ostuniman t1_j0hvzsd wrote on December 16, 2022 at 7:32 PM

I switched to Fiio. Seems more for the money. A K5 is $150.

trbd003 t1_j0i6cz0 wrote on December 16, 2022 at 8:42 PM

But, you are contributing to the Chinese slavery industry rather than paying a skilled American technician to make your amp.

Its a real thing. We do need to take it seriously.

For value for money yes you'll usually get more buying chinese goods than American. But you're sending your money into the wrong economy and in the long run we run the risks of losing these skills.

ostuniman t1_j0iaq87 wrote on December 16, 2022 at 9:11 PM

I hear ya. I did have schiit and I didn’t like the look, buttons, build etc.

Fiio seems to have figured out the market for both Audiophiles and ignorant audio consumers.

My Fiio has a 2nd USB C port - they assumed I wanted a dedicated port for my macbook and they were right.

They added an EQ on phone apps for Bluetooth in case I wanted to watch TV. They were right.

They have cute little USB dongles. They assumed folks will want portable dacs amps because more mobile devices are being used. They were right.

I know this is controversial, but they added MQA because some folk’s really feel Tidal Masters does sound better, even if we all know its not real “lossless”. They were right.

For headphones, I been paying extra for Sennheiser that were made in Germany or Ireland. I have a special heart for German and Japanese engineering as I studied Industrial Economics.

I been avoiding HifiMan because it is china based. And I know USA will eventually go to war with China.

But the day that HifiMan makes a superior product over HD800s for the money, then I may consider.

trbd003 t1_j0ifime wrote on December 16, 2022 at 9:45 PM

I have literally never judged an amplifier by how it looks. So that one's new on me. Some of my hifi is on a Bryston amp which is literally just a heatsink with binding posts. Not a pretty thing.

I mean when it comes to how something sounds, I say buy it from wherever it comes from. But value for money... You'll always get more from China. But there's an invisible cost.

ostuniman t1_j0igsfq wrote on December 16, 2022 at 9:54 PM

I hear ya again. So there are several Reddit channels where people post pics of their “setups”. Could be PC, desk, AV equipment. I suspect most are younger folks. Its the new normal in the internet age.

There is a whole generation of folks that probably value “looks” as part of their equation to buy anything.

I know, It’s unfortunate……even when shopping for an iPhone….the reviews were mostly about the look and feel. Nevermind that technically iPhones are behind the Samsungs. Lol.

That invisible thing with China….they are basically our bank. They lend us money and without them, we wouldn’t be flourishing. And vice versa. Economics is incredibly complicated.