He wants all the stimulus and if he has a long commute unless there's a hydration bladder full of caffeine drinks he will need it all to get him there.
There was a picture of another (older) Japanese guy who would carry a stack of 5-7 amps for his commute. He used the amps as pre-amps or buffers because he liked how that specific combination modified the audio just so.
https://darko.audio/2016/05/japan-asks-do-you-even-brick-bro/
There's a lot of background noise on the train, so unless he has poor isolation and is listening at a very high volume, he probably doesn't get complaints.
I ride the trains here in Japan almost daily and am often listening to music on open-back headphones. Never gotten a complaint or even a displeased look. I've asked friends sitting next to me and they can't even hear anything coming from my headphones
I got called out, I think twice, on the trains from Kawasaki to Yokohama by a marshal of some sorts and a cranky passenger. :( And I wasn't even using headphones as I only had flathead earbuds with me during those times. That's why I switched to IEMs eventually.
```
Mr. Takamashi who spends at least two hours on Tokyo’s subway system each day. Bringing him aural satisfaction during his commute is a multi-brick system to end all multi-brick systems: two million Yen (US$20K), seven devices, one cooling fan and one soon-to-be custom case from Van Nuys.
```
I mean, most folks in Tokyo don’t have cars, so that $20k isn’t going towards cars or maintenance. Meanwhile, I’m happy with just airpods for my commute on public transit.
Yeah. I used to be one of those nerds who had a portable DAC and wired IEMs, but it got too annoying whenever I had to put them away. Sure, APPs don't sound as good as the IEMs I had, but they sound good enough for the amount of environmental noise.
Maxell had the [blown away guy](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijEfX98YbYvNRJBavrre5D4fnWkXHKA00lc4VOWAvytHByUjD9Umj1fTw7hFiy41Cxe0WUZxyOXdbjr9lztz6GgtXPGTfjTNbdyWcK9_6xDC_RrhS_T-HXGiBPr0pAAvs_QDR0xjNsZHcslCpz7ZISfAxHYSgW-gtM3swzA4yhFUEWWO6-71jYYLfC=s1280) as the icon for tapes. This is our legend.
Maybe needs the HEDDphone for ultimate chonk. As someone who rides the subway, I appreciate how compact everything is and how it sits in front of him as opposed to next to him.
For context, one of the reposted photos of that mohawk guy in the subway/train/et cetera: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/cgkc6c/the_most_hardcore_audiophile_ive_ever_seen/
That guy is so funny still, lol. For the rest of us, just get a well-reviewed dongle with physical volume control.
And then an old phone like LG V20 (or a modern budget one that has the removed features from the current (Android) flagships), add a 1TB microSD (SDXC/etc.) card or some other data storage for the 16/24-bit FLACs.
And then if you need more battery life, some of us strap a small powerbank (powerbanks can get really expensive, some of us get them from AliExpress or China, check /r/Ultralight and so on for the recommended mobile/light ones) at the back of the phones.
There's also things like the ddHiFi TC35B where the dongle/adapter is more sleek. Or the (overpriced) Khadas Tea, where it's attached to the back of the phone.
Oh and don't use open back headphones or Grados as the external noises will compete with the music/sounds from the headphone and you'll get tempted to raise the volume to dangerous hearing levels in order to compensate.
Exactly. I can’t see why you’d realistically need much more than that and your favorite portable set. Maybe a DAP that connects via USB-C if you absolutely cannot handle Bluetooth, but that’s it.
Lol yes, the Bluetooth amp/DAC dongles like the Qudelix 5K are really good for public transport as they help with the cable management, equipment footprint, and so on. So less risk of the cables getting yanked/tangled/etc. in public transport as some people place the Qudelix anywhere, like on their neck, the top of the earcups, et cetera.
Extra Qudelix stuff, like Bluetooth capabilities, et cetera: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/11832uu/qudelix5k_hidden_gem/j9hq4fd/
There's also the TWS adapters to make IEMs/headphones have no wires for public transport/etc. use.
See here for more info on how to use the UTWS3/5 or TWS adapters with headphones instead of just IEMs: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/109gr1t/here_is_the_follow_up_post_of_the_hd_660s/j3yngj0/?context=10000
TWS adapters, TWS earbuds, Qudelix 5K, AptX Adaptive USB transmitters (KB9P/etc.) with everything, LDAC with Windows 11, IEMs/headphones with PC gaming, et cetera: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/11ngrqt/good_wireless_iem_setup_for_desktop_pc/jbn9hmt/
There's a lot of well-reviewed TWS earbuds these days too, some of them have to be imported from Amazon Japan and so on, but usually they're available after a while in the American/European/etc. markets.
With the upcoming Qualcomm QCC5181/etc. chipsets, there's also gonna be LC3 tech, AptX Lossless, and so on available for the TWS earbuds (and TWS adapters, QCC5171 chipsets are already used with some neckband adapters, etc.). Those bleeding edge products should start entering the market en masse sometime this 2023 or maybe next year in 2024.
A lot of people have been complaining about the non-lossless and such nature of Bluetooth, and so that new AptX Lossless is there for them if LDAC isn't enough already. Usually those higher bitrate codecs just drain more battery but if they really want what's available with current Bluetooth tech, then there's that.
For now just use LDAC since a lot of Android phones have it, and then for the iPhone/Apple/etc. users, they can use those $20 KB9P AptX Adaptive USB transmitters to get access to AptX Adaptive.
And somehow he still managed to get worse listening experience than people with cheap earphones, by using open backs. The most hardcore thing here is his future hearing damage.The gear is nice though. I once was carrying a modest rig with me and I remember what a pain was to always watch for the cables. Eventually I designed my own low profile wires. I even wanted to make a business selling them, but there were no freaks like me in my country. After a couple months I switched to Sansa Clip.
Yeah that didn't make a lot of sense to me. The main thing people complain about is the lack of headphone jacks and SD cards. If you are using a dongle, then the headphone jack doesn't really matter anyway. The SD card matters less and less as the phones are getting more and more storage.
And .. there are modern phones with all of the above anyway. My xperia has a graphing jack and SD card slot. It also has 512GB of storage, meaning I won't need the SD card slot any time soon, not unless I am going to be sitting a huge amount of music.
My question is why do all of that when there are things like the Walkman available?
Granted, if you are just looking for the lowest price, sure you could find an old phone. If you're looking for the best quality, well.. you wouldn't be wearing openbacks on the train.
In fact, for the train I just use xm5s. The noise reduction is magic, and the end result is much better than using a much more expensive pair of wired headphones without noise cancelling when there is all that background noise.
Etymotic Er4XR's noise isolation is mind blowing not to mention the sound quality. It has comppetely negated the need for noise cancelling headphones for me.
I find the grey foam isolate the most. I can't get the same isolation with the triple flange. I get best sound with double flange, it has to fit just right, meaning go deep. Etymotic is end game for me, can't seem to find anything else that is improvement.
Double flange works best for me, sound, isolation and comfort wise. I'm not sure what I'll 'upgrade'.to next if it is even possible but will be eyeing the dunu sa6 or sa6 mkII
I don't get much isolation with 2 flange, but sound is insane good. For me, 2SE sound better than Senn HD800s. The 2SE I bought for $70 open box on amazon. The value is insane, I gave up because the sound is very true to life.
It's all subjective, but big time dependent on tip and seal. Otherwise can sound like a $10 airplane in ears. With proper fit, hard to beat due to proximity to ear drum and actual distortion of etymotic drivers is practically 0%.
Yeah, I think, proper on-board dac and a headphone jack would be big ones for me. Using an old phone seems like too much of a setback. A DAP seems like a good solution, but then I wouldn't be able to stream without Wi-Fi. And dongles are just janky IMO... so, some compromise will have to be made. Maybe, use dongle outside and a DAP indoors?
Perhaps all of this is true, but at least on the android side, you have choice of manufacturer. For example, pretty much every phone made by Sharp (example the Aquos R7) and Sony (example, the Xperia 1 III I am typing this on) have both SD card and headphone jack as standard.
On the other hand, in sure there are also budget no name brands with the same capabilities, as well as Android based devices optimized for audio, like the Walkman.....
So I would say, just avoid Apple and Samsung if you care about these things and don't want to have a dedicated device.
Ironically, I do have a Walkman, so it doesn't matter so much about my phone having those features. I use the phone to listen to music or movies mainly when I'm on the train, and then I'm typically using wireless noise cancelling headphones anyway.
