Creating a year-end “best of” list should be easy. As we near the end of the year, let’s take a refreshing look back at some of our favorites. The work is done. I wish it were that simple.
I think calling it “the best” is a foolish usage. The main reason for this is that none of our reviewers have sampled enough products at home to feel confident that they are the best in any category, let alone a single price point. All hi-fi/head-fi reviewers can do is pick their favorites of the year. That is, the hi-fi/head-fi products that I enjoyed the most, or in my case, the products that signaled a brighter future. …albeit, along a road less traveled.
This year is no exception. But in 2024, I made it even harder for myself.
A few years ago, I decided to tie all of my year-end product choices together. Choose 3 or 4 products you’ve reviewed in the previous 12 months. Products that form a decent Hi-Fi system. This year, I took this idea a step further and subdued four of my favorites and covered them in one “best of” video of the year for the first (and only!) time. As a result, the running time of this video is twice as long as a typical review video.
Have you considered including that “other” product in this video? If not, why not? Dear Summer Child, I am sure you know it will take hours to explain why one or more of your other products were not accepted. Rather, I would like to talk about what was adopted and why.
I hope you like this video. It took weeks, not days, to create.
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🌈 Color: Olaf von Voss
🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko
💰 Advertising segment: John Darko
🎵 Song ID? A playlist of all the music heard in this and other videos can be found on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/johndarko
👉 As seen in this video…
Moondrop MIAD-01
📖 https://moondroplab.com/en/products/miad01
campfire audio clara
📖 https://www.campfireaudio.com/pages/clara
Alessandro Cortini – Nati Infinity
📖 https://cortini.bandcamp.com/album/nati-infiniti
Rune OPRA
📖 https://github.com/opra-project/OPRA
FiiO R9
🛒 https://amzn.to/4gS0bIJ
ASUS Zenfone 10
🛒 https://amzn.to/41LZ2xS
Sennheiser IE300
🛒 https://amzn.to/4iO1N80
AudioQuest Cables and Power Products
🛒 https://audioadvice.io/Audioquest
Solid Steel Hi-Fi Furniture and Speaker Stands
🛒 https://howl.me/ckbW9947Hdi
Room treatment by Vicoustic
📖 https://audioadvice.io/Vicoustic
Darko.Audio may earn a small commission from items purchased through affiliate links, as indicated by “🛒”.
