And we have a winner, by unanimous vote!
The first clip is factory default setting with jumpers intact: 64dB gain. Second clip is with jumpers cut: 54dB gain and volume on Exotik raised 10dB to compensate (I didn't spend much time exploring volume matching as it sounded pretty close to me this way). The clips don't really do justice to how big the difference really is.
beck wrote: ↑2020-04-02 06:29
Great videos markiteight and great music. :-)
Top clip is a little more controlled and bottom clip a little more lush. Both sound great but if I had to choose it would be the (less precise) lush version.
Thanks beck! That's an interesting description and I can hear what you're talking about in the clips. In the room I actually hear much greater control and sense of rhythm with the gain reduced, but in a relaxed and natural way - not at all forced or exaggerated like what is often associated with some Naim equipment. This relaxed yet precise flow naturally leads to a much better understanding of how all the individual musicians fit together to make the music as a whole.
What really sold me on the reduced gain was that when I diverted my attention away from the music to read some incoming messages on my phone, I stayed "tuned in" to the music. That never happened before. Usually if I try to multitask I have to actively shift my focus from one task to the other, but even as I type this sentence I'm remaining engaged with the music (currently being served a healthy plate of Phish). This tells me that my brain is having a much easier time processing the sensory input it is receiving - so much so that it can do it with hardly any effort at all, and that is the most fundamental goal of the Tune Method.
Even that description doesn't do justice to what I'm hearing, so let's try a silly analogy. What I had before was like broccoli for the ears. I like broccoli, and it's good for me, but I don't crave more after I finish the last piece. Now, my ears are tantalized, titilated, energized. When the record is over my brain cries out "more..MORE! GIVE ME MORE!!!"
This...this is candy for the ears.
If a Linto is capable of pumping out this much music, my little pea brain can't fathom what Entity (let alone SINGularity) can do!
Defender wrote: ↑2020-04-02 18:14
what REM LP is that?
Green. Arguably their best effort.