The first time I heard singing and music from the loudspeaker was the big loudspeaker at the entrance of the village. In the 1960s and 1970s, radios were still an out-of-reach luxury in rural areas. Occasionally, when I saw my uncle from the same village returning from the city turn on the radio, he couldn't move his legs at all, and he would be very excited next time. God.

The first time I got to know a tape recorder was the "four-speaker" my father bought in Fujian. It was playing Teresa Teng's tapes. The gentle and sweet sound made me fall in love with music all at once, and I also dreamed of having one. own audio equipment. I am grateful to my mother, who bought me a 777 dual-card tape recorder the year I was admitted to college (1984). From then on, music has always been with me in my life. By some strange combination of circumstances, a few years ago I became a sound system manufacturer and founded the brand "ESD Acoustic".

As I gain a deeper understanding of the audio industry and audio equipment, and have more and more contact with music lovers, I increasingly feel the need to share some of my thoughts on high-fidelity Let me share some of my thoughts on the sound system. Or it can be regarded as a way to attract others. Everyone is welcome to criticize and correct me.

The first misunderstanding: a high-fidelity sound system can only be suitable for playing a certain type of music

In the past few years of doing audio, the question I have been asked most often is: "Wearing In summary, what type of music is suitable for the Hermit speakers?" Most of the questioners are experienced audiophiles.

At first, I was confused as to why so many people had such problems, but as the communication deepened, I basically understood the reason.

Looking back at the history of audio development, most high-fidelity audio systems currently have some defects:

① The two ends of the audio system do not extend enough. From the type point of view, the low-frequency restoration of bookshelf boxes is obviously insufficient, and many small floor-standing boxes are also limited in the low-frequency dive. In terms of production time, early sound systems have low frequencies below 70-80Hz and high frequencies above 7000-8000Hz. The ends are also obviously under-extended. Problems like these determine that this type of sound system is not suitable for replaying large-scale works such as symphonies, but is suitable for playing vocals, string solos and other types of music.

② The cabinet sound is seriously dyed. Whether it is early iron horns, wooden horns, or various later wooden speakers, due to the characteristics of the materials, sound dyeing is everywhere, so that audiophiles often talk about the familiar British sound, German sound, American sound, etc. These "sounds" are essentially sound dyeing, and most of them come from the cabinet, not speakers or electronic equipment. Some sound systems with specific sound dyeing appear particularly warm and relaxed when playing jazz music, which are liked by many people, but they are generally good when playing other types of music.

③ The noise background is serious. The electronic equipment of many audio systems has backward technology in power processing and poor anti-electromagnetic interference capabilities. The entire system has obvious "buzzing", "squeaking" and other noise floors, often producing a noise floor of 5-10db sound pressure. Seriously affecting the high-fidelity replay of the entire system. This type of equipment will often be covered up when playing some heavy metal, symphony, etc., but once it plays guqin, vocal a cappella, etc., it will be a disaster. Of course, some old recordings also have a high noise floor due to the limitations of technology at the time. But from the perspective of selecting audio equipment, we must strive not to add insult to injury, let alone love the house and take advantage of it. Instead, we should label the noise floor with emotional filters and labels. Recording engineers back then were actually "not willing to do it, but actually unable to do so" when it came to eliminating noise. They were always pursuing clearer recording equipment, so today's recording noise levels are significantly reduced.

④ Poor analytical power. Limited by the clock accuracy of the decoder, the limitations of the chip's computing power, the crossover distortion of the power amplifier, or the loss of small dynamic content caused by the use of soft materials in the diaphragm, many high-fidelity systems cannot accurately restore some of the more complex recordings. Detailed content.

For example, in "Drum Poems" by teacher Yan Xuemin, which is often used by audiophiles to test low-frequency dynamics, from 3:30-3:50, the lighter drum beats cannot be heard at all or cannot be heard clearly in some devices. For those who are interested, You can try it with home equipment; the treble in Li Na's "Su Wu Shepherd" is often heard as being produced by an effect device, which is a problem of treble resolution.

