Asklemmy

I buy it if I can find it on a platform where the money is actually going to the musician. Then, I upload it in CD quality FLAC format to FunkWhale, and also add it to the SD card in my DAC (a Shanling Q1). Where it's convenient I listen on the DAC, where it's not I stream through FunkWhale.

NAS -> ALAC, high-res files -> Plexamp -> Sound Blaster's recently top-end sound card (name?) -> Schiit Heretic amplifier -> Sony MDR-1ADAC headphones

Or

NAS -> ALAC, high-res files -> Nvidia Shield (via Plex) -> Yamaha RX-A8A receiver -> Polk Monitor 70 tower speakers

Amazon music streaming has flac with their HD quality, I really like my Vanatoo speakers with optical in

Modded Rockbox iPod with Wolfson DAC and 500gb storage. Around 150gb of CC music.

Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones.

A bunch of old CDs, played on 2 shelf stereos or in car.

On phone, .opus files with Aeropex Aftershockz(average sound) or 2x UEBoom2 paired in stereo(slightly above average)

For earphones I have a set of KZ ZSN Pro X IEMs for when I'm on the go, when I'm at home I have my Audio Technica ATH-M50X.
On the player side I love InnerTune as a YouTube Music Frontend, while for analog I refurbished my father's BSR turntable and Phillips amplifier, both straight from the '80s

Plex, though I do occasionally listen to online radios using my podcast player

TIDAL, K3/K7 (the K7 isn't portable), Sennheiser HD600s, and a pair of Hifiman HE1000s that I just bought. Both DACs work on all of my devices.

At the houses of my audiophile friends.

I’ve got a shitty little apartment, no home system. But I drive Uber, and I take great pride in always having excellent music playing when I’ve got a passenger.

I play spotify through usb to the car’s system. It doesn’t sound so great.

But most of my friends are more well off than me, and have great home sound systems. One’s got an underground theater, with a super heavy door. You close that door, the silence is like being in a tomb.

I’ve got 3 options currently:

• Sennheiser HD450s for on the go and at work
• Sennheiser HD6XX for my desktop setup
• PC/AppleTV/Turntable > HiFi Berry running Alpine Linux > Yamaha HS8s for the entertainment center

I’m not crazy picky about my digital source as 95% of the audio quality comes from the hardware to my ears. It’s rare I notice a poor quality encode.

I use Neutron Audio Player which has a profile for my headphones but at the same time I don't really think Bluetooth could realistically be called audiophile.

So yeah I do the best with what I've got but don't really go crazy with it.

I use the schitt magnius and modius as my DAC amp and the meze 99 classics as my headphones (though im looking on upgrading because my dacamp is overkill)

Spotube is my music player but by necessity im looking for something better if somone wants to recommend 👀

Buy on Bandcamp, listen with Strawberry.

Download from Deezloader, listen with Lollypop on desktop and Auxio on mobile.

I also transfer all my music to my Hauwei watch GT2.

Edit: not sure if I count as an audiophile.

General listening: Spotify + car speakers w/ EQ

Immersive listening: FLACs + HD 560S w/ EQ + Scarlett 2i2 + foobar2k

Easier question to answer: how don’t I listen to music:

Out of my phones speaker.

I’ve got a few pairs of earbuds, headphones, headphone dacs, and 2.0 system attached to my TV, Oh and the “premium” audio system my Prius came with. Spotify, Apple Music, Plex… wired, wireless

Were you looking for something specific?

On the go: Truthear Nova IEMs + DAC via Sony Xperia 5 III LineageOS for microG phone or Shanling Q1 DAP (rarely Sony WF-1000XM3 if wireless is a requirement)

At home: Moondrop Variations IMEs + DAC via Moto M2 audio interface (all machines running Linux)

Music from: Bandcamp or Soulseek via Nicotine+, occasionally YouTube for discovery

Is there an active community outside of Reddit and headfi where one can talk about this? I haven't seen anything on Lemmy.

Sources:
• FLAC on Plex or Jellyfin
• Apple Music set to highest quality

Output:
• Bluetooth to Car speakers when driving
• AirPods when walking
• AppleTV to Denon receiver to Polk speakers when playing music for whole house (occasionally I use a turntable here instead)
• iPad to a 2.1 Edifier setup playing VSQ when falling asleep

Not often enough:
• Technics SL-1200MK5G or SL-1500C to my AKG K240 Studio headphones
• high

Edit:
Now I’m gonna have to go back through all my old Lemmy posts because there’s so much info here it feels like I doxxed myself.

Flacs on a server direct streamed to my source. Jellyfin is nice. for on the move I buy sony phones just cause they still have a headphone jack. I prefer to download what i want before i leave but also not a big deal. at home i use moodeaudio attached to my setup or kodi

PC (MPD with Ario frontend) -> SMSL DO100 -> Rotel A11 Tribute -> KEF Q150. I'm upgrading to KEF LS50 Metas next week, can't wait.

Dynaco ST-70 (stereo tube amp, mine is maybe 1960s?), 8Ω tap to either Klipsch Heresy II or Vandersteen 1c speakers.

I've had the Klipschs for 20+ years, so to me they're sort of reference/completely neutral speakers. (I know Klipschs aren't everyone's cup of tea though.)

Openback neutral headphones. Listen to music the way it was mixed. Obviously higher bitrate is better, but I cave in to the convenience of streaming and am content with minimum 320kbps for casual listening. Definitely lossless for critical listening.

I've got speakers for every occassion. Several in-ears, over ears, monitor phones, Bluetooth speakers, and main amp and stack. Because of this it all sits in that top of middle range to bottom of high range, else I'd be broke.

Mainly use Spotify and vinyl.

Not sure if I merit being called an audiophile, but...

Huge collection of mp3s ripped from CDs. Stored locally, currently using a Unihertz Jelly Star as a glorified digital audio player, running BlackPlayer EX, which I like for it being a good mix of minimalist and giving me freedom to customize as much as I feel I need. When I'm using headphones, I want my ears uncovered so I use Shokz bone conduction headphones.