5.1 Channel Music Titles

I absolutely love listening to my favorite music, preferably by way of decent audio reproduction equipment. Unfortunately, due to finances, the lack of space, and self-imposed restraint, I haven't had a decent playback system for many years (I was an early adopter of home theater gear and DVD playback, but I got rid of my home theater rig a long time ago and haven't replaced it yet). That said, I have some decent portable music players, some great headphones, and a very nice computer-based 2.1 channel setup at the office. But nothing worth listening to at home . . . yet.

My Awesome Home Theater System

My place is undergoing a minor remodel to add a "bonus" room for everyone to enjoy. In this context, "everyone" includes me, so I've planned accordingly. At first, I wanted the room to accommodate a pool table, some old school pinball games, a dart board, a hi-fi rig, a shuffleboard table, a shooting range, a trampoline, and a poker table. The reasonable voice in the household scaled my plan back somewhat, leaving me with a small "hangout" and home theater room. Oh well, I'll take it.

My Awesome Media Room

So, I'm currently looking at various home theater equipment to outfit a room that doesn't even exist yet. Moreover, a good friend of mine (who happens to be a true audiophile and a big fan of quadraphonic music) recently gave me a demonstration of his awesome quad system, and I was instantly hooked. We listened to some Pink Floyd and King Crimson in high resolution 5.1 channel DVD formats, and the surround sound experience was something to behold. Suffice it to say, a new acquisition disorder set in that day, and I've been collecting and wish-listing various multi-channel audio titles since that day. This disorder is particularly troubling because I don't even have a compatible playback system yet. I do have a Blu-Ray disc player, but it's merely hooked up to my TV speakers. Unimpressive non-surround sound to say the least.

Here's the problem: it's not easy or fiscally painless to acquire 5.1 channel music titles. There are a number of reasons for a lack of new and used inventory. First and foremost, there is little demand for surround sound audio because most people listen to MP3 files on the go these days. Does anyone actually sit down and listen to music anymore? Second, rapidly evolving and competing surround sound and high resolution audio formats have made it difficult for content providers to sustain sales. For example, 5.1 channel music can be delivered on a standard DVD, on a DVD-Audio disc (which may be incompatible with some DVD players), on a SACD, on a Blu-Ray disc, etc. At present, Blu-Ray audio is the newest vehicle for delivery of high resolution multichannel audio. Unfortunately, this means that it's becoming increasingly difficult to score out-of-print titles that are only available in older "obsolete" formats.

What does one do about this? One gets addicted to hunting down multichannel audio discs. Thankfully, there are some old SACD titles that can be had on the cheap due to high inventory and little demand. There are a handful of newer Blu-Ray titles on the market, but they can be rather expensive if the disc that you seek is only available in a special anniversary deluxe collectors ridiculously priced edition.

Nothing To Hear Here

This post is not intended to be a "look at my collection" ego booster, and I know that my inventory is small compared to serious collectors. I'm not really collecting for the sake of ownership or investment; I'm simply trying to find my personal favorites before they go completely extinct so that I can enjoy them on my nonexistent home theater system in my nonexistent media room.

Speaking of ridiculously priced exclusive collectors editions, my stack of items includes the "Immersion" box set of Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon", which includes a Blu-Ray disc that is chock full of audio goodness. The Blu-Ray disc includes a high resolution 5.1 audio version of the album - that version is currently ranked as the best surround sound title on the QuadraphonicQuad site. For this reason, I'll probably listen to Dark Side first. I regret that the picture does not include anything from Tool, Radiohead, Isis, Explosions in the Sky, or The Beastie Boys, but I'm pretty sure that 5.1 audio titles from those bands are not commercially available. No such luck.

Perhaps I'll post some comments about my listening experiences if and when I am able to actually play the discs. Until then, I'll continue in my attempt to acquire more titles (if anyone want's to unload their DVD-Audio version of Deadwing by Porcupine Tree, just let me know).

