Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

News

I have my dream HiFi setup: Audiolab and Elac (Take 3)

By 1 Comment

On 10 March 2021, I finally got a good Hi-Fi system with an Audiolab 6000A integrated amplifier and a pair of of Elac Debut Reference DBR62 speakers and a Chromecast Audio as streamer. On 7 August 2022, I replaced the Chromecast Audio with Raspberry Pi and Roopiee XL to be able to listen to high-resolution audio.

On 27 January 2024, I finally obtained a WiiM Pro Plus streamer and DAC (see corresponding reviews on What Hi-Fi? and on AudioScienceReview) which an uncle had purchased for me in France.

The WiiM Pro Plus supports many kinds of audio protocols including Roon (which is my go-to music player), Chromecast (I can now listen to Daniel Morin again on my Audiolab!), TIDAL Connect (when I don’t want to switch on my Roon server but use the TIDAL Android app only), Spotify Connect (which I don’t really care about), AirPlay 2 (which is useful when using a Mac computer or an iPad) and DLNA (when I have to play a downloaded audio file from my phone).

The next step for me is to start using the 10-bands parametric EQ on the WiiM instead of doing room correction in Roon.

Le Règne Animal is an excellent movie

By Leave a Comment

Christina and I watched Le Règne Animal (The Animal Kingdom) with my cousin, Suneelah, yesterday at the movies.

Truly, it was quite an experience for the three of us and, one day later, I am still thinking about what I saw and trying to make sense of it all.

On IMDB, the movie is summarised as

“An adventure between a father and his son, in a world where some humans have started mutating into other animal species.”

On Allociné, the synopsis is:

“Dans un monde en proie à une vague de mutations qui transforment peu à peu certains humains en animaux, François fait tout pour sauver sa femme, touchée par ce phénomène mystérieux. Alors que la région se peuple de créatures d’un nouveau genre, il embarque Émile, leur fils de 16 ans, dans une quête qui bouleversera à jamais leur existence.”

For me, the movie is a bit more than that…

Sure, it’s about the relationship between the dad (Romain Duris) and Émile, the 16 years old son (Paul Kircher). But it is also about how it is important to be surrounded by “good” people: Julia (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Nina (Billie Blain). I always like to remember that one is the average of the five people he/she sees most…

What I also like is that there are not (very) bad people in the movie. Everyone is just trying to understand / cope / adapt. And it’s quite difficult.

One undertone of the film is that things might be happening because of global warming / climate change but no one truly knows. And it does not look like that a remedy will ever be found.

This is one true post-COVID movie. And you should watch it! Highly rated 8/10 by Christina and I.

Happy 50th birthday Avinash

By Leave a Comment

Dear Avinash,

Anya, Kyan and I wish you an amazing birthday today! Half a century on earth and you’ve already touched the lives of so many people, inspiring all of us to be better at what we do. This is your strength and we can only wish that you keep doing so for many more decades.

To enn dimounn extraordiner. To koz boukou kiksoz serye ek boukou badinaz ousi. To met lazwa dan nou leker. To fer nou danse, sante, riye. Ek sirtou to fer nou reflesi boukou. Pena boukou dimounn kouma twa! Vremem to enn dimounn spesial!

Nou kontan twa boukou boukou boukou!

Joyeux demi-siècle!

Gros bisous de toute la famille!

PS: To celebrate, we had a formidable birthday party (modelled on a chowtari as per Avinash’s wish) with family members. And, one day after, we had dinner in a fine dining restaurant.