I would not call myself an audiophile but I do love audio tech and have some knowledge I have gained over the years that I wish to share and the best thing is its all in one place so you don't have to spend ages searching the internet. Some of the tips you may be aware of already but then again you maybe surprised and find out something new.
Tip 1 - Input quality
By input quality I mean the type of audio that you're playing via either HiFi, mobile or portable player. These inputs come in a variety of different file types. There are a few categories of file types that offer different qualities of music playback. These are as follows.
PCM Lossy Compressed File Formats are used most often and can be found pretty much everywhere. Sites like Amazon music, iTunes and Spotify all use these types.
The file types in this category are AAC, OGG, WMA, MP3. All provide decent levels of music quality for everyday listening and streaming, however due to heavy compression there can be a loss in quality and thus reducing the experience you get when you listen.
In the present the average bitrate for MP3 (the most common) is 256kbps, its decent quality but by no means the best. You can now get 320kbps MP3 but its less common and takes up more room. So how do you get better quality? Well its quite simple in terms of an explanation but more difficult to actually do.
To get better quality you need music and a music players that can cope with PCM Uncompressed File Formats. These file types are a lot less compressed, take up more room and are more difficult to source. The file types to look for are AIFF, FLAC and WAV. These types are almost exact copies of the original and have file sizes that are quite large. However these types are the best for sheer audio quality and with portable music players such as the Pono (http://www.ponomusic.com/#about)
and Sonys NWZ-ZX1 (http://www.sony.co.uk/nwz-zx1) having high quality music on the go is now much easier albeit more expensive. Also files like FLAC are harder to find, usually more expensive and for music that isn't that common or mainstream. However if you want a higher quality player for less money I would suggest the FiiO X3Portable MP3 Player.
Taking all this into account files like FLAC will defiantly improve your experience if you can justify the extra cost and have compatible equipment, however if your looking for better for less, MP3 at 320kbps is good enough to achieve that.
Tip 2 - Bluetooth streaming
Streaming music over Bluetooth is becoming much more popular, however like file types Bluetooth compresses your audio to make it easier to send. So if you Bluetooth stream make sure you look products with aptX technology. aptX essentially doesn't compress your music as much so you get higher quality playback. If your looking for a new Bluetooth speaker or streamer for you HiFi be sure to check it has aptX technology. Some good streamers with aptX are
QED uPLAY puck, QED uPLAY Plus and Sony Bluetooth music receiver are great ways to achieve this. If you want to check to see if your phone supports aptX here is a list of all the phones that are aptX enabled http://www.aptx.com/category/phones
Tip 3 - Wired or Wireless
Its all to easy to see the benefits of wireless streaming, whether it be Bluetooth or WiFi wireless streaming is great at what it does. I mean no annoying wires everywhere thats great. But because of this annoying compression factor your music loses some quality over streaming. So if you want better quality then I'm afraid its back to cable (for now). You can however be a bit clever with your wires and hide them away. If you've got a big room get a cable like this one (10m 3.5mm to 3.5mm from Amazon) Its only £2 and will run around the edges of most rooms and stay hidden away. Its not the most elegant solutions but until wireless gets better its the best you can do for better quality.
Tip 4 - To stream or not to stream
I know I've talked about streaming already but as I have said its not the best for your music. It is easy and relatively affordable to do, however if you have a CD collection or not I would suggest buying separates, yes its may be more expensive and take up more room but if you love high quality music then separates is the way to go. Although I had good experiences with the Denon DM39 I found as soon as I got my new amplifier connected I noticed a massive boost in audio quality.
If you want to try and CD player and amp then this is a good budget option.
CD player Cambridge Audio Topaz CD5 V4 Amp Cambridge Audio Topaz AM10 both are a good option and I actually have the amp and its really good for the money. If you have a bit more money to spend I would suggest for the CD player Cambridge Audio AZUR 351C and for the amp the Cambridge Audio AZUR 315A both a great and offer amazing quality and have good reviews to boot.
