Happy New Year! And a thank you to the Lyrion Music Server folks for renewing the life of my Squeezebox Radio. ☺️

Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas-New Year Holiday season!

On Christmas morn 2025, as I relaxed in the sitting room waiting for the rest of the family to get ready for some holiday festivities, listening to holiday music, I could not help but marvel at the fact that my little Logitech Squeezebox Radio sitting over the fireplace, released back in 2009 continues to go strong all these years later. The Squeezebox products including the Radio were some of the first devices I posted about with measurements in the early days of this blog.

I think it's an obvious reminder that even though time flies, music preferences and artists change, hardware gets upgraded and new technologies show up at our homes, the ability to enjoy music need not be tied into the hardware obsessionality that can consume audiophiles. We can derive much joy out of even a simple mono "radio" device like this.

Although Logitech got out of Squeezebox hardware production way back in 2012, they continued the official MySqueezebox.com servers until March 2024. I actually didn't even notice this change as I've been using my own Logitech Music Server (LMS) home system since something like 2008.

While LMS development has stopped, it's great to see that the good folks have continued to work on this venerable music streaming system as Lyrion Music Server.

On the Danny Richie / GR-Research's UberBUSS hypocritical video against Amir / Audio Science Review.

After writing the article recently about New Record Day's "AI assisted research" on the P.I. Audio / GR-Research UberBUSS, I thought it was disturbing seeing this recent, rather juvenile, video from Danny:

As we can see, there is this ongoing conflict between Danny and Amir/Audio Science Review (ASR) over the years. Obviously, ASR has been highly critical of some GR-Research products like their power cable and speaker designs. I think that's to be expected; since when did objective-leaning audiophiles care for US$400+ power cables? Objective reviews naturally compare metrics and seek out good value so high-priced items that cannot show improvements in the measurements (nor with controlled listening) simply cannot be recommended.

Given that Danny made this video voluntarily, released publicly, I assume he wanted to foster discussion, so let's get into this for a bit.

First, consider the title - "Measurements vs Listening — and the History of a Site with an Agenda". Sure, Audio Science Review has an agenda and it's different from Danny's. There's nothing wrong with that and in fact is to be expected for anyone trying to publicly make a point to influence others! I'd be dishonest if I claim to have no agenda either given the kinds of articles I write in these pages. Here are some of the items on my agenda list:

A. To discuss audiophile topics through a "more objective", rational lens.

B. When I review stuff, to aim to show demonstrable effects (measurements, graphs, etc.).

C. To speak clearly when products appear to be Snake Oil.

I trust that none of those 3 points above would be a surprise to anyone who has read an article or two around here.

Douk Audio VU3 Pro Analog VU Meter - more bling! (Make sure to try some harder music at audio shows! 😉)

Hey there guys and gals, since I've been in the mood for bling this end-of-year season (as per recent discussion of the Fosi Audio LC30), let's grab another one of these VU meter boxes - as you can see above, it's the Douk Audio VU30 Pro (typically around US$150, Canada link, AliExpress), a 2024 upgraded version of the Douk Audio VU3 (non-Pro) which came out back in 2021.

Similar to the Fosi LC30, this is also an analog meter with 2-in/2-out switcher which will allow you to select one of two amplifiers and two speakers. As a "Pro" model however, this box has been upgraded with a few funky features over the first version which we'll talk about.

As usual, I bought this from standard retail channels; no contact with the manufacturer.

On using AI/ChatGPT analysis to convince consumers about audio snake oil? GR-Research UberBUSS anyone?!

These days we have AI making hit music, and AI actors coming soon. The AI industry is "hot" and impressive, seemingly the answer to all kinds of queries we may have right at our keyboards! I think it's absolutely true that with the advent of LLM's and multi-modal deep learning models, we have even more ability now to learn, analyze, and summarize all kinds of information unheard of just a few years back. Like all things, there's always a catch which is that we have to use the tools responsibly and we need to make sure not to be overly reliant on these things because the results can also easily be wrong, like the "hallucinations" (more like "confabulations") that happen still all too often during AI chats.

We're seeing the advent of AI-driven intersubjective delusions in some people. Over reliance of these information tools can lead to all kinds of unforeseen negative outcomes across different domains (like in the legal space).

So I guess it's natural then that audiophiles might want to apply the technology to answer some of audiophilia's deepest never-ending debates - the stuff at the heart of numerous snake oil products.

The other day, I ran into an interesting New Record Day / Ron Brenay video where he uses ChatGPT to assess room audio recordings either from components using stock power cables, or through a new fancy GR-Research power conditioner called the "UberBUSS Power Filtration System" starting at US$1,600 that Danny Richie obviously is getting all excited about (my goodness, everything is "another level" with this guy - how many levels are there with mature technology?). This UberBUSS is further paired with his poorly reviewed US$380-$480 B24 power cable for the test.

[I see the UberBUSS isn't a totally new power filter, non-surge suppression product. Apparently it has been out since before 2021, earliest mention 2018, made by P.I. Audio Group which I guess is now defunct? If at first you don't succeed... Keep trying?]

Let's have a look at this video and what's being done...