Frequently asked questions: tips and hints for viewers
Contents
We often get the same questions. We list some of them:
Question: What is the best way to listen?
Answer: Use decent headphones. These do not have to be anything special, but somewhat better than the standard earplugs that come with a phone. With headphones, you remove the influence of the acoustics of the room you are listening in and you can hear the differences more easily. Connecting headphones directly to a PC, laptop, tablet or phone will provide you with enough information.
Question: Can you play music X, Y or Z?
Answer: We choose the tracks we think will best show the differences for the viewer at home, not all music is suitable.
Our choice is a combination of insight and guesswork. Sometimes a track turns out to be the judge, sometimes the gamble works out a little less well. For each livestream, we try to choose music that is appropriate for what we want to test. But above all: we also want to keep it fresh and interesting for ourselves, which is why we change music per stream.
There is music we really cannot listen to anymore. Then meaningful commentary also becomes a bit difficult. Besides, we cannot play all music, we know that some bands’ music immediately blacks out the screen, or afterwards YouTube removes the sound.
Q: Can you spontaneously look up music suggestions from the live chat and play them?
A: No, sorry. We have to play the same tracks to keep a level playing field for all participating manufacturers. Otherwise, it becomes very difficult to show the differences properly. Besides, our livestreams are already long and there are limits to our endurance, as well as that of our viewers.
Question: Can you test this or that sometime?
Answer: Sure. Suggestions are welcome. Please use our contact form.
Question: Why is device A, B or C not included in the test?
Answer: We can only test items from an importer or distributor in the Benelux. Or the manufacturer participates and sends us a test device. Not everyone wants to participate, so sometimes we want to, but the supplier does not. Furthermore, we have room for a limited number of units in a test, so a lot will be outside our selection anyway.
Uh oh. I’ve probably watched 15-20 live streams and reviews and I just now saw this post.🥴 My bad. It is a really important post though and everyone engaged on the site should read it. Maybe pin a link to this on home page? Anyway, I like that the author has clearly framed the mission, style and important values of Alpha Audio in his words. Some people clearly don’t get it though. Dedicated, knowledgeable and enthusiastic hobbyists committed to transparency and helping others craft their own personally satisfying listening experience while having fun doing so. I can attest to their friendly openness and sincere desire to help as they have never failed to answer any of my neophyte posts. I’ve received sensible and useful guidance on building my first serious system over the course of weeks for what I spend on coffee in just one day. If you have questions, then I recommend Jaap, Yung, Martijn, and Geoffrey (and hidden colleagues!) without reservation. They are such a pleasure to work with. In my mind, Alpha Audio is more public service than small business. But in truth, all of this costs real money. So join me in Patreon and support them even if only for a single month. You will help keep their informative helpful work flowing. Be kind, be generous. Helping others is a gift you give yourself. Thank you. 🙏🏼
Almost everyone with headphones except me, with my modified and very improved KEF Q100 5.25″ coaxial (they sound much better than originals), in near field while listening to Live on my second audio system (computer).
You cannot see all the differences but you can see a few that serve to make a ranking or discard.
– maty –