OUT OF CONTROL?
In the name of "purist design" many preamplifiers sold today no longer include tone controls.
Some audiophiles, perhaps even most of them, are fine with that: "Tone controls? I don't have them. I don't need them. And I don't want them. I want to listen to the music exactly as it was recorded. Warts and all."
But a minority of us don't share that sentiment. We regret the disappearance of tone controls from so many otherwise wonderful-sounding high-end preamplifiers. Based on past experience, we know that there are many recordings and listening situations where the judicious application of high-quality tone controls can help to reduce listening fatigue and/or increase listening enjoyment. This is especially true with some digital recordings that can sound particularly harsh on a high-end system. We don't want to give up our current preamp, but we'd love the ability to apply tone controls when needed (and have them completely out of the path when not needed.)
We don't believe that the terms "Audiophile" and "Tone Controls" are mutually exclusive; quite the contrary–as long as those tone controls can be bypassed when the recording or listening conditions don't call for them.
TAKE CONTROL BACK!
We love our purist preamps; but sometimes we really miss the ability to, say, boost the bass on a lean recording, trim the treble on overly-bright and harsh CD or–heaven's forbid–apply some good-ol' loudness compensation to make low-volume listening more satisfying.
That's why we've started Delicious Decibels. The only company in the world (at least as far as we know) that is exclusively focused on developing outboard (i.e. separate) tone controls for audiophiles and music lovers who miss them.
In the name of "purist design" many preamplifiers sold today no longer include tone controls.
Some audiophiles, perhaps even most of them, are fine with that: "Tone controls? I don't have them. I don't need them. And I don't want them. I want to listen to the music exactly as it was recorded. Warts and all."
But a minority of us don't share that sentiment. We regret the disappearance of tone controls from so many otherwise wonderful-sounding high-end preamplifiers. Based on past experience, we know that there are many recordings and listening situations where the judicious application of high-quality tone controls can help to reduce listening fatigue and/or increase listening enjoyment. This is especially true with some digital recordings that can sound particularly harsh on a high-end system. We don't want to give up our current preamp, but we'd love the ability to apply tone controls when needed (and have them completely out of the path when not needed.)
We don't believe that the terms "Audiophile" and "Tone Controls" are mutually exclusive; quite the contrary–as long as those tone controls can be bypassed when the recording or listening conditions don't call for them.
TAKE CONTROL BACK!
We love our purist preamps; but sometimes we really miss the ability to, say, boost the bass on a lean recording, trim the treble on overly-bright and harsh CD or–heaven's forbid–apply some good-ol' loudness compensation to make low-volume listening more satisfying.
That's why we've started Delicious Decibels. The only company in the world (at least as far as we know) that is exclusively focused on developing outboard (i.e. separate) tone controls for audiophiles and music lovers who miss them.
Who's behind Delicious Decibels
We are Silicon Valley electrical engineers, computer scientists and entrepreneurs who share a passion for high-end audio. We believe that a judicious amount of tone control is often needed to get the most out of many recordings. In our listening sessions and get-togethers, we often lamented the fact that some great music is poorly recorded, mixed, mastered or pressed and that most modern high-end preamps no longer have tone controls to help address those issues.
Some of us use digital tone controls/equalizers when listening to digital audio, but we all hate the thought of putting analog signals first through an ADC (Analog to Digital Conversion) and then a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) ... and some of us listen mainly to analog recordings. So we did what any group of engineers would do in such a situation: we started to build our own analog tone controls ... and we loved what we heard. All of a sudden, even with our most resolving system, we could enjoy our entire record collection, not just "audiophile-approved" recordings. So we did the other thing that any group of engineers would do (especially in Silicon Valley) we started a company to build these great devices.
We called ourselves Delicious Decibels because the word 'delicious' kept coming back during our listening sessions: "It sounds ... delicious." or "What a delicious tone!"
We are Silicon Valley electrical engineers, computer scientists and entrepreneurs who share a passion for high-end audio. We believe that a judicious amount of tone control is often needed to get the most out of many recordings. In our listening sessions and get-togethers, we often lamented the fact that some great music is poorly recorded, mixed, mastered or pressed and that most modern high-end preamps no longer have tone controls to help address those issues.
Some of us use digital tone controls/equalizers when listening to digital audio, but we all hate the thought of putting analog signals first through an ADC (Analog to Digital Conversion) and then a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) ... and some of us listen mainly to analog recordings. So we did what any group of engineers would do in such a situation: we started to build our own analog tone controls ... and we loved what we heard. All of a sudden, even with our most resolving system, we could enjoy our entire record collection, not just "audiophile-approved" recordings. So we did the other thing that any group of engineers would do (especially in Silicon Valley) we started a company to build these great devices.
We called ourselves Delicious Decibels because the word 'delicious' kept coming back during our listening sessions: "It sounds ... delicious." or "What a delicious tone!"