More 'Audiophile' bullsh*t
Discussion
I've borrowed an Audison bit tune RTA for this weekend, gonna swap out some capacitors on my rear 6x9's to change the frequency response after adding a new sub to the car and I've noticed that capacitors range all the way from 13p to over £50 (for the same values) https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/duelun...
Flanders and Swann covered this in 1957 with "A song of reproduction"
Michael Flanders said:
Who made this circuit up for you, anyway? Bought it in a shop? Oooh, what a horrible shoddy job they fobbed you off with with.
Surprised they let you have it in this room anyway, the acoustics are all wrong. If you raise the ceiling four feet... put the fireplace from that wall to that wall... you'll still only get the stereophonic effect if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard.
I see... I see you've got your negative feedback coupled in with your push-pull-input-output. Take that across through your redded pickup to your tweeter, if you're modding more than eight, you're going to get wow on your top. Try to bring that down through your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom!
Surprised they let you have it in this room anyway, the acoustics are all wrong. If you raise the ceiling four feet... put the fireplace from that wall to that wall... you'll still only get the stereophonic effect if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard.
I see... I see you've got your negative feedback coupled in with your push-pull-input-output. Take that across through your redded pickup to your tweeter, if you're modding more than eight, you're going to get wow on your top. Try to bring that down through your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom!
TonyRPH said:
I really don't think these reviewers (or even the people that buy this kit) really listen to music any more. all they're doing is constantly evaluating their systems.
They spend 99% of their time wondering 'what if' - what if I bought this amp, what if I bought that cable etc.
I found myself going down that road a good few years back, and had to give myself a good kick up the arse to remind myself that I enjoy listening to music for the music, not to listen to the kit that's playing it.
Hence I started spending money on CDs instead.
I found myself doing the same. I was sending my Cyrus boxes every time they brought out an upgrade and convincing myself they sounded better. The only really worthwhile upgrade was sending my Audiovector M3 speakers back to Denmark to be upgraded to AvantGarde models. That made a big difference. I settled on midrange Chord cables a long time ago and should probably have gone for the basic ones instead. I have some of each and cannot tell the difference.They spend 99% of their time wondering 'what if' - what if I bought this amp, what if I bought that cable etc.
I found myself going down that road a good few years back, and had to give myself a good kick up the arse to remind myself that I enjoy listening to music for the music, not to listen to the kit that's playing it.
Hence I started spending money on CDs instead.
B17NNS said:
jmorgan said:
In for a penny... Might as well get the ethernet cable too.TEKNOPUG said:
"An additional dose of smoothness combined with an extra sprinkle of resolution simply left my current very high-end USB in the weeds. I didn’t realise how much I was missing until I connected the LS USB."
Perhaps it's a Troy Queef pastiche for the audio world and we've all missed the joke?
I wrote to HiFi world once to complain about their review of a USB cable, and I also stated (in technical terms) why it I thought it shouldn't make any difference.
The editor (also a technical guy) responded with an explanation that was just nonsense.
The reviewer was drawing comparisons at an analogue level for a digital cable - e.g. such superlatives as warmth, and other claims which would generally only apply to an analogue cable (interfacing to a badly designed preamp / amp / DAC etc.) as generally cables should not change the tonal quality.
The editor (also a technical guy) responded with an explanation that was just nonsense.
The reviewer was drawing comparisons at an analogue level for a digital cable - e.g. such superlatives as warmth, and other claims which would generally only apply to an analogue cable (interfacing to a badly designed preamp / amp / DAC etc.) as generally cables should not change the tonal quality.
There is an isochronous mode for USB data transfers for streaming audio and video which does not have any error detection, correction or retry capabilities. I do not know if it is this mode that is used for these USB audio implementations, but I find it very hard to believe that a serial cable of any quality would introduce bit errors at the types of bandwidths we are talking about. And if there were bit errors, these would be random and would affect all aspects of the carrier data, rather than somehow changing the tonality in isolation.
Of course, if the USB transfer modes used are digital end to end (i.e. with guaranteed data integrity) then it's simple - the cable either works, or it doesn't and any reviewer claiming to hear differences purely on the basis of the cable is kidding themselves.
Of course, if the USB transfer modes used are digital end to end (i.e. with guaranteed data integrity) then it's simple - the cable either works, or it doesn't and any reviewer claiming to hear differences purely on the basis of the cable is kidding themselves.
PhilboSE said:
<stuff>
Completely agree.But the likely hood of an error in digital transmission having a (constant) effect on (or even changing) the tonal quality is nil IMHO!
Drop outs yes, and possibly some distortion / sibilance, but to use phrases such as "warmer sound", "analytical", "3d sound stage", "airiness"...
No, just no.
And if there are drop outs or other distortions then the interface is at fault (assuming a good cable).
Perhaps the cables connecting the reviewers ears to his brain need replacement / upgrading :P
PhilboSE said:
Perhaps it's a Troy Queef pastiche for the audio world and we've all missed the joke?
I sadly don't think it is.They're all just sitting around tossing themselves off over the emperors new clothes.
Now, Zapperators. There's a technology I can get behind.
http://www.russandrews.com/rf-zapperators-with-ban...
PhilboSE said:
There is an isochronous mode for USB data transfers for streaming audio and video which does not have any error detection, correction or retry capabilities. I do not know if it is this mode that is used for these USB audio implementations, but I find it very hard to believe that a serial cable of any quality would introduce bit errors at the types of bandwidths we are talking about. And if there were bit errors, these would be random and would affect all aspects of the carrier data, rather than somehow changing the tonality in isolation.
Of course, if the USB transfer modes used are digital end to end (i.e. with guaranteed data integrity) then it's simple - the cable either works, or it doesn't and any reviewer claiming to hear differences purely on the basis of the cable is kidding themselves.
Indeed. Ultimately a USB deals in binary states. Imagine a light bulb. In an analogue sense it has power, brightness, color, heat etc. In a digital sense it only has off or on, nothing else matters.Of course, if the USB transfer modes used are digital end to end (i.e. with guaranteed data integrity) then it's simple - the cable either works, or it doesn't and any reviewer claiming to hear differences purely on the basis of the cable is kidding themselves.
B17NNS said:
PhilboSE said:
Perhaps it's a Troy Queef pastiche for the audio world and we've all missed the joke?
I sadly don't think it is.They're all just sitting around tossing themselves off over the emperors new clothes.
Now, Zapperators. There's a technology I can get behind.
http://www.russandrews.com/rf-zapperators-with-ban...
98elise said:
Indeed. Ultimately a USB deals in binary states. Imagine a light bulb. In an analogue sense it has power, brightness, color, heat etc. In a digital sense it only has off or on, nothing else matters.
That's a good analogy, I'll have to remember that one when I'm trying to explain why cables shouldn't make any difference...untakenname said:
I've borrowed an Audison bit tune RTA for this weekend, gonna swap out some capacitors on my rear 6x9's to change the frequency response after adding a new sub to the car and I've noticed that capacitors range all the way from 13p to over £50 (for the same values) https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/duelun...
audio capacitors are very different from regular ones. If you use regular non-audio grade ones they will sound crap.Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff