Cheaptubeaudio has had a long history of advocating reasonably priced but excellent tube gears, particularly Singled-Ended Triodes. This Blog however covers a lot more than SET, and is not exclusively tube-related. Cheaptubeaudio prioritizes coverage of unusual and rare gears, particularly vintage ones, on which little info can be found on the internet.
Letter from Hong Kong (20-19):Eric L examines Micromega MyDac
Always wanted to pick one up since it was first released for the sake of the cheap price; what the heck, if it doesn't work out, $400USD is not a big sum and I figure I could sell it easily. Somehow, it just didn't happen, as often in life.
Read a few articles on Micromega in this blog lately, as I have always wanted to get a product from them but somehow didn't get the chance. My most impressive audition of MM was their Trio CD/DAC combo played through a complete Ensemble setup at an High End Show years ago - I was sent to heaven while playing the Piano from the Three Blind Mice label.
Scrolling through Review33, a local internet dicussion forum with 2nd hand items for sale as well, one day I spotted a MyDac for sale at less than $100USD. I immediately sent the request to buy, two PMs to be sure and finally got this unit in hand.
Hooking up is easy as a piece of cake , well... except to get my laptop with Windows 10 to upsample to 24/192 using USB II was a pain in the butt. I never figured out the complicated procedure and finally gave up and just switched it back to USB1.0 and 24/96.
How does it sound? How does it compare to my Sparkler CDP using NOS and my Vega DAC through laptop? I' was all excited to find out!
Sparkler CDP vs Sparkler CDP as transport through Micromega MyDac
First of all, the attack ,openness and musicality of the CDP is no slouch and at times surpasses the Vega DAC. As soon as the MyDac was connected I felt an immediacy, which is a good sign. The bass has more definition, tunefulness , tenacity and bounciness. Midrange has fleshed out (but not blurred) and soundstage and depth have stretched out a bit. Musicality is there and it is involving and exciting. The additon of the DAC has actually bested the internal DAC. Although I'm happy with both, I slightly prefer the MyDac
Vega vs MyDac streaming Tidal music via my Laptop
Without missing a beat, MyDac replaced the Vega and I played many tunes through it for at least four days. I then switched back to my Vega.
MyDac, despite running at 24/96, is indeed an excellent DAC. With Melody Gardot's latest CD, somehow I prefer the Tidal version to the CD disc played on my Sparkler, with or with MyDac! I knew immediately I struck gold - the plugging of guitar strings, the playfulness of her voice, the tuneful bass and musicality makes one want to listen and listen yet again.
Overall, sound of MyDac is involving. Gain is slightly higher; the immediacy and involving nature are noticeable right away. The tuneful bass is well defined and provides a good foundation, whick makes my feet tap like I have Parkinson's when I played Fantasy by Earth, Wind and Fire as well as Good Times by Chic! The DAC allows me to dwell inside the music more than ever. All the virtues when connected to CDP is here and sometimes even more so. Wider and deeper soundstage; though not the ultimate, there is no point anyway? Fleshy, lush yet smooth midrange, free of grain and natural. Highs are as good as Vega.
Hooking back the Vega, lines immediately thinned out, and there's slighlty loss of the overall magic and liveliness. Yet Vega's strong point is still there: the representation of slow passages is better, compared with which the Sparkler and MyDac seem a bit restless and unrestrained.
Verdict
I did not take into account of the price factor, all are value products on their own, but I ultimately prefer the MyDac!!
Kudos to an 8 year-old product that represents superb value and has withstood the test of time!
This has been a tough year for most people, and it almost seems frivolous to write about audio. Nonetheless, this is a tradition for this blog and me. In past years, I basically re-capped the audio adventures of the year, but this year is quite different, for good as well as unfortunate reasons. mrgoodsound's brilliant expose (the previous article) also renders many things moot.
People of the Year I completely agree with those critical of Time magazine, which chose Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as People of the Year. I completely agree that Health Care Workers are People of the Year. The heroics, particularly during the initial phase of the pandemic, are just staggering. Being in NYC, I was really moved to tears by the health professionals who rallied from all over America to aid NYC. Indeed, all over this earth, including China, many did the same for their countries. The altruism and bravery represents the best of America, and of humanity. Incidentally, one of my classmates, a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai, died, and one of my relatives (a hospital sanitation worker) in the UK is convalescing from an infection. Such are their sacrifices. In contrast, ugly politics and the election maneuvers represent the worst. And a chance to promote health consciousness was lost. Shame.