Sansa Clip+ Digital Audio Player

I just picked up another Digital Audio Player (DAP): the Sansa Clip+ by Sandisk. I like to use the term "DAP" for a couple of reasons. First, all of my digital music is in the FLAC format, so technically my devices are not "MP3" players. Second, I don't like to use the word "iPod" generically when referring to a digital music device (unless, of course, the device happens to be an iPod branded device by Apple). Getting back to the Clip+, I can't give it enough praise. In fact, this is my second Sansa Clip; I also have a first generation Clip (without the "+") that still works perfectly. So why buy another one?

Well, the first generation Clip only has 4 GB of memory, whereas the Clip+ has an expansion slot for a micro flash memory card. The Clip+ also has 4 GB of internal memory, but I added a 32 GB card for a total of 36 GB, which is more than enough for my needs. The Clip+ also comes in an 8 GB version, but the additional cost didn't make sense to me when those micro cards are so cheap (the 32 GB card was about $20.00). I still can't believe that twenty bucks can buy 32 GB of storage . . . this is simply amazing.

36 Gigabytes of Music!

I realize that iPhones and Android phones are making stand-alone DAPs unnecessary and on the verge of extinction. I get it. However, simple and compact DAPs are still very useful in certain situations. This little gem is very well known for its audiophile quality sound, decent output power, great battery life, and outstanding feature set (e.g., native support of FLAC, WMA, and Ogg Vorbis formats, ReplayGain support, a voice recorder, and FM radio). If you say "dude, it doesn't show cover art" or "I want a touch screen UI" then just move right along and go iPad yourself. I use the Clip+ to LISTEN TO MUSIC, and the tactile buttons are great for executing basic controls without having to look at the screen. In fact, I intentionally got the Clip+ (an old model) rather than the newer Clip Zip model, which has a tiny color display that accommodates cover art. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate color displays or touch screens. I realize that touch screen DAPs and phones have their place and are a treat to use and stare at from time to time (indeed, I have a Cowon J3, which is a DAP with a touch screen; see below).

The Sansa Clip+ is my newest DAP and it will get a lot of use, especially when I'm exercising or traveling. I guess my first generation Clip will be moved to the bench for the time being, along with some of my older DAPs and iPods. Speaking of which, the following picture shows all of the DAPs and iPods in my house:

The devices are arranged in chronological order of acquisition, beginning at the top left. Regretfully, I did not keep my first two DAPs: a Sony MiniDisc player (circa 1998); and the first generation iPod Mini (early 2004). Yes, I consider the MiniDisc player to be a DAP because the music was stored in digital form. Anyway, at the top left is my first generation iPod Shuffle (2005). That sucker is still in pristine shape, and I even have the stupid necklace lanyard thing (never used). Some folks still insist that the first generation Shuffle sounds better than ANY other iPod model. Next is my third generation iPod Nano (2007). I'd still be using this if Apple would pull its head out and support the FLAC format. Perhaps I could Rockbox my Nano (Rockbox is replacement firmware that is universally considered to be a huge upgrade to OEM firmware), but meh whatever.

I'll never buy another iPod device unless it supports FLAC (as an aside, if you are interested in non-iPod music players, then you ought to check out Anything But iPod. I did). Indeed, FLAC support is one of the reasons why I bought the first generation Sansa Clip (2008) and its big brother, the Sansa Fuze (2009). These two appear at the top right of the picture. The Fuze has all of the benefits of the Clip, along with a nice color screen and a memory expansion slot. My Cowon J3 is in the bottom left position (I got this in 2010). The J3 has an awesome color touch screen, audiophile sound quality, a memory expansion slot, and many other cool features. I really should watch videos on the J3 to take advantage of its screen, but I only play music and an occasional flash game on it. Next to the J3 is a fourth generation iPod Touch (2012). In a moment of weakness I allowed another Apple device into my house. It is not mine, I don't listen to music on it, and in my opinion it's only good for playing Angry Birds and Doodle Jump. Lastly, we have my new Sansa Clip+, as described above.

Getting back to the Clip+, all of the positive reviews you read online are true. There is no better DAP for the money, from both a feature set and sound quality perspective. If you need something inexpensive for the gym, for biking, running, skateboarding, or hiking, you really should get one. If you want audiophile sound and features, then install the Rockbox firmware, get some decent replacement headphones or IEMs (see this post), load up the Clip+ with some lossless FLAC files, and enjoy the music.