We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis talk about the flaming dumpster fire that is Spotify, get straight to the heart of what a “Speaker Improver” actually improves, and ponder the age-old question: When do DACs stop burning in?

And for Patrons: a virtual tour of High End Munich 2024.

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):

📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:

• “Spotify Is Not Offering Refunds After It Bricks ‘The Car Thing’” by Collin Woodard: https://jalopnik.com/spotify-is-not-offering-refunds-after-it-bricks-the-car-1851499512
• “Spotify says it will refund Car Thing purchases” by Will Shanklin: https://www.engadget.com/spotify-now-says-it-will-refund-car-thing-purchases-193001487.html?guccounter=1
• “Spotify raises prices on premium plans to boost profits” by Wendy Lee: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/spotify-raises-prices-premium-plans-162702081.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
• “Spotify's Phony War On Bots” by Benn Jordan: https://youtu.be/kVY7-Ti77UQ?si=EMKay-FMnVHz6dxT
• “The Problem with Music” by Steve Albini: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-music
• “Ted Gioia on AI's Threat To Music” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/ibMd_Jx9daw?si=LKqRpAn8_InPxliv
• “Akiko Audio Speaker Improver” by Malcolm J. Gomes: https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/akiko-audio-speaker-improver/
• “Burn in for DACs” by Paul McGowan, PS Audio: https://youtu.be/LYtBuoaYwNY?si=lJFIqbbr793cFNXo

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis ponder whether Class D can really live up to the performance of Class A and Class AB amps, talk about testing USB cables and why they aren’t in Singapore, and deconstruct a new manifesto by John Darko.

And for Patrons: Which company has ruined its own cred with a disastrous software update?

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):

📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:

• “Is Class-D Amplification Now Better than Class-A/B and Class-A?” by Robert Schryer: https://pmamagazine.org/is-class-d-amplification-now-better-than-class-a-b-and-class-a/
• Lachlan does another blind test of USB cables, nobody can tell the difference, chooses to discount the results and prefer his magic USB cables” by u/blorg: reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1crkiz3/lachlan_does_another_blind_test_of_usb_cables/?share_id=iyNIc119UUqLVBbEe5qIB
• “The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto” by John Darko: https://darko.audio/2024/05/the-music-first-audiophile-manifesto/
• PDF grab of Darko homepage, May 13, 2024: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jIrdTzbJbKgKaVtjq7MsPfuYpGH5j0woY4ZF53Gj2Wg/edit?usp=sharing

We’re on Patreon now! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis dig into a blog post by John Siau of Benchmark Audio about audiophile snake oil, deconstruct Jorge Sadurni's Spherical Dual loudspeakers, and weigh in on a Facebook feud about whether diminishing returns are even a thing.

Buy-now links for products mentioned herein (As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small cut from qualifying purchases):

📚 Budget Travel For Dummies by Geoffrey Morrison: https://amzn.to/3uiIPlp

📚Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole: https://amzn.to/3ZlTLtE

📚Loudspeaker Design Cookbook 8th Edition: Volume 1 by Vance Dickason: https://amzn.to/42pdwk0

Further Reading:

• “Audiophile Snake Oil” by John Siau: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audiophile-snake-oil
• “Sadurni Acoustics with Wolf Systems and House of Stereo” by Jason Victor Serinus: https://www.stereophile.com/content/sadurni-acoustics-wolf-systems-and-house-stereo
• “The Magico M9 & The Myth of the Law of Diminishing Returns” by The Absolute Sound: https://youtu.be/uqm9P8HSq08?si=v-n_Ryq3P1nvFmsg
• “If DAC Chips Perform Perfectly Then Why Don’t All DACs Sound the Same?” by Jerry Del Colliano: https://futureaudiophile.com/if-dac-chips-perform-perfectly-then-why-dont-all-dacs-sound-the-same/