Hi friends, If you watch my YouTube channel, you know how much I enjoy shopping for physical media like CDs, vinyl and cassettes. Lately, I've been buying more CDs than vinyl and needed to upgrade my accessory game for this growing collection. Here are 5 items I've found very useful since adding CDs back to my collecting habit and affiliate links to purchase if you find a need for them as well: CD Player Lens Cleaner I also collect vintage CD players and 9 times out of 10, the lens in the...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Hi friends, I recently attempted using a streaming amp, the Eversolo Play, to handle playing my CD and vinyl collection and it was...interesting. NEW eBAY STORE: More on that below, but first I wanted to mention that I've been building out my eBay store again and offering CDs and more for sale. I plan on listing more vinyl soon, but I realize a lot of folks aren't comfortable shopping on Discogs because they can't see the item they are buying, so I'm now listing things on eBay as well, which...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friend, Most of the audio related questions I receive involve buying a DAC. There are so many options now that people get "analysis paralysis" and can't make a confident decision. In today's YouTube video, I try to highlight common mistakes people make when shopping for a DAC with the hopes of helping make the process easier: My most common advice is to give yourself time with each piece of gear before upgrading. If you upgrade too quickly, you'll never know the baseline sound signature of...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friends, In the early 1980s, Sony was a leader, along with Philips, in the design, implementation and release of CDs and CD players. Today, Sony no longer makes CD players. In my new YouTube video, I spend time marveling at Sony's engineering on a player they released in 1986, while also trying to understand why they stopped making players today: I enjoyed making this video and hope you do too. Have a great week! Aaron
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friends, First, the Forever Analog YouTube channel passed 50,000 subscribers this weekend. I started this channel as a way to help friends with their audio gear purchases and hitting this kind of milestone is very surreal. I appreciate any of you who subscribe and take time out of your busy day to watch my videos. Speaking of YouTube... I thought it would be fun to compare a vintage CD player with a new model, but make sure it was the same manufacturer. So, I bought two Denon CD players,...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friend, I just released a new YouTube video that’s a little different from my usual gear reviews. This time, I’m talking about 5 rock bands from the 1970s that don’t get nearly enough attention but should. These aren’t the obvious names like Led Zeppelin, Cream or AC/DC. These are bands that: influenced bigger artists made incredible albums somehow slipped through the cracks I found most of these recommendations after spending hours digging in records stores. You can watch it here: Let me...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hi everyone, Over the past year, I’ve received a lot of emails asking for one-on-one advice about CD players, DACs, upgrades, and physical media collecting in general. Sometimes it’s a specific question, “Which CD player should I buy?” or “Should I upgrade my DAC or not?”. Other times, people just want to talk through their setup, their collection, or share what they’re into right now. I try to respond when I can, but it’s not always possible to go deep in an email reply. So I wanted to share...
7 months ago • 1 min read
Recently, while having lunch with a friend, he told me he thought I was better at shopping record stores for vinyl and CDs than he was. He admitted that when he enters a store jammed full of stuff, he gets overwhelmed, doesn't know where to start and will often leave without buying something. I understand this feeling. Even after 30+ years of shopping in stores for music, I still get overwhelmed and a little anxious, mostly at the thought there is something awesome hiding in the piles and I...
7 months ago • 2 min read
Hi friends, I recently purchased the new Fiio DM15 R2R CD player from Apos Audio and have been slowly starting to use it over the past few weeks. That is a blue protective film on the top that I've yet to remove! I'm a big fan on the previous model, the DM13 and gave it a positive review on YouTube last year while comparing it against a Moondrop player: I haven't compared the sound signatures of the DM15 and the DM13 yet. I think most people assume that's the first thing I would test, but...
7 months ago • 1 min read