Tip 5 - Set your equalizer
Setting your eq is a great and free way to get more from your music. I know it's obvious but it's surprising how many people dont bother. Whether on your phone, MP3 player, Computer or HiFi an eq tweak can really boost your performance with very little effort. I would advise to spend a bit of time to find the setting that is right for you, this is because everyone's taste is different so this ones down to you. Good music players with good eq's for phones are Poweramp and Rocket player. I've had experiences with both and they offer a good eq to get the most from your music stored on your phone.
Tip 6 - Headphone upgrade
Again I know a very obvious one, but I'm still amazed at how many people still use stock earphones for their music. As long as I can remember I have always bought new headphones and never bothered with stock ones. I've made a list below of headphones I believe are good and definitely better than supplied ones and will improve your audio experience.
Under £15 on ear Sony MDR-ZX100 great budget headphones that offer better sound than most stock buds.
Under £15 in ear Sony Mid-range In-Ear again very affordable and have great reviews, not for you then the Soundmagic ES18 or the RHA MA200 may suit you more.
£15 to £50 on ear AKG K451 are possibly the best headphones your going to get at the price bracket.
£15 to £50 in ear Denon-AHC560R and the Soundmagic E10 are both great in ears with good reviews.
£50 to £100 on ear Beyerdynamic DTX501p and the Sennheiser HD429s are both good options but I would recommend spending that bit more and get some over £100.
£50 to £100 in ear Sennheiser MM70S and the Beyerdynamic MMX101IE are both 5 star what HiFi winners so should be very good headphones.
£100 to £150 on ear Philips Fidelio M1 and Musical Fidelity MF100 I have listened to both and I prefer the M1 but both are great options for the money.
£100 to £150 in ear Sony-XBA2iP and the Onkyo IEHF300 are both worth a look.
£150 to 200 on ear Bowers Wilkins P3 and Sennheiser Momentum on ear are my favourites at this price bracket and are great headphones, also worth a check are the Sol Republic Master Tracks.
£150 to 200 in ear Sony XBA4iP Premium Quality and the klipsch X11i are worth a look at this price range.
£200+ on ear Sennheiser Momentum Over Ear for £260 is a great pair of headphones that offer amazing quality music production.
The Bowers Wilkins P7 for £329 and the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H6 also for £329 are amazing headphones but very costly.
£200+ in ear Sennheiser IE80 at £225 and the Shure-SE425 at £220 are good options but personally I think this is a bit much for in ear.
Obviously there are others and more out there but I've just picked what I think offer great sound quality in the respective price brackets. To note I haven't tested all the headphones in the list above and most of my recommendations are based on reviews from other sources.
Tip 7 - DACs
What is a DAC you ask?
Well to put it simply a DAC is designed convert digital audio signals into analogue signals, essentially boosting the quality of the music you hear. If you want some more reading material I suggest this article http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/blog/digital-to-analogue-converters/.
If your looking to invest in a DAC they come is all shapes and sizes and for different scenarios. You can get ones for HiFi, PC and even portable ones.
The Cambridge Audio Dacmagic XS is £99 and is designed for use with your PC, Laptop or MAC. (http://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-xs) It is a great budget DAC and will make a noticeable difference to your music. Want something portable the FiiO E17 has got you covered.
These next batch of tips are for HiFi and stereo
Tip 8 - Audio source
I've already mentioned a bit about audio sources already but this section will be more in depth.
So there are quite a few options when it comes to a source for your music. You can buy Radios, Hi-Fi units, micro Hi-Fi units, you can buy docking stations, portable speakers and the list goes on. All these are great at what they do. They offer ease of use, convenience all at affordable prices. Sounds like a winner right. Well if thats what you want then yeah, but if you want more and in my opinion better sound quality then separates is the way to go. Now I am not knocking any one of these products or the people who buy them, its just in my opinion if you want the best then a separates system is the way to go.
However I had a Denon Dm39 for a few years and I was actually pretty amazed with the sound quality of this little Hi-Fi unit. It offers great functionality, great features and great sound quality to. I had the Dm39 paired with the Zensor 1 and it was pretty amazing. But then I got my new Cambridge Audio amp and immediately noticed a massive improvement in all aspects of the sound being produced. Don't get me wrong the Denon was good but the Cambridge is even better. Now I have lost DAB, CD and radio functions but I found I didn't really use them all that much anyway. Its the sound quality I paid for and its exactly what I got.
