THE ORRONOCO AUDIO DIY

Last week, I got a chance to enjoy the exotic island, Bali. This is my fourth times for whole of my life going to this beautiful island. Still, Bali has it's own magnet for me to enjoy and release the tension I got in my daily routine. In this travel companion, I bring my new DAP Sony NW-A50 along with the Sony MH1 earphones. I prefer the very portable device every time I traveling and previously the iPod is the only one I choose. In this time, I give a chance for Sony DAP going with me. Surprisingly, the sound from the headphones output are very good compares to iPod. The Sony sound signature has very smooth mid-range and vocal, more on warm sounding system.

DAP stands for Digital Audio Player is quite hype since the born of the iPod. It is quite long time and I guess the Hi-Res audio label also make the popularity of the DAP become more floating at the surface right now. The DAP doesn't dead yet, even for next few years, I am pretty sure they have their own market. It is simply the sound quality cannot compare to any smartphones right now. Imagine the electrical noise effect to the bad sound is less occurs you find in the dedicated music player like DAP comparing to smartphones. Then how you listen to the DAP is simply connect directly to the headphones. It is very straight forward and nothing special about that. But you know that not every listener enjoy what comes from the box. They figure it out how to maximize the performance and the number one upgrade is adding an external amplifier.

Do you remember the first time you fall in love to the music? I am pretty sure you had it and it is always related to the audio system as well. Same with me. In my teenager life, mostly I listen to FM radio. My bed room is sharing with my big brother and I am so happy listening music from radio cassette deck with him. I also remember having a portable cassette player. I carry anywhere I go and listen the music from it, is an unforgettable experience. After the cassette era, CD audio become a holy grail in good audio system. It is booming in early 90's and this is the first portable CD player that I had. The Sony Discman D-9.

As we know that finding the original 2SK170 & 2SJ74 is very hard now. Some seller might sell them in pairs for about US$50. I remember 8 years ago I bought this transistor only US$2 each. No wonder the price jump that higher due to the Toshiba itself who made this J-FET is already stop production for few decades ago. As long you get the genuine then it is good. But you might consider not getting the fake one for sure. Especially if you don't know how to check it visually, then I tell you the clue for it.

The reason to enjoy the music we love is hear every note as the way as artist intended. Every breath and every instrument of the music reveal to the ears of the listeners. The equipment to accommodate those purpose are basically simple and affordable. Your extra mileage and desire to make the music more lively that's makes this hobby expensive.

While for most of home audio people really know well that the car is the worst place for audio, thus listening music in car is unavoidable. The situation for my daily driving activity is about at least 2 hours minimum per day. Compare how much I spending time while listening music at home it quite similar. But when I am stuck in traffic jam, it can double the time. So, you will never want to accompany in the traffic with a bad audio system on car don't you?

This post is an introduction to the hi-end audio. Average people will stare with straight face when they looking at the price tag of this expensive audio system. This hi-end audio brands has small popularity but the price are ultimately higher than most commercial brand, let's say like the Sony, Technics, Denon, or Pioneer.  Although some of those popular commercial audio brands also have their hi-end audio line up, for example the Pioneer have the ELITE series, Sony has the ES series, and Technics has the Esoteric,  but most of their products are targeting to average consumer market. The hi-end audio brands are nowhere heard from those average consumer. The brands such as Audio Note, Mark Levinson, Krell, Pass Labs, which intended in hi-end audio are definitely they never heard about them.

Perhaps the great life formula for me is simple. I love to listen great music with the best audio equipment possible. Especially when they are build by myself, It is become my self satisfaction to listening from it. I am working quite hard to save some money for this hobbies, which is DIY audio is never be cheaper than buying branded audio gear. And for some reason, I love to have a routine gateway. Not often and never should be fancy, but at least it can refreshing myself with a new places, great food, and some local live music or perhaps the music that I can carried while traveling.