Our first steps are the most difficult. We’re in unfamiliar territory. Our brains haven’t yet caught up with our feet.
Case in point, I’ve been immersing myself in learning the Pyramix DSD workstation. Every new step is my first and each seems mind-boggling until it’s clear and obvious. I tiptoe in and march out with a confident smile once understanding has been reached.
Is that your pattern too?
Thinking back on my life’s journey I can see how at each junction I tiptoed in (stumbled actually), eventually finding solid footing.
Consider those first steps as they apply to the idea of cables.
Some 45 years ago Mike Moffat, then a repair guy at a California stereo retailer (and now co-owner of Schiit Audio), floored Stan and me with a demonstration on a set of Quad speakers between zip cord and Cobra Cable. Those first steps into the whirlwind that followed were mind-numbing.
Consider that up until Mike’s revelation that cables mattered we were 100% focused on the idea that everything in the sonic chain could be controlled through circuit manipulation. Suddenly that was no longer true. Colorations and congestion in the audio presentation that we were convinced were electronic shortcomings turned out to be interface problems between the amplifier’s output and the speaker’s input.
It was with tentative steps that we began relooking at our design assumptions, testing and listening to them all with the recently learned knowledge of how important the interface was.
I can only imagine how this must apply to many of us. We get a new shred of information that counters what we have long taken as gospel. If we’re brave, curious, or simply feeling adventurous we take a tender step forward into the unknown.
That new cable. That new amplifier. That new SACD recording.
Tiptoe in and it opens the door for you to confidently march forward.
