It has come to my attention, that I’m still a rather new-comer to this passion, at least in a serious sense for me, because I still have a lot to learn as well as a lot to realize. I’ve just been fortunate enough to be able to have the opportunities I do because of my connections. I’ve been involved with a certain discord group that has been quite a humbling experience in terms of what I don’t know about headphones, in a good way to be clear, and I came to know about Z Reviews from there. I had never heard of him until then. My feed on Youtube and a lot of other social media sites (including WordPress where this site is hosted for my html coding incompetent sake) were my more “generic” interests such as sports, kpop, celebs, some audiophile gear manufacturers, and a lot of tech and gaming news outlets. I do have Audiohead on my feed but that’s about it. I have obviously tried looking for audiophiles out there nearer to my age, but I really didn’t have much luck finding them to be honest. It’s not like their names were obvious, but it wasn’t easy to find them either.
Thanks to my dad again, I was actually directed to a not really “Ask Paul” video (a video series on Youtube from PS Audio’s very founder Paul McGowan), where he showcased an interesting room from these younger audiophile guys from the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival (RMAF) last year in 2019, and I came to see his interview of them. I’ve embedded the video below. They had a very interesting room just for sake of the love of audio, and what I would think is an almost perfect embodiment of being an audiophile. It was room of sub $1000 and even a lot of sub $500 audio gear, spread out across the room for people to just hear. Not just stereo speakers like bookshelves either, it was also headphones and a near-field set up that people can listen to, to which he says a lot of them decide what they want to get here as well, because it’s the price range in which a lot of people actually shop for even as an audiophile. Not surprisingly, it’s what I think I can afford myself too. As a plus, their Youtube channels actually are quite close to my aim and purpose with my website, in terms of reviews, and that is to present products that are in the price range a lot of people can afford.
Another endeavour that DMC, the main guy Paul interviews in the video, has with his passion is actually a forum for audiophiles, as well as a guide for more budget friendly gear that can get you a lot of what I think are great options to look into. Check it out here. The forums are also accessible with a button on the top right of the site that I’ve linked you guys to as well. This is a great resource for the majority of people out there who can’t really afford these high end or Hi-Fi products, but are looking for better sound out of their playbacks. If I didn’t have the opportunities I have, these are definitely some of the things I’d be looking for with the money I have from being a college student and only working here and there.
But I think where we actually differ is that I also aim to educate (I know it’s a little lacking but I’ll be putting much more effort into that from now on) newer audiophile likes myself on this passion, such as the lingo, the types as well as what to look out for. But nonetheless, the two guys in the video, Z Reviews and DMC are two people I now look up to because of their passion put into presenting that room. As such, check their website or channels out if you so want to, I’m not paid by them, but as their new admirer, I kind of want to help them out with building this inclusive community they aim to build. Heck, maybe I’ll aim to surpass them someday.
HIFI Sound Enthusiast 