This blog is all about a new writer announcement. We couldn’t say no when Rudolfs applied!
New Writer Announcement – Intro
We’re really happy to post this new writer announcement! Yes, our team of able-bodied writers has been joined by Rūdolfs Putniņš who goes by many monikers on Head-Fi, Superbestaudiofriends, Head-Case and other forums. He first started commenting on Headfonia back in mid-2011 when he had just begun his audio journey so let’s pass the mic… erm quill to him so he can tell more.
Rudi on Rudi
First off many thanks to Lieven and the team for accepting me! As a long-time reader of Headfonia, it’s a great honor to finally contribute to the project.
Even though I first appeared in the denizens of internet audiophilia around 2011, my fascination with audio tech can be traced to the early nineties when I discovered my dad’s Sharp GF-800 boombox and a bag of tangled wires which sometimes produced a pair of operational earbuds if tugged the right way. After all, that was the early nineties and most of my family and neighbors didn’t appreciate The Art of Noise blaring on high volume.
Fast forward 20 or so years when my mother was visiting New York for the first time and I asked her to buy a pair of Grado SR80i for me. My first proper open-back headphones had started the audio disease in earnest. Around that time I moved to study in Iceland where I met the Nordic electrostat wizard Spritzer.
When I got back home I quickly realized that buying quality audio gear in the EU was rather hard so I built my Gilmore Dynalo amplifier. My first big boy DAC was a Parasound DA/C-1600 which I bought from none other than Currawong. The Parasound served me well until I got too mod-happy and killed it.
In business
It wasn’t enough for me to have audio as a hobby, so after a short stint in journalism, I was headhunted by Sonarworks. At the time it felt like a dream come true as I could combine writing chops with audio know-how. I worked 5 years in total in the acoustic correction firm and even had a 5-page article on headphone impedance printed in Sound On Sound magazine.
Now I’m a marketing mercenary by day who helps companies craft great stories and an audio reviewer by night scrutinizing the newest the industry throws our way. I believe that only an educated audio enthusiast can keep the balance of power healthy and keep the business players in check. So for the longest time, I’ve written articles and read lectures to those willing to listen.
Preferences
Having listened to hundreds of headphones in various listening tests, I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer a neutral-dark tuning. Think – Audeze LCD-2 pre-fazor. Currently, my favorite setup is the ZMF Auteur Classic driven by Feliks Audio Euforia Evo out of a nice R2R or AK4499-based DAC of which there are many. In terms of music, I’ve got a mind-bending mix of jazz, trip-hop, metal, grunge, rock, IDM and other genres in heavy rotation. I don’t envy the job of those poor discovery algorithms…
I also like cooking, building, and riding electric skateboards. I’ve been trying to pick up photography again, but often I need someone to kick me in the butt to go out and snap some pics. My sphynx cat Hera is the biggest fan of my audio hobby as there are always plenty of warm boxes to snooze on.
New Writer Announcement – Outro
As soon as Rudolfs finishes up his last reviews on the other platforms, you will start seeing his articles appear here on Headfonia. We welcome Rudolfs to the team and we look forward to his unique view on audio and the wisdom he will bring to Headfonia.