For this kind of question, my answer is: Hermit Audio products are suitable for playing any type and theme of music, because the above four problems do not exist in the Hermit Audio system. . The responsibility of the Hermit sound system is to restore the audio recorded by the sound engineer to the greatest extent possible.

The second misunderstanding: confusing the concepts of sound systems and musical instruments

The so-called Hi-Fi is the abbreviation of High Fidelity. The definition from Baidu Encyclopedia is: Hi-Fi refers to a playback sound that is highly similar to the original sound. To evaluate whether a sound system or equipment meets the high-fidelity requirements, a combination of subjective listening evaluation and objective indicator testing should generally be used, with objective test indicators as the main basis. Because the performance indicators of instrument testing equipment can be used to obtain very intuitive quantitative results for reference and comparison, it is undoubtedly the most scientific and trustworthy.

But many friends often tell me bluntly:

...

Compared with the definition of Hi-Fi, I think these views are obviously very Debatable. They have these myths because they do not understand the concepts of "the sound system is not a musical instrument, but a tool for replaying" and "we are just music listeners, not music creators".

The reason why high-fidelity systems exist is because music lovers cannot listen to the wonderful sounds of the scene at any time, or most people simply do not have the conditions to listen to music live, so high-fidelity systems The system came into being. Since the invention of the audio system, through the efforts of industry colleagues in the past generations, audio technology has developed greatly. Consumers with financial means often spend all their money to purchase high-fidelity systems. The term "audiophile" can be said to be a profound one.

Objectively speaking, due to the different microphones, cables, mixers, recorders and other equipment used by each recording engineer during recording, the placement of microphones is different, and the understanding of music during post-production is different. The recorded audio data is also different, so it cannot be a 100% mirror image of the scene, but a re-creation of live music/studio music based on the recording artist's own understanding and the limitations of the equipment. As music consumers, our recognition of a certain record or tape is essentially our recognition of the recording artist's re-creation of music. Because many musical works are not live performance versions, but are recorded separately in the studio and mixed later.

As a HiFi sound system, the only thing to do is to reproduce the announcer's recording with the lowest distortion possible, not to add any MSG or resonance.

The reason is very simple. Any distortion and cabinet resonance are inherent in the sound system. Whether it is a speaker or the resonance it generates, it is not intelligent in itself and can be selectively added or not added according to different types of musical instruments. This is like a table of dishes. There is "cumin" seasoning on the table. If it is added to "grilled lamb chops", it may increase the flavor, but if it is added to seafood, vegetables, desserts, etc., can the dish still be eaten? Furthermore, even if cumin is indeed a very good seasoning for grilled lamb chops, the chef must have already added it when it is time to add it, so we don’t need to worry about it anymore. Sprinkling cumin on top of the grilled lamb chops that the chef has already cooked to perfection is definitely an extra step.

When we think that adding MSG will make the sound better, we have actually identified the sound system that we recognize as an omnipotent "smart recorder and tuner", and it has supernatural powers. Ability to instantly recreate musical and artistic works.

I would like to ask, does such a smart audio system exist in the world?

It is based on this kind of thinking and understanding that Hermit Audio adheres to the following principles when developing and manufacturing audio system products: establishing higher standards of technical indicators and achieving high fidelity scientifically, that is, As a manufacturer, we must pursue objective evaluation. In order to achieve lower distortion, Hermit Audio does everything possible.

The first is the selection of diaphragm. The mid-frequency, high-frequency, and ultra-high-frequency diaphragms with smaller amplitudes all use calendered pure beryllium diaphragms. Its advantages are well known and will not be discussed here. The low-frequency and ultra-low frequency inventions use sandwich titanium diaphragms, which almost eliminate segmentation distortion. . The beryllium diaphragm and the sandwich bass titanium diaphragm are more than ten times or hundreds of times more expensive than other diaphragms of the same type. Although the cost is high, it is the selection of these two diaphragms that establishes the foundation for the speakers developed by Hermit Audio to be the best in the world. The basis for the lowest distortion loudspeakers.

