Funniest snake oil theories

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#7,881
marce said:
It is not slandering authors, but questioning what they put forward as truths. I have been monitoring some threads regarding the Regen over the last few months, and have realised that there is no way some audiophiles will question their beliefs and even asking to question their perception has resulted in pathetic childish responses to the poster (not me). You cannot have an opinion that is different many "audiophiles" will not allow it and if measurements or Blind testing show there is no difference then the measurements or blind test are flawed, never their perceptions. Such a narrow minded view especially coupled with censorship is not good for forwarding audio reproduction (or for society). The level of vehemence and hostility towards questioners of the faith is also a concern.
Me I now spend more time playing with images within Lightroom whilst listening to my eclectic collection of music and find I am more at peace with the universe... Though I do wonder if the choice of music affects my photo editing... I will have to do some blind editing tests🙂
It does worry me though that the manufacturer of some gear had no measurements to counteract the ones posted...

Anyway we will see a whole host of new add on devices for USB audio (as its a new cash cow) with fancy names... but as Shakespeare said "what is in a name, a USB hub by any other name will still sound as sweet".
🙂


I got banned for commenting on the most ridiculous implementation of a PC I have ever seen (an super duper audiophile music server) we commented here few weeks back.
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I believe the only way to recognise 'good sound' or HiFi is to go to live acoustic concerts, such as classical music.
For non classical, to go to much smaller venues where sound quality can be controlled by the organisers to some degree - stadiums and larger venues never have 'good sound'.
Once your brain is trained to recognise 'what is real, and what is not' then and only then you can be a judge of HiFi.
We have become accustomed to the sound we have been getting for so long, we consider all else 'not right'! much akin to your 'Mother's Cooking'.
I think we need to train our ears first, break out of our accepted or 'Norm', before we can pass opinion.
And remember, at the end of the day, MUSIC should be all that matters, if a system can play real music, that should be all .
Measurements, Specifications, are just tools for designers and manufacturers to design proper equipments. They should never be a buying tool.
( a 10W amp into a 92dB/W speaker is much punchier/louder than a 20W into 85 dB/W all else being equal)

BTW USB audio is on its way out!
networked audio is fast becoming the dominant standard. USB has certain flaws for audio that networked audio has not. What may become available, might be a network to USB adaptor for audio, to keep the older DAC's playing.
 
#7,886
KenTajalli said:
- Isolating the dirty computer power supply into USB
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Not a flaw if implemented well.
- The synchronous/asynchronous feature, network has no such problems
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You need to set the scenario here. Most network streaming is not TCP and has no retry.
- USB cables are short, noisy and expensive, network isn't.
Just to name three obvious ones, I'm sure you can search for better results on the web.
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You need to perhaps stay off the cool-aid for a bit as you appear rather confused.
 
#7,887
billshurv said:
Not a flaw if implemented well.
You need to set the scenario here. Most network streaming is not TCP and has no retry.


You need to perhaps stay off the cool-aid for a bit as you appear rather confused.
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I am sure if implemented well, we could use a shoe-lace to transfer music, point is with ethernet we don't have to.
Clarification, USB audio does not have any incurable flaws as of today, but flaws it does have.
As regards to cool-aid, Mine is beer - but tell me how do you use a USB DAC upstairs, if your computer is downstairs? or play music in different rooms?
Time for a cool-aid?
 
#7,888
I use a server, which delivers to tablets which have usb dacs on them. simples and works. A lot of people use both ethernet AND USB to get music around the house.

Still can't see these flaws you are talking about. Other than range it delivers data to the DAC accurately.
 
#7,889
billshurv said:
I use a server, which delivers to tablets which have usb dacs on them. simples and works. A lot of people use both ethernet AND USB to get music around the house.

Still can't see these flaws you are talking about. Other than range it delivers data to the DAC accurately.
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As I said we could use a shoe-lace but why should we.
With network, we do not need a tablet (or second computer) , it would be built into the network player, for far less money and complexity.
Network audio is more future proof - manufacturers are very keen on that.
Network also offers full galvanic isolation to the computer, USB can also be isolated well, but costs money and effort.
Network players do not suffer from buffer under-runs, they use a large cache to reconstruct the data locally.
Control signals can be sent back and forth using the same cable.
Networked audio uses run of the mill devices, bandwidth of 1Gbits are plenty for most demanding audio at home.
Networked audio can easily be used in multiroom environments.
If you were a manufacturer, designing equipments with higher shelf-life expectancy, which one would you go for?
Again, every flaw of USB audio can be cured today, but why should we have to?
USB and Network are both digital data delivery systems, network is cheaper and more convenient.
 
