2023 HiFi Goals?/2024 HiFi Goals

What are your HiFi Goals for 2023?

I’m not even going to pretend that “staying on budget” is one of my goals :weary:

Here are my top 3 goals:

  1. Network Streamers - I’ve been using RPi4 streamers running ropieee for the last two years. They are great. But time to move on / up to purpose built streamers. For my main chain I’m thinking OpticalRendu. Still undecided for my desktop chain

  2. Utopia vs. Newtopia - I sold my Utopia this year to fund a few other purchases, with the intention of sometime in 2023 either buying a late model Utopia or a Newtopia. Not in a hurry with this one, waiting for some longer term reviews of Newtopia.

  3. New music - spend more time looking for new bands and genres to listen to. This is always rewarding, and helps me step back from constantly obsessing about equipment idiosyncrasies.

(Bonus goal - decide what to do with my desk setup. It’s become a bit of a jumbled mess, and needs better focus.)

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I’m not sure I’d term what I have as goals, or even aspirations, vague ideas perhaps.

  1. 1266 Phi TC is going, I’ll sell it in the new year, I just never use it, and don’t much enjoy it when I do.
  2. Vaguely looking for a DAC upgrade from the LaVoce, for the WA33, but that might turn into evaluating if the Susvara is worthwhile, and replacing the entire chain, we’ll see how that goes.
  3. I might pick up an SR-1A, I have enjoyed the CA-1A.
  4. Stare at turntables, and talk myself out of it for another year.
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:rofl::joy: Nice!

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Here a some of my ideas / plans / potential moves:

  1. Receiving the Zahl HM1 - unless #2 surpasses expectations then this should be the focal point of my year from an equipment perspective. Shipment expected in May-June.
  2. Explore e-stats - ever since listening to the X9000 this year I wanted to get my hands on one. Price, availability, and requiring a dedicated amp are all challenges that didn’t seem worthwhile to conquer in '22 but maybe this year they will. I do have sort of a plan (cough Z10E cough) but it’s kind of a stretch with many moving parts.
  3. Room treatment - now four months since we moved to the new house, stuff are in place, time to get my home office / listening space cozy with some acoustic treatment.

And three goals come to mind:

  1. Make enough (good) progress with my startup that’ll require an actual office that will lead to needing a second system over there. Even if it’s a budget one, closed back based, only portable with IEMs or whatever… if it happens that means it was a very good year.
  2. Go listen to more live music - nothing beats the real thing. Yeah sometimes it sounds better at home, but it’s a more fun experience overall.
  3. 2022 was a bit slow for me with discovering new music, I’d like to raise the bar there.

Happy new year

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My goal is to sell off everything outside of my 2ch (Powernode/BMR Towers) & desktop (BF2/RNHP/TH909) setups. Been sitting on a lot of stuff that I’ve been too lazy to just list/take pictures of. Also, rebuying a BF2 for the desktop at a decent price. No rush for that though.

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My '23 audio goals in order of importance:

  1. Subs for my 2 channel setup (either dual Rel T5x/7x or dual RSL 10S mk2)
  2. New DDC (likely Matrix Spdif 3)
  3. syphonium meteor
  4. final D8k pro
  5. La Voce S3 or Gustard R26
  6. holo bliss or burson soloist 3gt

I also admit if a Red Trafomatic head 2 tube pre/hp amp becomes available for a decent price it would rocket up to #2.

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My goal is the same, as in thin the herd a bit. I have waaay more headphones than I will ever need or use and most are not exactly the “right” sound for what I like and the equipment I own. At the moment I am very happy with my system for what it is. Retirement is coming within this next year so I do not want to make any other big purchases for a while until I clear up some money to do so. Roon Nucleus into my Denafrips Iris DDC then into my Denafrips Pontus 2 and then out to my amps and monitors. I also have been using Roon arc for mobile use. This in itself makes it all worth it. Not saying I am done but for the short term yes!

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  1. Consolidate, compromise, and cry.
    Already working toward the consolidate part by having sold the 1266, 800s, Stella mk2, and some spare cables, ddc, amps, dacs, and iems, but hopefully going farther (although I don’t really know what would be on the chopping block here, perhaps some portable sources or one more headphone?). The compromise part will be forced into my 2 channel depending on living situations if those change, and this sort of feeds into the cry aspect as I love that setup and would change nothing about it, but it likely wont be feasible for me going forward, so I’m going to have to try and preserve the most of it that I can and deal with it.

  2. Vibration/isolation exploration.
    There’s a lot of potential benefits that can be unlocked here in my setup from limited tests, and I really need to go more in depth to work out how to maximize each piece without going overboard in spending or hassle, try and find a good balance for each piece and what approach works best.

  3. Forcing myself to think and hopefully not sink.
    Really for a long time have I wanted to kinda go over all of what I’ve done, experienced, and learned within the hobby relating to headphones to attempt to create an all encompassing guide of sorts on how I’d approach every aspect of it knowing what I know now at every level. It’s a lofty goal that I don’t even feel qualified to try, but I’ve wanted to do it so I guess forcing myself to start is a step in a direction, but man is it mentally draining even thinking about it, and I have so little desire to actually start getting it done when I try to, although I think that leads into the next one somewhat. I want to get it done by next year though, but it’s going to be a battle with myself to actually end up with something quality (assuming I can even find the time). This is going to be a part of the shit list, so it will become the shit list/guide I guess.

  4. Regain interest that’s been taken away from me.
    There’s a lot of things that have been working against me in the past few years that have taken time, energy, and funds away from this hobby, and has led me to become a bit soured and fed up on most aspects of it. I’d like to get more excited and enjoy things more going forward, as it sucks to not really get much enjoyment out of your single/only hobby lol, feeling lost.

