About two years ago, I stumbled upon a site which dealt with the quality of CD recording, and of course, I didn't bookmark it - BIG mistake.
Anyway, they had two lists running, The Good and The Bad.
For The Bad, they quited a release by a guy whose name meant nothing to me, stating that 93% of the material was actually clipping !?!
For The Good, they quoted a CD release of Abba Greazest Hits. That number i did write down and eventually bought the CD from Amazon.com. I'd love to name it, but my apartment is still a replica of Hiroshima in 1945, so I can't find it, but remind me later on and I will. To be sure, you'd have to stone deaf not to hear the sheer quality of the sound, never mind whether you're an ABBA fan or not, I'm not but for demo purposes, that's the one to flaunt.
For LPs, my standard is well known - Decca Phase 4 stereo, I have several of them. Their music taste is questionable, but even pop type bands like Mantovani come across with stunning realism.
(5 minutes later)
Got it! It's a Polydor release, titled "ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits", No. 314 517 007-2. Released in 1992.
Frank's (fas42) hit - Take A Chance On Me
Nigel's hit - Money, Money, Money
My hit - Voulez Vous
Anyway, they had two lists running, The Good and The Bad.
For The Bad, they quited a release by a guy whose name meant nothing to me, stating that 93% of the material was actually clipping !?!
For The Good, they quoted a CD release of Abba Greazest Hits. That number i did write down and eventually bought the CD from Amazon.com. I'd love to name it, but my apartment is still a replica of Hiroshima in 1945, so I can't find it, but remind me later on and I will. To be sure, you'd have to stone deaf not to hear the sheer quality of the sound, never mind whether you're an ABBA fan or not, I'm not but for demo purposes, that's the one to flaunt.
For LPs, my standard is well known - Decca Phase 4 stereo, I have several of them. Their music taste is questionable, but even pop type bands like Mantovani come across with stunning realism.
(5 minutes later)
Got it! It's a Polydor release, titled "ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits", No. 314 517 007-2. Released in 1992.
Frank's (fas42) hit - Take A Chance On Me
Nigel's hit - Money, Money, Money
My hit - Voulez Vous
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How these two aphorisms came from your keyboard is a mystery to me.
Excluding size, heat generation, power consumption plus a bit of microphonics, what’s wrong with tubes?
To quote fdegrove “much depends on implementation and system matching” (I would say “all”)
I think you are totally deprived of healthy masochism
George
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George, I have only written my honest opinion. I do not like the way how SE tube poweramps modify sound of the philharmonic orchestra. I am quite frequent visitor to concerts of classical music and I believe I know what I have said. To me, tubes are tolerable with music that is easier for sound reproduction. SE tubes create new sound, they do not reproduce the original sound. The added distortion is too high and too audible.
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Hi,
There's more to valve life than just SE amps.
Besides, how many of these SE amps can deliver more than a handful of Watt?
Not many I'd think so these amps should be hooked up to highly efficient speakers not requiring heavy damping. Horns come to mind, one's with an easy impedance curve helps too.
If you can look past appalling specs and know what to hook up they can sound absolutely magical. Even with more complex classical music.
This is a typical horses for courses thing.
Cheers,
There's more to valve life than just SE amps.
Besides, how many of these SE amps can deliver more than a handful of Watt?
Not many I'd think so these amps should be hooked up to highly efficient speakers not requiring heavy damping. Horns come to mind, one's with an easy impedance curve helps too.
If you can look past appalling specs and know what to hook up they can sound absolutely magical. Even with more complex classical music.
This is a typical horses for courses thing.
Cheers,
If you exclude music too, you have it about right. Exclude personal ownership and you have it exactly right.
It's much easier to buy a baseball bat and hit yourself on the head with it a few times, it's a faster and MUCH cheaper way to go.
Hi,
There's more to valve life than just SE amps.
Besides, how many of these SE amps can deliver more than a handful of Watt?
Not many I'd think so these amps should be hooked up to highly efficient speakers not requiring heavy damping. Horns come to mind, one's with an easy impedance curve helps too.
If you can look past appalling specs and know what to hook up they can sound absolutely magical. Even with more complex classical music.
This is a typical horses for courses thing.
Cheers,
I'm 100% with Pavel on this.