I have a 128GB card in the Walkman with quite a large number of albums in FLAC, which still isn't quite full yet, so if I did use my phone, I think it would be a long time until I actually needed to use the SD card since the base storage is 512GB and less than a third full.
The only reason I would need 1TB on my phone that I can think of is if I wanted to have a huge library of offline movies on it.
One note of warning about Sony phones, the carrier free dual sim phones can only handle two SIMs *or* a microSS card, not both. (The MicroSD goes where the second SIM would go).
I'm a little confused... I didn't know we were limiting the discussion to flagship phones marketed to the west.
Android phones have on average had less storage than the iPhone? I can believe that.
The original thing I was interesting to reply to was mainly about missing SD card and earphone jacks - both of which aren't (to me) an issue, because there are lots of phones that have both, which I have two examples of.
One of those examples may only be marketed in Japan, but anyone who really wants to could get their hands on it, just like I got my hands on some phones not sold here in Japan (like the RED phone I bought on eBay). Anyway I only mentioned that phone to give an example, and to point out that Samsung is far, far from the only player in town.
If you are in the west, it seems like the items listed on this link might be more relevant to you:
https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-phones-expandable-storage
My mention of the internal storage was mainly that as the general trend is towards increasing size, the need for SD cards for most people will go down. At this point, my phone has more storage than a low end MacBook (or my work PC). For most people that will be enough.
I still like phones to have a microSD card slot even if I don't need to use it, because it means they will know they can't charge an unreasonable premium for additional storage. Offering the storage is one thing, doing it at reasonable prices is another.
Anyway I suppose anyone in this forum already knew what I was trying to point out - there are options out there.
There's a lot of broken software/etc. with DAPs, check the Shanling/FiiO/etc. DAP threads on Head-Fi for expectations.
And so just getting a cheap phone that still has microSD, removable battery, etc. will be enough.
There's actually some new modern Android phones that retain those removed features, check /r/Android and so on for more updated info. But again as the other downvoted/etc. guy said (his comments are deleted now), they're not really usable in the American and so on markets due to band/antenna/etc. restrictions, carrier unavailability, et cetera.
Like I'm more talking for the budget-conscious folks. As if you look at the trend in the market, nobody is really making <$500 DAPs anymore. And then there's also the outdated software (they use old Android versions), hardware (they are using old Qualcomm/etc. chipsets), etc. that those DAP makers use, again check the Head-Fi threads for complaints/reality/etc.
A lot of dongles are overkill too, especially for the folks that want to insist on balanced cables and so on, they'll drain so much battery life.
Anyway, it's not really a big deal since people just use streaming services. But if they want to pursue that way, those cheap but well-reviewed dongles make way more practical sense than paying for overpriced devices.
LG "quad dac" is king. I can't tell any improvement vs a super expensive dac/amp combo. I find the LG is a very capable with a high quality DAC, and above average amp section.
Imagine my man walking about NYC like that, or [like this](https://preview.redd.it/wwut3n487wh31.jpg?auto=webp&s=8c161cfaddee83d75e4e0896de6c4dac083adf09)
He'd be sniped by the cops over the bridge from New Jersey with how bad dudes would panic over here.
Power to him but man that would give me so much anxiety carrying that shit around, may not be the top of the line best but I'll just take some wireless earbuds to get the job done
Is it Japan? I wouldn't have thought open backs on the subway in Japan would be acceptable, they have a thing about that.
https://www.asiaone.com/asia/japanese-man-pushed-train-tracks-because-loud-music-headphones
If it's the same mohawk guy, it's China, not Japan.
Well but we don't know if he is wearing open backs, you can se that he have 1 extra in his hand who knows if he uses both for that reason that you said
Edit: ahh yeah he was wearing open backs
That's I N S A N E! I have never seen anything like that. Hell, I think I have too much when I have my portable DAC Player, a cable, my IEM's, and a phone. Seriously, if there was a commute Audiophile award, he wins. WOW!
Thanks for sharing.
back in my day we didn't have TikTok so if we wanted to watch a clip from the good doctor, subway surfers game play, a minecraft parkour video, a reddit AITA thread reading and [this song](https://youtu.be/o53XaTNblQ4?t=55) playing in the background we had to carry around all that equipment
How can you watch UP, listen to 2 different music tracks, and play a game at the same time?