Thanks to Our Writers When it comes to audio, the greatest joy this year has nothing to do with any piece of equipment, but everything to do with human beings. I cannot thank our writers enough for contributing - the blog is the better for it. Diversity, isn't that a key word? BUT, while diverse, we have many things in common - as mrgoodsound put forth so eloquently in his latest article, a love for music, a healthy distrust of the "high end", a return to basics, all holistic. Mind you, this blog shuns ads, almost never receives solicitation for reviews, and no one is paid. We all do it out of our own pocket, for fun, and perhaps some release. I actually would like to reward our writers with small gifts, be they cables or tubes, which I have in abundance, should they have need. I have noticed readers' participation and comments have increased quite significantly since my fellow authors joined in. It is encouraging. mrgoodosund joined at the very end of last year, and Eric L and Dexler Poppe followed suit (I still regret the passing of audiopro). Many thanks - we are all the richer for it. And then you, the readers, when you voice out, it is a pleasure. I actually think our highly individualistic (even cantankerous, but not without humor) Russian friend, omnipresent here and instantly identifiable, should not be anonymous in 2021 and have a name. Maybe Sputnik?? Incidentally, if you generally agree with our generally less-is-more philosophy, have commented before and feel you can contribute an article or two, email me to discuss.
Streaming and Bluetooth Streaming, by which I mean using simple means, not the ridiculously complicated paths advocated by so many mags, forums, and headless-fi's, is immensely pleasurable and opens one to new musical vista (as it does for me here). When simply done, it decouples one from chasing "the holy grail" and focuses one on the music. I think all our writers stream using rather direct methods and enjoy the music. You should too.
New Lease on Life For someone like me, in an extreme state of flux for the last 2 years, there are 2 sides to this. I am happy that some of my treasured gears, like the Tannoy Canterbury and TAD 3401, are living new lives in my friends' homes. I plan to write about them in due time. Also, during these 2 months in HK, I have been firing up my "remnants", like the B and W Matrix 801, Ruark Crusader III, various Micromega's and 16-bit players and Sun Audio SET amps, etc, to great and surprising results. Shall write about these too. There are many paths to audio and, importantly, musical, nirvana. No need to fret about.
Most Awesome Sound I heard Early on, before the Fourth Wave here, thanks to WSS' arrangement, I managed to hear Mr Chevalier Blanc's crazy and awesome WE setup in a cavernous space. I have enlisted my friend icefox's help to write this up:
I guess I have to mention some equipment. I am glad to have acquired a Yamamoto CA-04 (here) and a Micromega Stage 2 and a 71A amp. Bargains of the year go to various Bluetooth devices, FX Audio TUBE-01 (here) and Arcam rPhono (here).
I am not sure if I am old enough yet to be considered wise but if we treat years spent towards the pursuit of good sound as dog years then I should be about 35 in audiophile years - married with children and chipping away at a mortgage.
My Christmas night was spent listening to spiritual jazz from the greats - Sun Ra, Mingus, Coleman, Don Cherry and of course Coltrane. Having just shaved my head (I avoid the barber due to COVID), I was feeling especially monk-like and engaged in a year-end reflection. I know this has not been a great year for many people, I am very fortunate to say it has not been that bad for me, but in terms of audio and music it was in many ways a great one.
Here are just a few audio milestones for 2020, in no particular order:
1. Acquisition of Klipsch La Scala loudspeakers
I acquired a 1970s pair of La Scala's early in the year, by chance not so long after this home visit where I heard them for the first time. I love these speakers, to do better I would have to DIY a horn system using higher quality drivers at great expense - and even then I am not sure I could match the greatness of the folded bass horn in a DIY endeavor.
A turnkey, fully horn-loaded speaker system, available at used prices well below the retail cost of modern bookshelf speakers. If you have the space to support these speakers you will be rewarded with high-efficiency (in the true sense of the term) sound, where amplifier choice becomes a matter of taste, not requirement.