  5. Digital sources?
    I guess if I had to pick something specific, I’d like to try out more streamers/servers of k50 level or higher, although this isn’t really a high priority right now and directly conflicts with the first goal. I’d be curious on which dac can scale more out of what I have, and I’d that also leads to one being moved or sold off. Hey perhaps I could justify it to myself like this lol, I already have one more dac than planned so perhaps this is just the way I figure out what leaves.

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Some of my plans:

  • Upgrading my source gear for the Sus. Current config is the Soekris 2541 → Topping LA90 since I sold the Milo. Welcome improvement, but what I gained in better detail/separation, I lost in dynamics. Probably looking at the Bakoon or another speaker amp. Maybe a DAC upgrade at some point.
  • Selling the D8KP and TH900 (and some other equipment) for two headphones, likely an open, euphonic-leaning ZMF or Meze and the Abyss 1266 Phi TC.
  • Call it quits on the Chifi chase for tribrid IEMs and commit fully to Planar and AMT. I got my hands on the Thieaudio Monrach MKII and Prestige, and while they’re nice, it’s hard to step back from the more resolving transducers. If something doesn’t wow me at the kilobuck mark, I just need to let go tbh.
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It’s nice how from these lists
@Polygonhell can sell his 1266 to @comfylife who can sell his D8KP to @Rmsanger that can also buy @Polygonhell’s LA voce and all three will mark some of their plans as done and everyone’s happy within the community

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I guess my goal is limited to find at least some time for music regardless of the chain level I will end up with.

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I’m fortunate to be quite happy where I am at the moment going into the new year, so I can say any of my goals would be extremely optional or would happen only if the price is right.

  1. I wanted to add some diffusers to my room treatment, but I think my current room will make it hard to do so, unless I get some sort of stand-mount/portable panel. This would go way up in priority if I move and get a more dedicated room.

  2. Upgrade my interconnect to match the level of my others. Audience AU24 SX or Frontrow or Ansuz A2/C2.

  3. Dabble more into AGD products such as the Aavik streamer to shrink my CX/EX combo into one box.

Oh, one thing is for sure, Roon won’t have a place in my system in 2023.

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  1. Try to write at least 2 articles. I’ve been wanting to write about the whole allnic cable system and what that did for me, also there’s no content out there on the modwright ha300 other than m0n’s short spiel. But it’s not here yet so I’ll have to wait. It’s good I’ll have the allnic amp to compare with though. I feel like my system lately has been a bit too much on the clean side which is starting to bother me (mainly on the mysphere).

  2. The allnic dealer offered a demo of the d10000 DAC to me and I finally said okay. I’m not in the market (cause I can’t afford it) but might as well get some experience and hear what’s possible out there. Would really like to compare it to the linn Satie out of curiosity on where it stands and perhaps to gain some perspective. Also worth an article, I think. But that relies solely on it being sent out.

  3. Yamaha yh-5000se… I want it… I don’t know why but I want it. Would be cool to write an article on it as well.

  4. Brise yatono ultimate. Been curious about their flagship hp cable for a while as I haven’t seen any impressions whatsoever. But it will probably depend on how much I like the ha300 or not with the hps I use.

  5. Streamer upgrade. Hardly any of the hi-end streamers I’m interested in have wifi on them (which is what I’d like) so maybe I’ll just have to give in to wired.

  6. Listen to the music that has been backed up for almost a year! Similarly, I’d like to attend more live performances in my somewhat local auditorium (the Soraya). And probably judge and analyze how good or bad the acoustics are on there. Lol

  7. The spring and white whale (amber 3) need to go to a good home!

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Several people have mentioned something along the lines of “listen to more live music”. This is a great one!
Adding it to my list for 2023.

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Simple goals for me. Im currently happy with my chains. Though eventually I want to upgrade my DDC and move my current Matrix X-SPDIF 2 upstairs to my PC chain.

One other goal relates to my ZMF Auteur. The right driver died, so I am currently waiting for an Auteur Classic upgrade slot to open up. Since I have to send them in for repair no matter what, I might as well get the upgrade so that I get the new warranty since I am not the original owner. Once the upgrade is complete, I need to determine if I plan on keeping them or not.

Lastly, my main goal is to buy a complementary headphone to my Diana V2. Im still doing my due diligence in trying to narrow down my potential upgrade choices. I just wish I had a local dealer so that I could audition some stuff.

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Hmm good question, I guess my next things to buy/do will be (in no particular order):

  1. A 5V PSU for the digital side of my dam1941.
  2. An output stage + a PSU for it to use with my, you guessed it, dam1941.
  3. A USB bridge like the Allo USBridge Signature or…uh…no Idea what else is out there on the cheaper (<300 euros) end, but the Allo should suffice.
  4. Get/build a shorter cable for my HD800S since I’m still using the stock 3 meters one.
  5. Attend the Munich Hi-End in may.

1 and 2 should be attainable, 5 it’s more a matter of if I’ll have enough time to do it and 3 is still up in the air since monetarely speaking I don’t think I’ll be able to do it, but you never know. 4 would just be a nice extra, but not really high in the priority list.

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:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

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What are you going to use instead of Roon? And why did you decide to ditch it?

Sure, it’s a hot take, but it is an easy decision for me.

Yes, it catalogs and tags well.
Aside from that though, I don’t really read the album art or information. I don’t really use Roon ARC. I mostly listen with my eyes closed. I haven’t really used multi-room functionality and for me, it sounds noticeably worse on my setup.

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I am currently using Logitech Media Server/Squeezebox and Squeeze player.

Yes, it doesn’t look as pretty, but it does the same functionality and sounds better.

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