-star
“PowerZone by GRYPHON DEBUTS AT AXPONA” by TAS Staff: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/powerzone-by-gryphon-debuts-at-axpona/
Quantum Acoustics: https://www.quantumacoustics.net/theory

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedHey fam! A lot of you have expressed your eagerness to hear us cover the Erin’s Audio Corner/Tekton kerfuffle and Eric Alexander’s resulting and wholly unnecessary self-immolation. Sadly, we’d already recorded the tracks for this one before that all played out! Hopefully you still dig what we’ve got for you this week. 
First up: A deep dive into the concept of “everything between the Romex and the amp.” Next: Our reaction to John DeVore of DeVore Fidelity’s appearance on The Occasional Podcast from back in November. Then we check out Your Morning Coffee’s new AI-generated theme song and discuss what the heck this all means.
Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
 
Further Reading: 
“SHOCKING! Tellurium Q Black II power cable review” by Passion for Sound: https://youtu.be/ztLQxC_hIjE?si=Q1wuSCyUwZcIZWRA
“Russ Andrews BMU 3000 Mk II Review” by Andrew 'Harry' Harrison: https://hifiplus.com/articles/russ-andrews-bmu-3000-mk-ii-balanced-mains-transformer/
“Do Power Cables Make a Difference? The Results Surprised Me - Blind Testing the Audioquest NRG-Z3” by cheapaudioman: https://youtu.be/im1aKrc3A6E?si=haqjAkYadn3ycI_2
“Furman Elite-15 DMi and Elite-20 PFi Power Conditioners Review” by Steve Munz: https://www.audioholics.com/power-conditioner-reviews/furman-elite-15-dmi-and-elite-20-pfi-power-conditioners
“John DeVore Of DeVORE FIDELITY Returns!” by The Occasional Podcast: https://theoccasionalpodcast.libsyn.com/john-devore-of-devore-fidelity-returns
Your Morning Coffee Episode 190: https://yourmorningcoffeepodcast.libsyn.com/episode-190

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedBuy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):
📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp
📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE
📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0
 
This week, Brent and Dennis answer questions and respond to criticism from listeners in an extended mailbag segment before being joined by Wirecutter headphone specialist Lauren Dragan for a conversation about the Harman target curve. Then they dig into a Darko Audio podcast about Total Harmonic Distortion. And for Patrons: is Masimo looking to dump or spin off Sound United?
 
Further Reading: 
“Sphere of influence: How Harman and Dr. Sean Olive are reshaping headphone sound” by Jeff Miller: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-plZWX4lqXWa/learn/crutchfield-visits-harman.html
“Let 1,000 Frequency Responses Bloom” by Josh Mound: https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/let-1000-frequency-responses-bloom-r1260/
“Podcast #52 – %THD: why is it MISLEADING?” by John Darko: https://darko.audio/2024/03/podcast-52-thd-why-is-it-misleading/
“The Correlation between Distortion Audibility and Listener Preference in Headphones” by Temme, Steve; Olive, Sean; Tatarunis, Steve; Welti, Todd; McMullin, Elisabeth: https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17441