I also feel that tubes CREATE new sound, they modify the signal.
So why do people like it?
Well, it's like waking up in the morning, with a stunning hooker next to you, and she tells you you were the world's best lover last night. You know she's lying, but it's still feels good to hear.
Pavel I understand that it was a honest expression of your experience with some tube gear.
Usually, the SE types are of minimalistic (including psu) design , also open loop, highish Ro, of low power output, needing high efficiency speakers, which happen to be full range units. Such a combination can’t do flawlessly complex & dynamic music like symphonic or grande opera, it’s only “magic” with much simpler compositions.
But you know very well that it doesn't have to be this way. Neither for the SE, nor for the tubes in general.
George
>Edit. Now I see that fdegrove answered adequately before me.
I’ll take Dejan’s baseball bat (and the hooker) but I’ll say no no to his writing that tubes alter the sound. Designers and implementers can do it, not the tubes.
Usually, the SE types are of minimalistic (including psu) design , also open loop, highish Ro, of low power output, needing high efficiency speakers, which happen to be full range units. Such a combination can’t do flawlessly complex & dynamic music like symphonic or grande opera, it’s only “magic” with much simpler compositions.
But you know very well that it doesn't have to be this way. Neither for the SE, nor for the tubes in general.
George
>Edit. Now I see that fdegrove answered adequately before me.
I’ll take Dejan’s baseball bat (and the hooker) but I’ll say no no to his writing that tubes alter the sound. Designers and implementers can do it, not the tubes.
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Maybe, but only until you've had your first cup of coffee and woken up properly. Then a couple of truths start sinking in:Well, it's like waking up in the morning, with a stunning hooker next to you, and she tells you you were the world's best lover last night. You know she's lying, but it's still feels good to hear.
a) She's next to you, therefore she knows where you live (big mistake).
b) She's still next to you, therefore you still owe her money (uh-oh).
c) She has the upper hand in negotiating exactly how much you owe her since your parents/spouse/children/neighbors may hear more than you'd like depending on how vociferously she disagrees with your opinion on the subject.
After sobering up with a second cup of coffee, you realize that:
d) Bearing in mind points (a) and (c) above, it's likely that said negotiations will not end today.
Come to think of it, that's a pretty good analogy to tube gear ownership - It starts with "You can't make rent because you spent HOW MUCH on WHAT?!" and ends with "You want to spend HOW MUCH to replace WHAT?! - godammit, you only bought that thing xx months ago, how can it be broken already?"
Well, it's like waking up in the morning, with a stunning hooker next to you, and she tells you you were the world's best lover last night. You know she's lying, but it's still feels good to hear.
This is completely beyond my frame of reference. All my hookers are ugly.
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Getting back to stunning sound, , this has been mentioned a couple of times in diyAudio - a list of some recording "goodies", by Bob Katz: Honor Roll of Dynamic Recordings - Digital Domain: CD Mastering | Mastered for iTunes | Audio Mastering | Blu-Ray Mastering.
, this has been mentioned a couple of times in diyAudio - a list of some recording "goodies", by Bob Katz: Honor Roll of Dynamic Recordings - Digital Domain: CD Mastering | Mastered for iTunes | Audio Mastering | Blu-Ray Mastering.
Compression ain't that bad, especially if it's AAC - here's a YouTube live version, have a listen at HD quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I0-HiJOl0k
More like 99.9% "perfect", if the compression is done as carefully as one can - that is, the difference file between original and compressed is at -60dB levels or so - can you hear it, ? Put it this way, if you put the original, and compressed waveforms on the screen you won't be able to pick anything ...
? Put it this way, if you put the original, and compressed waveforms on the screen you won't be able to pick anything ...
Just checked Requiem, Linn sample. I also have their album in flac bought. The mp3 sample is only 128 kbps and sounds muffled.
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More like 99.9% "perfect", if the compression is done as carefully as one can - that is, the difference file between original and compressed is at -60dB levels or so - can you hear it,
Frank, make spectrum analysis and you will see. And you can make a DBT for yourself, you know we were there. You will see the difference even in time domain if you zoom parts of the waveforms.
Edit: 128kbps Linn sample compared to 320kbps sample I made from uncompressed file, attached.
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