I became financially independent right after entering college.

Chapter 5 Audition
The staff behind the bar didn't even ask, nor did they care whether Bai Chou had the purchasing power or not. They just placed the flagship portable player and in-ear earphones on the counter in front of Bai Chou, and then went about their own business.

"So many, do you want to buy them all?"

Shan Meng sat next to Bai Chou and asked in a low voice, imitating Bai Chou's behavior. His eyes kept moving between the headphones and portable player on the bar.

"Try it first."

Bai Chou patiently explained to Shan Meng: "Different headphones and players have different tuning directions and focuses. Everyone likes to listen to different sounds. There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people, right?
So you have to try, use different headphones with different players, then listen to a few songs, and finally choose the pairing you like best."

"Oh~"

Shan Meng nodded, not quite understanding: "How long will it take?"

"It can be done in just ten minutes, very quick." Bai Chou glanced at the player on the counter.

Although the teller brought out several flagship prototypes, Bai Chou ruled out some of them before he even listened to them, such as Sony's NW-WM1Z, also known as the Gold Brick.

This player weighs a full kilogram, a veritable gold "brick". Bai Chou doesn't want to go out with a "portable" player that weighs a kilogram.

"I'll do the sound check first. You can listen to it when you have nothing to do, or just wander around the store."

Bai Chou mainly wanted to test LeTu's PAW GOLD TOUCH, commonly known as Moju, and iRiver's sp1000m, both of which are new products that have just been launched recently.

The former weighs about 300 grams, and the latter is more than 200 grams, which is barely heavier than a mobile phone.

He took out the memory card from his Sony player and inserted it into Mo Ju, then found a pair of earphones and plugged them in. Bai Chou put on the headphones and started listening.

First, listen to half of Tsai Chin's "Ferry Crossing" and the bangzi and vocals, then half of the Eagles' "California Guest House," and then listen to R&B singers like Utada Hikaru, whom Bai Chou likes...

Shan Meng sat next to Bai Chou, feeling bored.

In fact, the prototypes on the counter already store some songs that are often listened to, and some Android players can even connect to Wi-Fi for streaming.

But Shan Meng didn't know.

When she saw Bai Chou inserting a memory card into the prototype to listen to the songs on the memory card, she thought that there were probably no songs stored in the prototype, so she did not try to listen to it like Bai Chou did.

Bored, Shan Meng sat on a high stool, swinging her feet. She rested her chin on one hand while watching Bai Chou auditioning music. She casually asked the bartender, "How much is the player he's auditioning?"

The teller smiled politely and replied, "The official price of that Big Moju is 17999 yuan."

Eighteen thousand?

You sell an MP3 player for music for 18000 yuan. Are you trying to rob people?
The 256GB iPhone X is only 8000 yuan. An MP3 player for listening to music can more than buy two top-of-the-line iPhone Xs. Are you crazy?
"Only music?"

"You can only listen to music." The teller nodded with a smile.

The mainstream portable players currently on the market are either pure audio systems or deeply customized Android systems. They can basically only be used to listen to local music, and at best use the few streaming apps that come with the original manufacturer.

Don't even think about watching videos or browsing Tik Tok. It will lag you to bits and its performance is about the same as that of a knock-off phone sold on the street.

So where did all that money go?
The answer lies in the tuning of the audio decoding chip and circuit debugging. In short, it is all about the ultimate sound quality. The price is several times that of conventional electronic products, in exchange for a slight improvement in sound quality.

A portable player is not an electronic product, it is an audio device.

Shan Meng's family conditions can only be considered ordinary, ordinary in a small city. She really cannot understand the consumption concept of buying an MP3 worth tens of thousands of yuan just to improve the sound quality or to listen to better music.

"What about those?" Shan Meng pointed at the players next to Bai Chou. The cashier knew what Shan Meng wanted to ask and said with a smile, "The prices are basically the same."

After all, it is a flagship portable player.

"He wanted to try these things, and you didn't care whether he could afford them or not, and just gave them to him?" Shan Meng found it unbelievable.

"We have always been like this. Different people have different ears. You have to try it yourself to know whether the sound is good or not.

In addition to these headphones and portable players, there is also a machine over there, which you can try out and listen to as much as you want.

The cashier patiently explained to Shan Meng that although Toluene's store is called a store, it actually has the nature of a club, and many people come there just to try out the music without buying anything.

Seeing Dan Meng's reaction, the teller also thought that Bai Chou was the type who only wanted to listen but not buy. She knew the prices of the headphones and players she got for Bai Chou.

If I finally buy one, I'll probably just listen to it to satisfy my craving for it and then buy other cheaper headphone players.

Shan Meng nodded slightly, and thought that Bai Chou should just try a few good flagships and then buy some cheaper ones.

She had some idea of ​​Bai Chou's family background. Bai Chou was an art student studying vocal music. Nowadays, people who studied art would never be short of money, but she didn't think Bai Chou would buy a music player worth nearly 20,000 yuan.

That's outrageous. The tuition fee for Theravada Buddhism is only 18,000 yuan per year.

After about ten minutes, Bai Chou finally compared the two players and all the headphones.

How should I put it, the quality is very good. No matter whether it is the tuning style he likes or not, when playing the same song, whether it is the bass dive, rebound, or the sound field, sound quality and other basic qualities, they are all better than his original combination, the difference is one ear away.

It was as if his ears were suddenly enlightened by the music of heaven, and in a trance, Bai Chou almost shed tears of regret.

But in the end, Bai Chou made a choice and took off his headphones to ask the cashier: "Does the store have this type of Moju or this type of headphones in stock?

Also, I feel like the ultra-high frequencies in this set are a little harsh for me, and the bass is a little lacking. Any headphone cables you recommend?

The iRiver sp1000m is really good. Its tuning is very much in line with Bai Chou's preferences. The low frequency volume is not large, and the overall sound is obviously different from the digital flavor of Sony. It is very smooth and sweet.

Bai Chou has begun to dislike the Sony A25 that has been with him for two years.

However, this player has a fatal flaw: its thrust is too low. It can only drive some dynamic earphones and balanced iron earphones with fewer units. Its transient response is a mess when driving flagship earphones with more units.

In comparison, Mo Ju's thrust is much stronger.

It can easily drive the 2-coil, 5-iron, 4-electrostatic hybrid unit super flagship earphones that Bai Chou likes very much. Whether it is the low-frequency dive and rebound, the mid-frequency vocals, or the high-frequency string music, sound field, and transient response, they are all infinitely close to Bai Chou's personal preferences.

As a portable player and earphones, it is almost perfect. After all, Bai Chou has never tried better equipment.

In order to better suit his preferences, Bai Chou specifically asked the teller to recommend a headphone cable.

The clerk realized something, and Shan Meng also realized something.

Unless you are a very thick-skinned person, most people will rarely bother others when they don't want to buy something.

Most people feel uneasy if they leave the supermarket without buying anything, for fear that the clerk will think they have stolen something.

(End of this chapter)