hifi

a few notes from @brileigh and I's visit to the Ojas listening room in NYC

* Ojas and Devon Turnbull
before founding Ojas, Devon Turnbull studied at Parsons and adopted the tag "Ojas" for mixtapes, graffiti, flyers, etc. in 2003 he founded the streetwear label Nom de Guerre with some friends and over the next few years travelled frequently to Japan as he developed an interest in high-efficiency drivers, horns, and tube amplifiers.

in his spare time, he built Altec-inspired horn speakers for himself and friends which later became DIY flat-pack kits sold through Virgil Abloh's Canary Yellow platform. 

Nom de Guerre closed in 2013 and Turnbull turned his attention to Ojas full-time as an audio practice. by 2018 his custom systems found their way into stores like Supreme, venues like Public Records, and producer Mark Ronson's studio. in 2022 he produced Hi-Fi Listening Room Dream No. 1, an immersive installation that was first presented in Lisson Gallery (NYC, London) before touring to many other institutions.

Another marvelous hi-fi thread from Farcaster's best audiophile nichemaxxer and storyteller. Not to be missed, as usual.

Mad respect for people who design rooms like this for deep listening. I dream of listening to drone music for hours in places like this. 😍 

(Also making a note-to-self to read up on "kvadrat textiles").

thank you, Danica 💜 

I think my dream job would be designing listening rooms. this one is very aesthetically pleasing with a monochrome pallette throughout that didn't come through in the photos due to the mixed lighting. the textiles are also soft and cozy floor to ceiling (15ft?), which the photos don't really do justice as my lens was not wide enough.

P.S. kvadrat is a pretty cool textiles company, reminds me a bit of tekla but with a much larger portfolio that leans more commercial:

Word-Slinger-in-Chief /slowcore-hq | Senior Editor | GenX eldergoth | dark ambient music nerd | contemplative animist /blxstonesnctuary 🏳‍🌈

Farcaster-native research: https://paragraph.xyz/@matthewb | prev. Juicebox, Nouns, RAW DAO | casting about coffee, hi-fi, and other rabbit holes

if I had 7-8 figures liquid at my disposal, it would be a very fun job for my retirement years I think. unfortunately it's absurdly expensive to build good rooms. that aside, I'm quite confident that I could learn how best to approach every aspect from construction to acoustic treatment, design considerations, comfort, etc.

Your dream job would be designing listening rooms? Good to know. 

For many years I've been developing a vision of a meditation retreat space that includes a deep listening room customized for ambient + drone music appreciation, including consulting with a sound designer. 

If I ever have the resources and opportunity to actually build it, you'll hear from me for sure. :)

thank you, Danica 💜 

I think my dream job would be designing listening rooms. this one is very aesthetically pleasing with a monochrome pallette throughout that didn't come through in the photos due to the mixed lighting. the textiles are also soft and cozy floor to ceiling (15ft?), which the photos don't really do justice as my lens was not wide enough.

P.S. kvadrat is a pretty cool textiles company, reminds me a bit of tekla but with a much larger portfolio that leans more commercial: https://www.kvadrat.dk/