For convenience and affordability the Denon was great but for outright performance and quality the Cambridge Audio wins.
Also with separates you get a wider range of add-ons that a Hi-Fi can't do. For example I can add a CD player, DAB tuner, Blu ray player, game console, PC and a Turntable. Yes it will cost a lot more money and take up more room and cost more (yes I know I said cost twice but its not cheap). But if you love music and quality then its the way to go and for me totally worth it.
Tip 9 - Cable upgrade
Again quite an obvious one but it really does help and you don't have to spend a fortune on super expensive cable to get more from your audio equipment. My cable that I currently use is the Van Damme Professional Blue Series Studio Grade 2 x 2.5 mm (14AWG) its currently priced at £22 for 6m, so that works out at £3.60 per metre. That might sound like a lot but believe me it makes a huge difference. I noticed my speakers just became more alive and every aspect of the speakers were vastly improved.
If £3.60/m is too much then QED MICRO cable will be better suited. Its priced at £1.99 per metre and has great reviews. Still too much then the Cambridge Audio symphony 100 might be better suited. Priced at £0.99/m, it again has great reviews and you should notice a big improvement over cheap cable.
My tip for buying cable is to always buy a little bit more than you need. You need to do this because your cable needs to be a slack and not too tight or otherwise it could damage the cable. Also its handy to buy more as you never know if your going to move your equipment or house and you may have needed that extra few metres. So essentially measure what you need and then buy an extra say 2m just so your covered, I know it will cost more but its better than having to buy even more cable in the future. Final tip is to ensure the cable going to both the speakers with the same length of cable, this will ensure the most balanced sound.
Tip 10 - Banana plugs
Now you've upgraded your cable your going to want to get the most from that cable. Banana plugs are a great way to further improve your audio quality and extend the life of your cable. I personally use these as they provide a better connection and it makes life easier when your forever swapping out your speakers. The ones I use are Sewell Pro Maestro Banana Plugs you can buy a pack of 12 for £12.95 from Amazon and they have been great, they are very easy to install and you don't have to trim your cable as often. If you want something a bit higher quality then the Cambridge Audio Premium banana plugs have got you covered. Priced at £9.99 for 2 they are expensive but you will get more for your money.
Want something even easier then get some cable that is already terminated. The Silverback Speaker wire by Sewell is the one for you its £11 for 10ft (3m) and it means you don't have to buy separate plugs. After better quality, then the QED Silver Anniversary XT has go you covered. It is £41 for 3m but the cable is very high quality and its terminated at both ends.
Tip 11 - Trim your cable
If you don't want to shell out for new cable or you don't like the idea of banana plugs then trimming your cable is the best way to keep your cable in good health. If you don't know cable suffers from oxidization when exposed to air, it takes a while to occur but it does happen and when it does it can drastically reduce the quality of the cable. My advice here is to trim the exposed wire about once every year, I know it sounds like a hassle but its worth doing. It doesn't take overly long but it will keep your speakers singing as they should.
Tip 12 - Floorstanding or Bookshelf speakers (Stereo)
Decisions decisions... what do you do? Do you go big and get some floorstanders or go small and get some bookshelf. Well this may help. Think about the type of room you want your speakers in and its size. You done that... great. Now if you have a small room; say a bedroom for instance, you aren't going to want massive speakers to fill that room when a pair of bookshelves will do just fine. Got a medium size room then a larger pair of bookshelf speakers will be ideal. Finally if you have a big space to fill then floorstanders are the way to go.
What I am saying is that you want to buy speakers that are the right size for their environment. For example... you have a very large living room and you buy some small bookshelf speakers. Now you will hear the speakers just fine but you will find that there is a significant loss of bass and the room doesn't quite fill with sound as convincingly as it would with floorstanders. And this can be switched the other way to. You could have a small room and place very large speakers in it, again it will work just fine but you find that you will become overwhelmed with the sound and for sheer quality its not the way to go.