The second is the invention and use of a round carbon fiber sandwich horn, the only one in the world. Sound spreads as spherical waves, not square, so a round horn is the only ideal choice. The diffusion of sound spreads exponentially based on a very rigorous formula. The "invisible and intangible" characteristics of sound make it "a dragon that sees the beginning but not the end." In order to obtain this formula, Hermit Audio spent a huge amount of money to purchase the relevant technologies, patents, trademarks, etc. of Dr. Bruce Edgar, director of the NASA Infrasound Laboratory, founder of the tracer horn theory, and founder of Edgarhorn horn speakers, to ensure that the horn’s expansion curve is perfect. Fits the characteristics of the compression driver diaphragm and throat.

The other is to re-use the ancient excitation technology. A few decades ago, in the audio industry, it was common for speakers to abandon excitation and use permanent magnets. This was all based on considerations of manufacturing cost and convenience, rather than technological progress. The use of excitation can obtain the advantages of higher magnetic flux and no decay of magnetic force, which are not available in permanent magnet units. What is even more outstanding about Hermit Audio is that it uses contemporary AI technology to invent technology for detecting and offsetting back electromotive force in the excitation power supply system, allowing the speaker to replay the sound with almost no compression.

It is also worth reading that Hermit Audio uses switching power supply to replace the traditional toroidal transformer in electronic equipment, which not only overcomes the problem of large current noise floor caused by the toroidal transformer not being isolated from the power grid, but also It also solves the problem of the toroidal transformer dynamically dropping voltage as the output power of the power amplifier increases, causing sound compression.

Hermit Audio’s various efforts are to make one point: the audio system is not a musical instrument, but is used for replay. Lower distortion and less sound coloration are what any product that calls itself a Hi-Fi brand must pursue.

For this reason, if a brand constantly emphasizes that its products are purely handmade in a certain country and strives to create a concept that foreign craftsmen have unique artistic accomplishments, it is actually exposing its shortcomings and telling consumers The author's own fidelity is not high, so he can only do reverse marketing and create non-existent quality barriers. It's just like a luxury car. A handmade interior is naturally good, but a handmade engine is obviously nonsense and may not even pass safety standards. Both handwork and machines have their own strengths. What we want is to comprehensively utilize their strengths to achieve better performance and more exquisite appearance. However, we should never use the name of art to hype up concepts.

Therefore, if we really love music, we should listen to the original sound that is closest to what the sound engineer recorded, rather than something that we have added oil and vinegar ourselves, not to mention the added oil and vinegar. Not that we can adapt to every "dish".

The third misunderstanding: often judging based on the sound of your own sound system

When attending exhibitions, we often encounter audiophiles who say: "This system is not good. The low frequency is not as big as ours."

Or: "The high frequency of this system is not as good as the extension in my home."

…

After asking about their home system, intuition, years of fever experience, and several years of sound system development experience told me: this conclusion should be incorrect. I was so confused that I could only naively ask why.

Many people will look at me very confidently from the perspective of God and say: "I have been playing for decades..."

Or something like that...

I gradually began to understand: after many audiophiles got used to their own systems, over time, they defined their home audio systems as the industry standard, and their ears became the self-proclaimed "golden ears." Such fallacies can be seen and heard all the time. I really wanted to shout to them loudly: "Can you stop talking to yourself like this and look at the progress of technology scientifically and objectively?"

And when I asked them how many times have they walked into the concert hall in their lives? Listening to the scene, how many times have I communicated with the sound engineer to ask whether the timpani drum sound is as sluggish and fat as when played back by most sound systems? They either looked embarrassed and refused to answer. Of course, many people told me that they rarely Go to the concert hall, or be evasive. As a result, his boasting is self-defeating.

Just imagine:

Distortion exists objectively. It is a disease in the womb of any system and cannot be solved by any individual.

Grid pollution and low conversion efficiency of toroidal transformers are objective realities and cannot be solved by any consumer.