2. Converting 1s and 0s using NOS (non-oversampling) multibit DACs
Technically, I had already started becoming interested in NOS DACs in 2019, but it was not until this year that I realized their full potential. Having spent the better part of the last 3 years churning through over 20 digital audio converters priced from $100 to $2500, I actively avoided NOS DACs due to sonic descriptions from others indicating these DACs were overly warm, rolled-off, soft, etc. The irony was that these same people were recommending the 20 or so other DACs I tried and found unsatisfactory.
After some encouraging experiments with NOS, I went out on a limb and purchased the DAC2.2SE from Ukranian manufacturer abbasaudio. I have not done a formal review of this DAC anywhere and don't plan to. I will just say this is the DAC that has made me stop thinking about DACs. It's renders music from digital sources well enough to make me cry. That's good enough for me.
3. Mono mia! (Telefunken Opus 6 Röhrenradio)
This year I gained an exponential interest in monophonic (single channel) playback, spurred on by an ever-involving interest in historical monophonic recordings. Articles such as "Mono Mia" by Vincent Gallo (pub. Sound Practices Issue #1, 1992) and "Стерео или моно" by Anatoly Likhnitsky (pub. 2001) got me thinking about home sound reproduction in a completely different way.
I began experimenting with listening to a single speaker (for appropriate recordings), and eventually purchased a Telefunken Opus 6 radio receiver. This fine mono radio from 1956 has 6 speaker units and was carefully engineered to completely fill a room with glowing, glorious music like I have never experienced before.
There is nothing quite like listening to a late-night classical or jazz FM broadcast on a set like this - it has opened my eyes and inspired me to attempt to achieve the same quality of sound in a full-range high-fidelity system, though I believe I am still quite a ways off from accomplishing that.
4. An expanded musical consciousness
Victories in other audio departments such as the 3 listed above have afforded me the ability to expand my musical consciousness and taste at an exponential rate. In 2019, I listened mainly to rock music, with only a cursory and surface level interest in jazz and classical. Just a year later, I can truly say I am 'into' jazz, classical, oldies, folk and even foreign artists. The discovery of new music has become something as natural and effortless as breathing, enabled by an audio system that not only satisfies but allows me to relish the aesthetics of different genres, recording eras and musical consciousnesses.
Most of my digital listening is done now on YouTube, where Google's extremely powerful algorithm has a never-ending hole of increasingly obscure recommendations to make. I have subscriptions to many small-time channels whose owners take time to upload rare recordings and performances, including the delicate digitization's of LP and shellac records. The ability to sample a lifetimes worth of music before purchasing a physical copy is a true modern-day blessing.
5. Letting go of audio pretenses & pretentiousness
I use the term 'pretense' here as a polite way of saying bullsh**.
Bullsh** like:
caring what anyone else thinks about your system
the audio tribalism and groupthink present consciously and unconsciously in so many aspects of this hobby
the meandering and meaningless arguments that take place in so many audio discussion groups and forums
what dogmas the 'audio scientists' have to proclaim as false shepherds about what is and is not possible in sound reproduction
most of all what those who do not even understand or appreciate music (though they are often the loudest to proclaim that they do) have to say about anything audio-related.
Forget them all. The ability to see through such noise and remained focus with acute perception on what matters most to you will be the most useful tool in achieving aural nirvana and good sound. I say this as someone who is now achieving one audio success after another, only after completely discarding such pretenses and pretentiousness.
I suggest to ignore anyone who provides you advice without asking and understanding first: what music do you enjoy? what sounds do you like to hear? what sacrifices are you willing to make? These questions form the basis of your aural matrix, and let you pick and choose system components that fit inside of it.
I suggest to not ask even a wise master for advice if you do not have the answers to these questions. It will only lead to disappointment and a sure path to audio hell.
I suggest to keep around some form of inexpensive system which is capable of providing musical satisfaction: equipment which allows you to enjoy the music you have while finding more, equipment in which your engagement with it remains utterly non-cerebral. It may be a cheap receiver you inherited from a family member, a $20 CD player you found at a thrift store, and speakers you rescued from a dumpster. The less pretentious, the better.
Assembled, these components will become your sanity control, something to fall back on if you take too many steps on the wrong path in the pursuit of aural nirvana. The one time this pursuit becomes truly dangerous is if the soul & spirit are denied the nourishment of music for an extended period of time, generally from having an expensive system you don't feel like listening to. This is what causes burn-out and audio depression. You have been warned!
