I’m Tom. I build amberSUITE — alone, next to a system I sit in front of every evening.
A year ago I moved from big-city Berlin to the quieter, greener Brandenburg an der Havel — calm, space, and finally the time to refine my chain in peace.
My listening room is no treated studio. It’s my living room — and the kitchen right along with it, open, all in one. Exactly the difficult, real room that room correction is made for. Getting clean bass there proves something.
The hardware was settled. So I declared 2026 my year of software and started trying things — specialised audiophile operating systems, much-praised add-ons. With some of what half the scene celebrates, the promised effect simply didn’t show up for me. And at some point it struck me: a lean Linux I’d tuned myself sounded just as good as the expensive special distribution. Existing tools got me close — but a piece was always missing. So I thought: let’s see how far I get with a DSP of my own. Once it ran, only one question was left — could the Swiss Army knife of room correction be built? One that needs no manual.
Once the DSP ran, I was hooked. The DSP became a player, the need to measure became a measurement lab of its own — and over all of it, an AI you can simply talk to. My yardstick throughout: something that’s simply easy to use.
I also build the small things I always wished existed. A Home Assistant component that carries the current track into the smart home — done. A pixel clock on the shelf showing the song as scrolling text. A catcher: one click and the track playing on web radio lands in a playlist — or I just say „amber, remember that track“. And a physical dial, the amberKNOB, with its own firmware — it runs; only voice input on it is still in testing.
Honesty is my edge. I promise nothing you can’t install, and I’d rather show you what amber can’t do yet than sell you a feeling. If you like, come listen early.
— Tom
Brandenburg an der Havel · tom_on_wheels in the forums