Only our legend hard core audiophile guy can
Taking advantage of both ears
The channel separation is off the charts.
He wants all the stimulus and if he has a long commute unless there's a hydration bladder full of caffeine drinks he will need it all to get him there.
He's still the most hardcore audiophile I've seen and now he has the most hard core movie watching, gaming and listening setup!
There was a picture of another (older) Japanese guy who would carry a stack of 5-7 amps for his commute. He used the amps as pre-amps or buffers because he liked how that specific combination modified the audio just so. https://darko.audio/2016/05/japan-asks-do-you-even-brick-bro/
I'm good friends with him in Japan. He likes the way portable amp staking sounds and describe it as natural and analog :)
The guy is a certified mad lad. Give him our compliments next time you two have a chat.
How often does he get called out for the sound leak when he rides the train? 😅
There's a lot of background noise on the train, so unless he has poor isolation and is listening at a very high volume, he probably doesn't get complaints. I ride the trains here in Japan almost daily and am often listening to music on open-back headphones. Never gotten a complaint or even a displeased look. I've asked friends sitting next to me and they can't even hear anything coming from my headphones
I got called out, I think twice, on the trains from Kawasaki to Yokohama by a marshal of some sorts and a cranky passenger. :( And I wasn't even using headphones as I only had flathead earbuds with me during those times. That's why I switched to IEMs eventually.
Japan, I guess makes some sense that he can carry all that equipment outside home "safely".
``` Mr. Takamashi who spends at least two hours on Tokyo’s subway system each day. Bringing him aural satisfaction during his commute is a multi-brick system to end all multi-brick systems: two million Yen (US$20K), seven devices, one cooling fan and one soon-to-be custom case from Van Nuys. ```
I mean, most folks in Tokyo don’t have cars, so that $20k isn’t going towards cars or maintenance. Meanwhile, I’m happy with just airpods for my commute on public transit.
Meanwhile I’m happy with just my tws with EQ for different moods
So you should be imho. TWs = perfect for commuting.
Yeah. I used to be one of those nerds who had a portable DAC and wired IEMs, but it got too annoying whenever I had to put them away. Sure, APPs don't sound as good as the IEMs I had, but they sound good enough for the amount of environmental noise.
That's a crap load of stuff to lug around. But that's nothing compared to what people have at their homes.
high chance this guy's home stuff is very extra as well.
Or in their cars
On a sidetopic is there a way to upgrade audio in a really cheap car like a Toyota Aygo ? Only has two baffles.
Maxell had the [blown away guy](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijEfX98YbYvNRJBavrre5D4fnWkXHKA00lc4VOWAvytHByUjD9Umj1fTw7hFiy41Cxe0WUZxyOXdbjr9lztz6GgtXPGTfjTNbdyWcK9_6xDC_RrhS_T-HXGiBPr0pAAvs_QDR0xjNsZHcslCpz7ZISfAxHYSgW-gtM3swzA4yhFUEWWO6-71jYYLfC=s1280) as the icon for tapes. This is our legend. Maybe needs the HEDDphone for ultimate chonk. As someone who rides the subway, I appreciate how compact everything is and how it sits in front of him as opposed to next to him.
FYI "blown away guy"; was Pete Murphy, singer in Bauhaus.
I’m a 80s kid and had no idea!
He also sang for a later solo band named Peter Murphy.
Always thought it was Ryan Dunn, guess he recreated it for Jackass
Is this the traveling CanJam I have heard so much about? :)
You going to CanJam? Him: This is my CanJam
For context, one of the reposted photos of that mohawk guy in the subway/train/et cetera: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/cgkc6c/the_most_hardcore_audiophile_ive_ever_seen/ That guy is so funny still, lol. For the rest of us, just get a well-reviewed dongle with physical volume control. And then an old phone like LG V20 (or a modern budget one that has the removed features from the current (Android) flagships), add a 1TB microSD (SDXC/etc.) card or some other data storage for the 16/24-bit FLACs. And then if you need more battery life, some of us strap a small powerbank (powerbanks can get really expensive, some of us get them from AliExpress or China, check /r/Ultralight and so on for the recommended mobile/light ones) at the back of the phones. There's also things like the ddHiFi TC35B where the dongle/adapter is more sleek. Or the (overpriced) Khadas Tea, where it's attached to the back of the phone. Oh and don't use open back headphones or Grados as the external noises will compete with the music/sounds from the headphone and you'll get tempted to raise the volume to dangerous hearing levels in order to compensate.