Sources of alternative audio wisdom
If you are ready to or are already in the process of rejecting mainstream audio ideology, here are some sites which may provide nice reading material during the holiday break.
The Triode Guild - this website contains articles and publications of the late Dr. Harvey 'Gizmo' Rosenberg. As the name suggests, most of the articles are about vacuum tube amplification, but Rosenberg was a truly hilarious and entertaining writer regarding any subject. I burst out laughing more than once reading articles such as Sex, Music, and Pentodes.
Arthur Salvatore's Audio Critique - this website contains articles and essays of Arthur Salvatore, a lifelong audiophile who shares information on audio philosophy, audio components and the high-end audio industry. I do not expressly agree with all of the opinions on this website, but I would especially implore readers to carefully review the sections of the website detailing the escapades of the audio press and review magazines. The insight is invaluable.
Sound Practices - a magazine published in the 1990s as part of the underground American audio scene, consider it a sort of counter-culture to Stereophile and TAS. Many articles have been republished online though I recommend paying for the entire archive here. The fact that information in articles which are nearly three decades old are still so relevant today show how little forwards progress there is in the audio industry.
Nutshell High Fidelity - the home page of Lynn Olson, containing many well-written and insightful articles on tube amplifiers, loudspeaker design and DIY. Especially recommended is A Tiny History of High Fidelity.
AML - the home page of the late Russian audio engineer Anatoly Likhnitsky. Only a few articles were translated to English but the site can be easily understood using Google Translate. Likhnitsky thinks more deeply and clearly about audio reproduction than anyone else I have ever encountered. He has a cult following of sorts in the East, and some Western admirers as well, including Peter Qvortup of Audio Note UK. Especially recommended to read his article on the death of high-end audio.
With all that said, I leave you with a beautiful tune to relax to as we close out this year. I wish all readers a happy holiday break and much audio success in 2021!
Click pics to enlarge. Above, a typical dai pai dong. Below Right, my downstair neighbor's treat.
Letter from Hong Kong (20-18): Season's Greetings from doctorjohn
As awkward as it may seem during these times, I wish you all a meaningful Holiday Season. Hold your breath (literally) and don't do anything rash. Save your energy for your audio journey. As for myself, stuck in HK for longer than I expected, I have been going through my "residual" hifi holdings in HK (and that's still too much to behold), with some surprising rewards that you shall hear about. Also, it is great to re-visit many CDs that I have missed (still many here, mostly pop).
The Hong Kong Scene
Even during this Fourth Wave, HK soldiers on. Early on in the pandemic, HK locked down and enforced strict mask wearing and social distancing. Recovery was fairly fast and mortality rate stayed pretty low. Being a truly international city, HK could not, and cannot, really enforce rules like those in China, and so suffered subsequent waves, which were (and are) miniscule by US and European standards. My observation is life is at least as much as usual as in NYC, not to mention in much of America, Europe and many places elsewhere, but much safer. Still a lot of people on the streets, with crowded markets when people are staying home for the holidays. Restaurants are open for dining, though with limitations (flexi, depending on the situation, so right now no dining in after 6 pm). Crowded public transportation.
Mask Wearing, Sacrifice and Civics NYC is pretty good in this. Most people are wearing masks. But HK is better - virtually everyone is donning one. Before this current Fourth Wave, I met with my yumcha group, Sang, WSS and Raymond and shidi and friends, and I gradually got used to taking off my mask. But as the Fourth Wave emerged, I became more careful. It is a courtesy to wear a mask, like when I visited Raymond at his home, with his wife and boy present. You would not want your friends, or hosts, to worry (and they may not tell you about this). Is it a personal sacrifice to wear one? Yes, it is. Imagine HK in the summer, with almost tropical temps and full humidity, people complied. What is wrong with making a personal sacrifice for the common good? Nothing, and good for you. If you ask me, I totally understand personal freedom but, during these times, I really think civics, even more than equity training or anything else, is something that has to be re-introduced in much of the world. There are so many people that are just not civically minded. It is disgusting. It overlaps with selfishness, but is an even worse trait. I wonder what Plato, Confucius and all the wise men will think of our current humanity (or lack of).