All that might sound obvious but this post is designed to help people that may not know a lot and want some advice.
Tip 13 - Speaker upgrade (Stereo)
If you've read tip 12 then this tip is the one where I search the internet and look for different speakers for different scenarios and budgets.
Small rooms: You really ideally want small bookshelf speakers for this type of room.
Here are my favourite for this type of room.
Gale 3010s £49.95 http://www.richersounds.com/gale3010s. The Gale are decent speakers and have good sound quality and will be ideal for a small bedroom or a small office.
Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 £59.95 http://www.richersounds.com/wharfedalediamond9.0 or from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wharfedale9.0. Like the Gales they are compact but provide great performance for the money.
Acoustic Energy Compact 1 £87 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustic-Energy-Compact-1. Again very accomplished speakers that will be ideal for your bedroom.
Medium size rooms: Ideally for this size room you want something with a bit more presence.
My favourites for this room size.
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 £99.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wharfedale-Diamond. I had a pair of these a while back and they are really great value for money and provide great sound quality.
Boston Acoustics A25 £99.95 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boston-Acoustics. Currently my favourite speaker under £100. They sound amazing and have a really nice modern look as well
Q Acoustics 2010i £129.95 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustics-2010i. They come in a variety of different finishes and offer great sound quality.
Dali Zensor 1 £199.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dali-Zensor-Speakers or from http://www.richersounds.com/dalizensor1. My current speakers, the Dali offer amazing detail and clarity and look pretty amazing too.
Monitor Audio BX2 £249 http://www.richersounds.com/monitor-audio/bronze-bx2 Only £50 more than the Dali but these have really amazing sound quality, clarity and detail. However their style and design may not suit all but well worth a look. I tested these quite vigorously against the Zensor 1 at my local Richersounds and I felt that the Dali suited my style of listening more than the BX2. However they still are amazing speakers.
Large rooms: Ideally you want a set of floorstanders.
Now this might sound a bit bad but I don't have enough room for floorstanders in my set up, so I am going to place a few recommendations below of some of the floorstsanders I've demoed and based on other reviews. Therefore I can't say buy these but these are the ones I think are worth a look.
Tibo edge 200 £65.00 http://www.amazon.co.uk/TiboEDGE200
or from http://www.richersounds.com/tiboedge-200. Possibly the most affordable new floorstanding speakers on the market. With a low frequency drop of 50Hz they sure will have good bass drops and with 100W plenty of power to fill your room.
Mission M33i £149.95 http://www.richersounds.com/missionm33i The Mission are very affordable and have a great frequency range of 48 - 20000Hz. Again these have 100W of power so should offer a big room filling sound.
Cambridge Audio S70 £229.95 http://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio/s70
or get them from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cambridge-Audio-S70 The S70 maybe fairly old now but they still offer amazing sound quality and punch for the money.
Tannoy Mercury £329 http://www.richersounds.com/tannoymercury-v4i or get them from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tannoy-V4i for £349. With very subtle styling and big frequency range (32-53,000Hz) the Tannoy are serious speakers to consider at this price.
Q Acoustics 2050i £459.95 http://www.richersounds.com/q-acoustics/2050i or from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustics-2050i The 2050i have amazing presence, clarity and great build quality. Not only that but they come in a variety of colours to match your interior decorative style. Also awarded 5 stars by What HiFi? the 2050i will definitely deliver what you want from floorstanders.
Dali Zensor 5 £549 http://www.richersounds.com/dali/zensor-5 or get from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pair-Dali-Zensor5 I have had a lot of experience with the Zensor 1 and I know they are amazing. The Dali Zensor 5 takes everything from the Zensor 1 and makes it bigger and better. They look stunning, sound stunning and although not the most assertive in the bass department they make up for it everywhere else.
Check out my YouTube channel for reviews and sound tests on the Gale 3010s, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, The Boston Acoustics A25 and the Dali Zensor 1. https://www.youtube.com/user/AcousticAppraisal
Obviously you can spend even more money on speakers if you want to but these in the list I feel offer great value for money as well great sound as well.
