Mark Levinson's personal multimedia system. Daniel Hertz M1, Mac Mini for Qobuz, Master Class, YT

How Mark Levinson turned Daniel Hertz M1 audio system into a multimedia system: music, movies, Qobuz, RUclips and more.
#DanielHertz
#marklevinson
#hifi

[@AllboroLCD]

Heyyy, Happy 4th o' July from the sunny Catskills there expat!
This is exactly how I rock too Mark, my gear not nearly as exquisite though. I also do the occasional gaming so its a noisy PC for me. Ive had my rig this way now for some time and for all the same reasons as you. This was a nice driblet of affirmation for me, thank you.

[@kostasjezuz4846]

I've been doing this for decades, only I use Linux/Windows instead of a Mac. And it's a mixed system with two pre-amps, one for stereo listening and one for home theater purposes.

[@sidesup8286]

I know my acoustics; a big flat glassy reflective area between the speakers is REAL Bad News Acoustically. It's sad but sort of amusing how so many people who once had lots of money, will buy high end audio equipment and then not have lots of money anymore, and then they do all the wrong things acoustically which makes their system, which they've pretty much sacrificed their life for, sound worse than one at 1/20 the price. One that's well set up. With intelligence applied to positioning and acoustics.
Your money goes from your bank, suddenly not being your money anymore; and then goes to the retailer, and become his money. Who in turn might think "Yay I did it!" And then he might order another bunch of ultra expensive equipment from the manufacturer in hopes of repeating what he just did, and making another enormous profit and closer to being rich . It's amusing that some of these people that throw big money at ultra expensive audio, wouldn't think of taking a hundred dollar bill and gambling it at a casino, or on a sports bet, but they don't even try to compare the $60,000 equipment they are thinking of buying with equipment that could save them $40,000, at much lower prices that s ometimes have just as good a sound quality. I am glad I am an experienced modder, and never really had to throw big bucks at audio, to get the kind of sound quality I wanted.
I listen in the dark mostly. The attention is on the music. Why do you need anything visual, when listening to the beautiful complex timbre of the instruments and their complex interplay that takes you on an emotional journey of beauty, excitement, joy, even to the dark and somber side at times? Isn't such an emotional journey enough? If you have to be "looking at something" chances are your system is incapable of taking you on such a fantastic journey; and you must be incapable of fully experiencing it anyway.
I say I mostly listen in the dark, but sometimes I turn on my light show when listening, especially around the holidays. It projects a beautiful canopy of moving,swirling colors on the ceiling, which by the way is where your sound should seem like it is coming from, if your system is spatially exceptional. And that with normal 2 channel stereo. That would be cool though, to sometimes explore the visual, like these psychedelic videos they have in RUclips, along with your music. Some of them are a true work of art. Scientists say that when we listen to music, our inner mind sees colors. If you would ever experience a light show like mine, or a past Pink Floyd concert with a full light show; you would know what I mean. The two definitely go together in a way that is magical. They also say that when we listen to music, more parts of the human brain are activated than in any other activity. What a great hobby we have! I am all for expanding our experience with the visual at times. It doesn't have to be one or the other; it can be either or or both!

[@professorvoluck9311]

Did you read the title? It says it’s his multimedia system, not his main listening system, and you are delusional if you think you know acoustics better than Mark Levinson.

[@sidesup8286]

After spending that kind of money on a multi media system, you would be delusional to think that there would be any money left for most people to spend on a "main" system. Glass = worse acoustics. Every acoustician expert in the entire world agrees on that. You must be delusional to think that you or Mark Levinson knows better. Acoustics has been a science for centuries. Mark Levinson's expertise is circuit design "inside" components not acoustics outside components. Are you from his marketing team? It would be delusional to think you"re not. Unless you are maybe just someone who is trying to rationalize and not feel dumb at the fortune you've parted with, over... audio equipment.

[@steveschwartz9771]

There are no substitutions for large speakers. :)

[@koblongata]

Yeah, same here... I can't just sit there listening to music and staring into stillness.

[@MasterofPlay7]

aren't those m1 speakers from 10-20 years ago?

[@matytinman]

One question from Spain:
Do not you have anything to ensure the quality of the power supply? Maria amplifier is probably prepared to deal with it, but the Mac Mini is not.
I suffer from serious DC and RF/EMI problems in my house, due to the power company's supply. I managed to minimize its detrimental effects without suffering loss of dynamics through various DIY gadgets. My second system, with a PC as a source, is also connected to those gadgets, noticing the improvement even though the source is switched (of a certain quality and not generic, BeQuiet!, with low ripple).
Windows 11 (recently migrated from 10) is optimized for multimedia, obvious the sound layer of the OS (JRiver MC with WDM Driver) and via software minimized the jitter generated in the CPU (ALU internal registers).
- Greetings from Tarragona (SPIAN/EU) -

[@MrBazsi888]

Use an Isol8 Minisub Axis or Puritan Audio Power conditioner.