Trust, and People feel safer Governance is by no means perfect here in HK, but there is nonetheless a much clearer message about the disease than what I can see in the US an Europe, and people depend on it. It is amazing that my gated community has daily mahjong games with all the neighbors participating (windows open or in the courtyards). My downstairs neighbor, as you can see, laid out his fine liquors for a welcome drinking session. What is behind this? Not bravura, but a trust that everyone is civically minded. And we are. It is something to be proud of, not scorned at. There is an easily observable difference between now and when I just came out of quarantine - less people around and, in my circle, less gatherings. Overall, you have to give it to the HK people for their self-discipline, for being relatively prudent in behavior.
I eat out very little, but I do have some favorites. Here are some of what I have enjoyed with my limited freedom (下面有幾家我認爲元朗最好的食肆，都是大排檔，大都在同一個地方，可以一次一網打盡):
Whenever I could (not right now) I love having early morning tea and dimsum (large restaurants cater to the elderly, and open around 6 am). Here are some of the humble things I had earlier: L, Rice Roll with Minced Beef and Congee with Fish Fillet; Middle, Steamed Rice with Pork Pattie; R, Assorted Dumplings and Lotus Leaf Wrapped Glutinous Rice with Chicken.
Now we move on to mostly dai pai dong's (open-air no-frills eateries) and hole-in-the-wall's. L, Fabulous Steamed Rice with Pork Ribs (元朗千色廣場冬菇亭張光記，千萬不要去錯隔壁虛有其名的泗記) and BOTTLED COKE, the way it should be (any drink tastes worse in aluminum cans); R, Fisherman's Congee (with slivers of dried squid, pork rind, fish pattie and minced beef) and Stir Fried Noodle (推薦這家不起眼的地茂冠華老粥舖，在長沙灣，坤記對面；套餐比大陸還要便宜，圖 $21! 質素一流，粥底夠綿，麺不軟；這次是短期再次光顧，上次的自家油炸鬼也靠譜；如果你在附近，記得要捨坤記而取冠華！)
Two kinds of Rice Roll: L, Street Vendor version (rolls are mass produced) with mixed sweet and hot sauce and sesame seeds. Some like sesame sauce with it but I don't; R, more expensive version with dried shrimps, made in front of you, solidified from liquid by steaming (又在千色冬菇亭，善心粥品，腸粉彈牙，薄而幾乎透明，香港現在沒幾家可以比美；沒吃過它家的粥。順便介紹隔壁的鄭洪記，是我吃過最好的老式廣式雲吞，小小的，沒有蝦，比任何麥x記好多，不過它的麵一般，要吃粗的，或米粉或净吃，湯更不正宗，定要加腩汁。雲吞我是買回家的，$64 一斤。）
Left, an old cha chaan teng in Shum Shui Po that I have frequented for decades (華南冰室). Shown is a typical set meal. Key is the nai cha, Tea with Milk, HK's own variant with condensed milk. The white bread typically has the crust cut off; I like soy sauce on my fried egg; note the rice noodle soup with roast pork is served with fork and western spoon; no chopsticks in cha chaan teng's! Crazy tradition, right? Note also the wooden booths, now garnished with plastic shield during the pandemic; Middle, Noodle with Beef Brisket （這在鄭洪記轉角的滿記，麺比前者好，彈牙，湯更不用說，正宗，曾見老闆用火槍烘魚乾；雲吞是多蝦那種，有它不少的捧場客, 牛腩入味但有點硬。湯好多葱，我是喝光的。此家是 $10 店出生的，但認真，曾經區内有多家，現只餘這檔。像大雲吞那些比它差的卻比它多店，是爲劣幣驅逐良幣。); Right, coal-fire roasted Pork Belly and Chicken, which I wrote about before (這在元朗的另外一個冬菇亭，交通廣場那個，這添記的無敵碳燒肉，雞和鵝，絕對值得你專程入元朗去吃。留意它家賣完即止，午後可能沒得吃，而燒鵝和燒雞10點多才有，又是限量，所以要早去。區内比它更有名的金記和天鴻都比它貴，而沒它好。)
Youtube Now for some playful music. Below is Saint Saens' Caprice, after an Etude in the form of a Waltz, as arranged for violin by Ysaye. It is little known, but a favorite of mine. Yan Pascal Tortelier, son of the great cellist Paul Tortelier, is an accomplished violinist, though he is known now as a conductor.