Tip 14 - Adding speakers
Adding more speakers can be a great way to improve your sound quality with out having to upgrade your existing speakers. Add a centre speaker for improved vocals and mid range or add a sub for better low end performance and deeper bass. Or you could add both and see a vast improvement in both areas. Ensure you match the centre and sub to your main speakers for the best output and performance, however if you can't do that then go for the ones you can afford at the time.
Tip 15 - Speaker stands
So you've invested in new speakers, new cable, a new amp and possibly new plugs, but now where are going to put your speakers. You could wall mount them and possibly get an earful for drilling into the walls. You could place them on a shelf or cabinet but thats not really the way to get the best from your speakers. In my experience the way to get the best from your (bookshelf speakers) is placing them on stands. I know not everyone can accommodate stands but if you can they are a great way to vastly improve your listening experience. Not only do they improve audio quality but they help to reduce nasty vibrations to further enhance you listening experience.
Here are a few that are relatively affordable.
Pixel T50 £49.95 http://www.richersounds.compixel/t50 at 50cm tall they aren't the tallest of stands but will ideal if your listening position is very low.
Pixel T80 £59.95 (the ones I have) http://www.richersounds.com/pixel/t80
I own a pair of T80's and I couldn't be happier with them. They are simply styled, well built and offer good levels of vibration reduction. Also the T80 feature floor spikes that are adjustable, which is great if you have slightly un-even floors.
If they are a bit too much for you, try eBay and you may find some a lot cheaper.
Tip 16 - Speaker placement
Although there are a few rules and suggestions that people make about speaker placement and that's all good well apart from not everyone can accommodate those suggestions.
My advice is to set your speakers where ever sounds best to you. Yes that is very obvious but you would be surprised at how many people change their rooms to place their speakers according to the rules and guidelines. So what you should do is set your system up and place your speakers in the location that best suits you, because sound is subjective and what sounds good to one person might not suit someone else. My tip is to find one spot where you like to sit and then place your speakers according to your listening position. I know this can be awkward as most rooms are different, so spend some time finding that sweet spot. Ideally speakers don't want to place too close to walls as this can alter their sound in odd ways. Also another tip is to check your speaker manufacturers website as sometimes they can offer tips on how to place their speakers to get the optimum sound from them.
Tip 17 - Speaker height
Ideally the tweeter of the speaker wants to be at ear height, that way you get the clearest and optimum sound from your speakers. Why? well if the speakers are underneath your listening position the sound will not be as direct and thus lose a fragment of quality and clarity. Although not majorly noticeable in smaller rooms, it does have a much larger impact in larger ones. This is because the sound takes longer to hit your ears and if its lower or higher its travel is that much longer.
Use stands to help achieve this or if you all wall mounting ensure that the speakers are angled down towards your listening position. If you can avoid placing bookshelf speakers on the floor as you will get really overbearing bass and a quite odd listening experience.
Tip 18 - Toe in
This again ties in with placement. You may have heard the reference before but what does it mean. Well "Toe in" fundamentally it is the angle that your speakers are placed in accordance to your listening position. If the speakers are straight forward and you sit in the middle the sound will travel straight past you at either side. If you slightly turn in your speakers to your listening position the sound will travel more directly and have a greater impact on you. Although its not majorly noticeable in small rooms it does make a big difference in bigger rooms.
Tip 19 - Running in
This really applies for audio equipment of all kinds, whether it be amps, speakers or headphones electronic products usually have a period of time before they settle down a really start to perform great. With amps I usually give them about 2 weeks before properly pushing them. With speakers I usually spend over 48 hours+ running them in (it all depends on speaker type) but this is approximately how long I leave it before having them louder. Headphones is about 24 hours as the drivers are smaller and require less effort to move them.
Running in is fairly simple. What I do (for amps) is play it at about 40% volume for the 2 weeks, you only need to listen to it a couple of hours per day (if that) but it just helps the components settle down before you crank it up.
Speakers I tend to have them at about 45% to 50%, 45% to start with and then up to 50% after about 18 hours. Listen to them a few hours per day and they will be run in, in no time at all. Make sure you don't push them or it can cause damage. The speaker drivers really need time to bed in and become looser.
