Category: Home Audio
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Apple Lossless Dolby Atmos
I scored a great deal on a NAD receiver/amplifier (with a phono preamp!) recently and finally had a chance to run it through its paces into my KEF Q150s. I primarily listen to vinyl through this setup but also have an older AirPort Express going into an outboard DAC via optical out so that I…
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Library Management of Live Grateful Dead Matrix Recordings
For the past several months I’ve been using Roon audio server to handle my home hi-fi listening. It’s a slightly pricey subscription model for what I use it for and I’m actively looking for an alternative. Basically, I just want a box that holds a bunch of lossless audio files and serves them up to…
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Zoom volume and Music Volume control with Keyboard Maestro
My new favorite Keyboard Maestro shortcut allows me to toggle between audio outputs (Built In Output device and my USB output). The Built in volume controls my iMac speakers, the USB output controls my Amp. So, combined with the superb Rogue Amoeba’s SoundSource, I can easily bounce back and forth between controlling my music volume…
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Good Grateful Dead Matrix Recordings
On facebook the other day, a friend asked for some Grateful Dead live show recording suggestions the other day. I can’t imagine a show that I wouldn’t listen to but I list some recent favorites down below. There is always gold to be mined in every show, somewhere. That said, for the past year I’ve…
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Stereo HomePods for Difficult Rooms and Social Listening
I’ve seen couple of blogs (Kirkville, BirchTree) recently opining on stereo HomePod configurations and comparing them to a pair of Sonos speakers. I don’t have a pair of Sonos to compare my stereo HomePod configuration to but my experience with the HomePods stereo pair may be useful for some so I am sharing here. A few months…
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Mac radio nirvana
Setting up my new iMac, I’ve found a nice combination of apps to make listening to radio at my desk a real pleasure. [update Jan 8, 2020: this setup still works great but I have also purchased the subscription to Triode and also use the Mac desktop version of the app when at my desk]…
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Paradigm PDR subwoofer repair
TL;DR, if your paradigm PDR-10 isn’t powering on automatically, check the fuse. It can be easily accessed by removing the back panel of the subwoofer. Sunday morning and I had the house to myself for a few hours so decided to listen to my favorite recording of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Firing up the 3rd and…
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The Great $100 Home Audio Project*
(*Actually only $70 if you already have an amp/receiver to plug into). We’ve been in our house for almost 10 years and I still haven’t found a good way to take advantage conveniently of the speakers that were built into our Master Bedroom ceiling. The speakers feed into a selector box in the basement…
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reboot your Onkyo receiver (fix the blinking red light problem)
I was playing some LPs the other day and my newish Onkyo A-9555 receiver made a popping sound and shut off. When I turned it back on, the red light just blinked and the volume light never came on. After taking the unit apart to look for a blown fuse–only to discover the fuse was…