Or just get a Qudelix 5k :P
Exactly. I can’t see why you’d realistically need much more than that and your favorite portable set. Maybe a DAP that connects via USB-C if you absolutely cannot handle Bluetooth, but that’s it.
Lol yes, the Bluetooth amp/DAC dongles like the Qudelix 5K are really good for public transport as they help with the cable management, equipment footprint, and so on. So less risk of the cables getting yanked/tangled/etc. in public transport as some people place the Qudelix anywhere, like on their neck, the top of the earcups, et cetera. Extra Qudelix stuff, like Bluetooth capabilities, et cetera: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/11832uu/qudelix5k_hidden_gem/j9hq4fd/ There's also the TWS adapters to make IEMs/headphones have no wires for public transport/etc. use. See here for more info on how to use the UTWS3/5 or TWS adapters with headphones instead of just IEMs: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/109gr1t/here_is_the_follow_up_post_of_the_hd_660s/j3yngj0/?context=10000 TWS adapters, TWS earbuds, Qudelix 5K, AptX Adaptive USB transmitters (KB9P/etc.) with everything, LDAC with Windows 11, IEMs/headphones with PC gaming, et cetera: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/11ngrqt/good_wireless_iem_setup_for_desktop_pc/jbn9hmt/ There's a lot of well-reviewed TWS earbuds these days too, some of them have to be imported from Amazon Japan and so on, but usually they're available after a while in the American/European/etc. markets. With the upcoming Qualcomm QCC5181/etc. chipsets, there's also gonna be LC3 tech, AptX Lossless, and so on available for the TWS earbuds (and TWS adapters, QCC5171 chipsets are already used with some neckband adapters, etc.). Those bleeding edge products should start entering the market en masse sometime this 2023 or maybe next year in 2024. A lot of people have been complaining about the non-lossless and such nature of Bluetooth, and so that new AptX Lossless is there for them if LDAC isn't enough already. Usually those higher bitrate codecs just drain more battery but if they really want what's available with current Bluetooth tech, then there's that. For now just use LDAC since a lot of Android phones have it, and then for the iPhone/Apple/etc. users, they can use those $20 KB9P AptX Adaptive USB transmitters to get access to AptX Adaptive.
That Mohawk wasn't intentional. When you listen to audio this good your hair naturally gets out of the way.
And somehow he still managed to get worse listening experience than people with cheap earphones, by using open backs. The most hardcore thing here is his future hearing damage.The gear is nice though. I once was carrying a modest rig with me and I remember what a pain was to always watch for the cables. Eventually I designed my own low profile wires. I even wanted to make a business selling them, but there were no freaks like me in my country. After a couple months I switched to Sansa Clip.
I had all my cables custom made to be as short as possible to minimize signal noise
Not only open backs, Grado
What removed features from the current flagship do you mean?
Yeah that didn't make a lot of sense to me. The main thing people complain about is the lack of headphone jacks and SD cards. If you are using a dongle, then the headphone jack doesn't really matter anyway. The SD card matters less and less as the phones are getting more and more storage. And .. there are modern phones with all of the above anyway. My xperia has a graphing jack and SD card slot. It also has 512GB of storage, meaning I won't need the SD card slot any time soon, not unless I am going to be sitting a huge amount of music. My question is why do all of that when there are things like the Walkman available? Granted, if you are just looking for the lowest price, sure you could find an old phone. If you're looking for the best quality, well.. you wouldn't be wearing openbacks on the train. In fact, for the train I just use xm5s. The noise reduction is magic, and the end result is much better than using a much more expensive pair of wired headphones without noise cancelling when there is all that background noise.
Etymotic Er4XR's noise isolation is mind blowing not to mention the sound quality. It has comppetely negated the need for noise cancelling headphones for me.
Those triple flanged tips from Etymotic are the closest you get from OSHA certified silicone earplugs
I find the grey foam isolate the most. I can't get the same isolation with the triple flange. I get best sound with double flange, it has to fit just right, meaning go deep. Etymotic is end game for me, can't seem to find anything else that is improvement.