Space is a very important factor that affects sound effects. Even if a scientific design is followed, there is still an element of luck involved because there are too many variables.

Therefore, as a consumer, the only thing you can do is to maximize the advantages of a sound system, but it is absolutely impossible to transcend the physical flaws of the sound system itself and arbitrarily surpass other better ones. High fidelity system. The evaluation criteria for a set of audio equipment should always be defined by professional testing equipment and testing software in terms of indicators, and the listening experience should always be defined by real music scenes, musicians, and recording engineers. When we do not have the conditions to attend concerts regularly, we should also listen more to what professional critics and musicians say, rather than judging through the listening concept trained by the inherently distorted system.

The fourth misunderstanding: High-fidelity audio systems are only for audiophiles

As the reputation of Hermit Audio spreads, more and more people come to Hermit Audio’s music sharing space. , a large portion of which are non-enthusiasts who passively come to this space.

After listening to it, they often express this emotion: "It's so shocking, but it's a pity that I'm not an audiophile."

So, next we will have a section like this Dialogue:

Question: "Approximately how many square meters is the house you live in?"

Answer: "My house is XXX square meters."

Question: " Do you think the loss of one or two square meters in your home will have any impact on your life?"

Answer: "No!"

Question: "What if you use one or two square meters? If you use the money to buy a hi-fi, what do you think will happen to your quality of life?"

Answer: "Oh, I didn't think about that. It should be a completely different life scene now. If you have a set of speakers like this, you can listen to music while drinking tea."

Or another conversation like this:

Ask. : "How old is your child? Has he gone to school?"

Answer: "My child..."

Question: "If your child goes to a better primary school or junior high school, would you Are you willing to buy a house in a school district or pay a huge school choice fee? ”

Almost without exception, the answer is: “You must do your best, after all, children are a lifetime thing.”

”

Question: “Did you know that the emotional stability of pregnant women and the perception of the fetus during pregnancy are very important for the child’s development, and music is a very good medium? ”

Answer: “I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know much about it. "

Question: "So for the better development of the fetus and the better mood of your wife, are you willing to spend part of your future schooling expenses on buying a stereo? "

Answer: "Hahaha, that makes sense. ”

It can be seen that in the minds of most non-audiophiles, music is important, but the high-fidelity sound system is not. The bridge between these two cognitions has not been fully established, and This has historical origins:

Since our country only gradually came into contact with high-fidelity sound systems after the reform and opening up, but in the early days of reform and opening up, a simple set of Sony and other brands. A desktop combo speaker costs 7,000 to 8,000 yuan. At that time, people's wages were only 100 yuan, and they had to save and save for many years to afford a simple combo speaker. But after decades of development, only a few people could afford it. With the rapid economic development, Chinese people have become accustomed to buying houses and cars, but they have found that audio has also increased. Many high-fidelity audio systems that are attractive cost millions of yuan, or even several million yuan, so they are still afraid of it. Ruhu. The reason is simple: only in the Hi-Fi field, our Chinese independent brands have been absent until the establishment of the Hermit Audio brand. The result of this absence is that tariffs, freight, dealers, etc. have been increased, and foreign brands have been eliminated. The price remains high. Of course, it is also because most people are still pursuing material wealth and neglecting their spiritual needs, so that they think that only audiophiles pursue high-resolution music.

In fact, each of us. People's inner needs for music are almost the same, but they are not stimulated, or they are limited by their current situation and do not realize their inner needs. The reason why Hermit Audio is named "Hermit" is not because the founder claims to be a great hermit. Scholar, but believes that "everyone has his own paradise in the spiritual world, and music is the pure land of everyone's soul."

Therefore, HiFi sound system should be suitable for every individual with purchasing power. Or the rigid needs of the family, not just the exclusive benefits of enthusiasts

I talk about these misunderstandings in a wild way, not to say that I am smarter, maybe I am peeping into something, and maybe I am offending unintentionally. My dear friends, let me apologize first.