John Darko appreciation thread

[Warszawa]

As I’m sure many of you know, this guy is producing the best audiophile content out there right now, and I just had to post his latest fantastic review of the Innuous Zen Mk 3 here, for reasons that will become obvious within the first two minutes.  :rofl:

 

[Fourlegs]

Yeah, I nearly posted that myself. xD

 

[PuritéAudio]

Nice speakers.

Keith

 

[orbscure]

Mmmmmm, wonder where I could get a pair? Any pointers Keithy?

 

[George 47]

Great review as well.

You don't sell the speakers, do you?

How about the Innuos which was the point of the review? No, must be bad.

 

[orbscure]

Kieth will be off to buy a blindfold to compare bottles of mineral water George 

 

[PuritéAudio]

I left the room when he said bits weren’t bits,

https://www.******************.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-chromecast-audio-digital-output.4544/

Keith

 

[Dazed&Confused]

I left the room when he said bits weren’t bits,

https://www.******************.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-chromecast-audio-digital-output.4544/

Keith

Fair point, Keith - he could have employed more accurate use of English to be clearer about what he actually meant, especially as he's supposed to be a professional 'journalist' (blogger). He could have said something more along the lines of "bits aren't just bits alone", or 'a bitstream can get contaminated by noise".  As he explains, the principle is that a unit such as the innuOS 'sounds' better than lesser alternatives because it prevents electric noise from getting into the signal path through the rest of the system.

I really don't know whether that's true or not. Do you know what the engineering science says about the validity of the claim? 

Thanks

 

[fordy]

I’ve been enjoying Darko’s Channel. He’s found a very entertaining format and presentation style for hifi reviewing and I like that he’s mainly reviewing very forward looking and thinking equipment.

 

[mentt]

Liked his vinyl podcast https://darko.audio/2019/02/darko-audio-podcast-14-vinyl/

not many reviewers are brave enough to speak freely about vinyl 

 

[PuritéAudio]

Fair point, Keith - he could have employed more accurate use of English to be clearer about what he actually meant, especially as he's supposed to be a professional 'journalist' (blogger). He could have said something more along the lines of "bits aren't just bits alone", or 'a bitstream can get contaminated by noise".  As he explains, the principle is that a unit such as the innuOS 'sounds' better than lesser alternatives because it prevents electric noise from getting into the signal path through the rest of the system.

I really don't know whether that's true or not. Do you know what the engineering science says about the validity of the claim? 

Thanks

Products can be poorly designed, just take a look at Amir’s list over at ASR, if you choose a well designed component which measures well then you can’t go wrong.

Amir at ASR, Archimago’s blog are good places to look for marketing free reviews and measurements.

Keith

 

[Dazed&Confused]

When I watched the video I did wonder if Mr. Darko was just some kid of 'marketeer' who may have received a back-hander from innuOS and I came to the conclusion that if he was just chasing the money then he could make far more by being a professional actor! I like him, for at least two reasons - I trust his integrity, that he really does believe what he says (although I wouldn't discount the notion that he's unconsciously deluding himself); and the way he explains things has a lot more relevance and makes a lot more sense to me than the flowery nonsense  written in most hifi magazines.

 

[Dazed&Confused]

If you choose a well designed component which measures well then you can’t go wrong.

Keith

I agree that measurements can be a vital part of the picture but I think a consumer can still go wrong with measurements alone, because specific measurements are often presented in isolation of others, thus telling only part of the picture. I prefer to also have explain about why or why not claims about issues such as 'electric noise' may be valid.

 

[bandit pilot]

This is exactly why I stick to records and cd's.

The man is nothing more than a life support system for a advertising board.

 

[kelly200269]

This is exactly why I stick to records and cd's.

The man is nothing more than a life support system for a advertising board.

I tend to agree.

BUT his YouTube videos are well produced, and informative. For example, I probably wouldn’t have invested in Roon if it weren’t for his explanatory videos.

 

[bandit pilot]

I tend to agree.

BUT his YouTube videos are well produced, and informative. For example, I probably wouldn’t have invested in Roon if it weren’t for his explanatory videos.

As is the tripe on the Shopping Channels.

 

[Dazed&Confused]

This is exactly why I stick to records and cd's.

The man is nothing more than a life support system for a advertising board.

Hi

I'm missing your point, sorry.  Why does this kind of thing put you off 'computer based' audio?  Are you saying that playing data files from a hard drive is inferior to playing the same data from a CD?

Thanks.

 

[kelly200269]

As is the tripe on the Shopping Channels.

Yes, but I wouldn’t put those sort of videos, and Darko’s vids in the same catogory! 

Darko makes no bones that he derives his income from his advertisers. And although he is obviously commercially focussed in that respect, some of his output is worth the time.

There’s nothing wrong with ‘monetising’ a passion for a hobby like Hi-Fi/music IMO.

 

[Fourlegs]

Yet again it is disappointing that the ones and noughts brigade are out in a flash peddling their simplistic knowledge of science.

You guys are attacking John Darko are effectively saying he is making up what he is saying in order to promote sales of one brand or another. (Except of course if John Darko says he likes the Kii Three then I'm sure that Keithy will be quite happy to pile in and say that confirms his own claims about the speaker!)

Presumably Innuos and other manufacturers of servers are being dismissed as peddlers of foo rather than offering any real differences?

How many of you nay sayer guys have heard the Innuos Statement demos at shows? If you have heard the demo then I am pretty sure that you will change your minds about whether digial servers can sound different.