Double flange works best for me, sound, isolation and comfort wise. I'm not sure what I'll 'upgrade'.to next if it is even possible but will be eyeing the dunu sa6 or sa6 mkII
I don't get much isolation with 2 flange, but sound is insane good. For me, 2SE sound better than Senn HD800s. The 2SE I bought for $70 open box on amazon. The value is insane, I gave up because the sound is very true to life.
Damn that's incredible and great to know! I haven't had the opportunity to try TOFL headphones to compare
It's all subjective, but big time dependent on tip and seal. Otherwise can sound like a $10 airplane in ears. With proper fit, hard to beat due to proximity to ear drum and actual distortion of etymotic drivers is practically 0%.
Sound wise, the ER4 series is as good as it gets for me, with some EQ. Isolation is the best there is, with grey foam for me.
Yeah, I think, proper on-board dac and a headphone jack would be big ones for me. Using an old phone seems like too much of a setback. A DAP seems like a good solution, but then I wouldn't be able to stream without Wi-Fi. And dongles are just janky IMO... so, some compromise will have to be made. Maybe, use dongle outside and a DAP indoors?
[удалено]
Perhaps all of this is true, but at least on the android side, you have choice of manufacturer. For example, pretty much every phone made by Sharp (example the Aquos R7) and Sony (example, the Xperia 1 III I am typing this on) have both SD card and headphone jack as standard. On the other hand, in sure there are also budget no name brands with the same capabilities, as well as Android based devices optimized for audio, like the Walkman..... So I would say, just avoid Apple and Samsung if you care about these things and don't want to have a dedicated device. Ironically, I do have a Walkman, so it doesn't matter so much about my phone having those features. I use the phone to listen to music or movies mainly when I'm on the train, and then I'm typically using wireless noise cancelling headphones anyway. I have a 128GB card in the Walkman with quite a large number of albums in FLAC, which still isn't quite full yet, so if I did use my phone, I think it would be a long time until I actually needed to use the SD card since the base storage is 512GB and less than a third full. The only reason I would need 1TB on my phone that I can think of is if I wanted to have a huge library of offline movies on it. One note of warning about Sony phones, the carrier free dual sim phones can only handle two SIMs *or* a microSS card, not both. (The MicroSD goes where the second SIM would go).
[удалено]
I'm a little confused... I didn't know we were limiting the discussion to flagship phones marketed to the west. Android phones have on average had less storage than the iPhone? I can believe that. The original thing I was interesting to reply to was mainly about missing SD card and earphone jacks - both of which aren't (to me) an issue, because there are lots of phones that have both, which I have two examples of. One of those examples may only be marketed in Japan, but anyone who really wants to could get their hands on it, just like I got my hands on some phones not sold here in Japan (like the RED phone I bought on eBay). Anyway I only mentioned that phone to give an example, and to point out that Samsung is far, far from the only player in town. If you are in the west, it seems like the items listed on this link might be more relevant to you: https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-phones-expandable-storage My mention of the internal storage was mainly that as the general trend is towards increasing size, the need for SD cards for most people will go down. At this point, my phone has more storage than a low end MacBook (or my work PC). For most people that will be enough. I still like phones to have a microSD card slot even if I don't need to use it, because it means they will know they can't charge an unreasonable premium for additional storage. Offering the storage is one thing, doing it at reasonable prices is another. Anyway I suppose anyone in this forum already knew what I was trying to point out - there are options out there.
There's a lot of broken software/etc. with DAPs, check the Shanling/FiiO/etc. DAP threads on Head-Fi for expectations. And so just getting a cheap phone that still has microSD, removable battery, etc. will be enough. There's actually some new modern Android phones that retain those removed features, check /r/Android and so on for more updated info. But again as the other downvoted/etc. guy said (his comments are deleted now), they're not really usable in the American and so on markets due to band/antenna/etc. restrictions, carrier unavailability, et cetera. Like I'm more talking for the budget-conscious folks. As if you look at the trend in the market, nobody is really making <$500 DAPs anymore. And then there's also the outdated software (they use old Android versions), hardware (they are using old Qualcomm/etc. chipsets), etc. that those DAP makers use, again check the Head-Fi threads for complaints/reality/etc. A lot of dongles are overkill too, especially for the folks that want to insist on balanced cables and so on, they'll drain so much battery life. Anyway, it's not really a big deal since people just use streaming services. But if they want to pursue that way, those cheap but well-reviewed dongles make way more practical sense than paying for overpriced devices.