With headphones, again at about 50% on your mp3 player or phone. Headphones are the quickest to run in as you can leave them all day and they will be run in, in a three of four days or even shorter if you run them overnight
Some people don't do this or see the point, but I always have and I have never had any problems with doing this, or with my equipment that has been run in. If you need any more advice drop a comment below.
Tip 20 - Louder isn't always better
Now there are a lot of people (especially where I live) that turn their music up to the limit and think it sounds good. Most of the time its just pure bass you can hear and nothing else, fair enough they think its sound good but to me it doesn't. I've always preferred precision and clarity over sheer volume and power. Also a lot of speakers and systems can often distort at full chat and sound quite bad, usually the higher frequencies and mid range take a big hit and become lost to the bass. This is my opinion just isn't good sound. Yeah its ok when there are no vocals on say an electronic track but for other music its just not good.
Also it isn't really good for your equipment either and can cause damage to your Hi-Fi system and can really damage your speakers as well.
Now there are systems that can take punishment but your average set up isn't really meant to be played like that and its supposed to be loud enough to enjoy rather than to annoy.
I know I sound like I am complaining or having a bit of a rant, but in my opinion clarity beats sheer volume hands down.
Tip 21 - Isolation
Isolation is a great way to boost your performance. As you can be well aware speakers create vibration ans this can cause not only annoyance but it can also but a dampener on your listening experience. If you have bookshelf speakers then stands with rubber feet or spikes are a good way to go to help reduce unwanted vibrations. If you have big floorstanders then again rubber feet or spikes are a great way to reduce vibration. Although they don't fully remove vibration they do go a long way to help reduce it.
However if you have separates such as disc players, turntables, DACs and valve equipment they are highly sensitive to vibrations from your speakers and this can cause performance drop offs.
Vayta are a new company that can help with that (http://vayta.co.uk/). They make some really beautiful, amazingly engineered and well crafted isolation platforms to prevent just that. Vayta have created some exquisite products and you can see a few examples down below.
At the minute looking for funding from this project via Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vayta
Make sure you read up on there website and see what their awesome product can do for you.
Their dekk platform and sets of feet will be priced at £349 and a set of 4 feet at £119. They will be offering substantial discounts on their Kickstarter campaign with the earliest purchasers of a dekk platform receiving over 25% off.
Tip 22 - Listen yourself (if you can)
Stores like John Lewis, Currys, HMV, Richersounds and Sevenoaks offer you the chance to try products before you buy. This is really helpful as reviews can only go so far to help you buy a product, that's why its always best to try before you buy. Because sound tastes differ person to person its always best to try to see what suits your personal style best.
Here is a list of some stores that offer this service. Bear in mid that some of the selected stores may not offer this at your local one so its best to call ahead first.
Currys: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/s/find-a-store.html
HMV: http://www.hmv.com/store-finder
John Lewis: http://www.johnlewis.com/our-shops
Richersounds: http://www.richersounds.com/storefinder
Sevenoaks: http://www.petertyson.co.uk/web_pages/branches.shtml
There maybe a lot more stores that offer this service that I am unaware of so leave me a comment and I will include any other stores that do this service. My personal favourite is Richersounds, I have shopped with them since I first started buying electronics and they have always been amazing. They offer really great advice, let you try the products first, they are very friendly, very helpful, very knowledgeable, have great customer service, amazing product guarantees, they don't try and pressure you into a purchase and they offer a great VIP service for customers.
So there you have it, just about everything I have learnt so far in my audio tech filled life. There is still plenty more to learn and this blog will definitely grow as I learn more. If you want to know when I've made an update to this blog follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/Ac_Appraisal) or on Google+ (https://plus.google.com/acousticappraisal) if you ever want an update.
Thanks for reading guys, I hope you found this blog helpful and if you have any tips of your own drop them in the comment section and share them.
I'm glad you mentioned Tibo Edge 200 as recommendable floorstanders as they are an incredible bargain at their price and offer really, really decent performance
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