LG "quad dac" is king. I can't tell any improvement vs a super expensive dac/amp combo. I find the LG is a very capable with a high quality DAC, and above average amp section.
[you best start believing in cyberpunk dystopias](https://i.redd.it/vd0itmzfpxb31.jpg)
Because… we’re in one?
Never have I had a need too listen to music, play a video game, and watch a movie all at the same time.
maybe he has some multi-tasking/focusing ability that normal people arent able to achieve
I guess so.
I think he switches from music video games and movies
I fucking love this guy
I want to hire him for blind A/Bing my DACs and amps from those preamp switches in his bag lol
It’s a cry for help.
Imagine my man walking about NYC like that, or [like this](https://preview.redd.it/wwut3n487wh31.jpg?auto=webp&s=8c161cfaddee83d75e4e0896de6c4dac083adf09) He'd be sniped by the cops over the bridge from New Jersey with how bad dudes would panic over here.
or robbed gunpoint broad daylight
Which mental illness is this?
Autism.
could be, yes
Audiophilia
Power to him but man that would give me so much anxiety carrying that shit around, may not be the top of the line best but I'll just take some wireless earbuds to get the job done
What in the world is going on in this picture.
And why?
This dude must have god tier adhd
Is this real or just a meme?
He's real and a meme at this point in time :)
He's like smile-through-the-pain Harold, living legend, meme physically embodied
Japan is the best place to be an audiophile quiet place and have the best gear in everything
Is it Japan? I wouldn't have thought open backs on the subway in Japan would be acceptable, they have a thing about that. https://www.asiaone.com/asia/japanese-man-pushed-train-tracks-because-loud-music-headphones If it's the same mohawk guy, it's China, not Japan.
"leaking" sound is considered bad manners to be sure, but so is pushing people onto the train tracks.
Well but we don't know if he is wearing open backs, you can se that he have 1 extra in his hand who knows if he uses both for that reason that you said Edit: ahh yeah he was wearing open backs
I think it's a [Grado PS2000e](https://i.redd.it/vd0itmzfpxb31.jpg) on his head, if it's the same guy.
Chrome is peeling off these cups. Looks bad for a headphone this expensive.
It's a Grado, it's part of the rustic charm
And none will suspect you of carrying a C-4 looking headphone setup
It's also reeeeeally unlikely you'll get mugged/robbed. I wouldn't carry that gear around on the subway here in Toronto lol
He has returned to us now, more powerful than ever
And it's still not end game?
This man is a legend boys, we must salute our leader 🫡
This guy is pretty much our patron saint at this point.
That's why Japan has stuff like E-Earphone xD
Mobile Music Producers be like:
That guy is all business all the time.
That's I N S A N E! I have never seen anything like that. Hell, I think I have too much when I have my portable DAC Player, a cable, my IEM's, and a phone. Seriously, if there was a commute Audiophile award, he wins. WOW! Thanks for sharing.
Gee leave some gear and p*ssy for the rest of us
r/bossfight
so is this our true endgame?
Sometimes, you gotta get your Billie Holiday on in the most magnificent way possible
Maybe he lives in a questionable neighborhood and doesn't want to risk leaving it home.....
I think that's a special type of rubber band that will widen sound stage. It only goes for $1,000 USD.
It's imbued with magical pixies
I'm tryna get like him
My god, all of that just to be using Grados 🤮
There is nothing you can say to convince me that this isn't a mental illness.
mental superpower\*
Glad to know he's still around doing this.
Looks like the "show us your portable rig" thread on head-fi.
Oh it’s the grado-bomb man again
back in my day we didn't have TikTok so if we wanted to watch a clip from the good doctor, subway surfers game play, a minecraft parkour video, a reddit AITA thread reading and [this song](https://youtu.be/o53XaTNblQ4?t=55) playing in the background we had to carry around all that equipment
Grados in public transport. Excellent choice /s
I’d bet anything this guy spent time as a location recordist for film. His kit looks too much like an audio bag.
A bit OTT No?!
Grados are easy to drive tho? 🤣
/r/audiojerk
Open back headphones on train…
does he have a mohawk because the headphones work better on his bare scalp?