#7,892
KenTajalli said:
I believe the only way to recognise 'good sound' or HiFi is to go to live acoustic concerts, such as classical music.
For non classical, to go to much smaller venues where sound quality can be controlled by the organisers to some degree - stadiums and larger venues never have 'good sound'.
Once your brain is trained to recognise 'what is real, and what is not' then and only then you can be a judge of HiFi.
We have become accustomed to the sound we have been getting for so long, we consider all else 'not right'! much akin to your 'Mother's Cooking'.
I think we need to train our ears first, break out of our accepted or 'Norm', before we can pass opinion.
And remember, at the end of the day, MUSIC should be all that matters, if a system can play real music, that should be all .
Measurements, Specifications, are just tools for designers and manufacturers to design proper equipments. They should never be a buying tool.
( a 10W amp into a 92dB/W speaker is much punchier/louder than a 20W into 85 dB/W all else being equal)

BTW USB audio is on its way out!
networked audio is fast becoming the dominant standard. USB has certain flaws for audio that networked audio has not. What may become available, might be a network to USB adaptor for audio, to keep the older DAC's playing.
Click to expand...

My Mum...
dorothy england
I started piano at 4 years old, trombone at 9 and played bass guitar for a while.... being from the north we played in brass bands as kids and was always surrounded by music often live as there was always a piano and other instruments in the house.
So somewhere in my black dessicated heart in a deep love for music, but also a aversion to esoteric audiophile BS.....
 
#7,896
Marce, that depends on the amount of damage you want to do to your hearing, as well as the speed with which you want to reach the desired degree of deafness.

With this proposed setup, it might take at least 15 minutes a day for months on end before measurable results will start showing up in auditory tests.
 
#7,897
brianco said:
There was a good TV programme covering the Ivy Benson Band only a few nights ago. They were good, very good!🙂

Poor Blackburn's great recording desk of the 80s seemed doomed to end up in BBC sports o/b units! Yet some thought it better than the other full boards around at the time. Shame. 😕
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I missed that, what channel was it on... I saw a documentary years ago and nearly fainted when my Mum and Aunty were interviewed with there rather broad sounding Yorkshire accents...
 
#7,898
vacuphile said:
Marce, that depends on the amount of damage you want to do to your hearing, as well as the speed with which you want to reach the desired degree of deafness.

With this proposed setup, it might take at least 15 minutes a day for months on end before measurable results will start showing up in auditory tests.
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I don't play it loud actually, played sensibly I find it rather dynamic, you cant see the 15" move, they are not bouncing in and out. The best time is my listening Golden Hour, a warm alcoholic glow, everyone in bed and quite all around and some nice tunes playing, quite often my 1970s stuff comes out then, Genesi, Yes, Gong etc😀 Bliss....😀

Only thing missing a real fire with Nutty slack for that homely aroma (though 4 weeks next to Rugeley Coal fired power station in a premier inn has darkened that withered organ somewhat and the meal deal has helped my girth expand, but in the dank foggy atmosphere you could appreciate that scent of coal)
 
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#7,899
'mea culpa' from "founder of subjective Auio reviews"?

Infamous 2007 Atkinson interview of Gordon Holt:

45 Years of Stereophile | Stereophile.com


...
ja: Judging by online forums and by the e-mail I receive, there are currently three areas of passion for audiophiles: vinyl playback, headphone listening, and music servers. Are you surprised by this?

gh: I find them all boring, but nothing surprises me any more.

ja: Do you see any signs of future vitality in high-end audio?

gh: Vitality? Don't make me laugh. Audio as a hobby is dying, largely by its own hand. As far as the real world is concerned, high-end audio lost its credibility during the 1980s, when it flatly refused to submit to the kind of basic honesty controls (double-blind testing, for example) that had legitimized every other serious scientific endeavor since Pascal. [This refusal] is a source of endless derisive amusement among rational people and of perpetual embarrassment for me, because I am associated by so many people with the mess my disciples made of spreading my gospel. For the record: I never, ever claimed that measurements don't matter. What I said (and very often, at that) was, they don't always tell the whole story. Not quite the same thing...
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#7,900
marce said:
I missed that, what channel was it on... I saw a documentary years ago and nearly fainted when my Mum and Aunty were interviewed with there rather broad sounding Yorkshire accents...
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To be honest I can't remember which channel.....is it BBC 3/4 which covers historic music documentaries? [The programme was about swing & Big Bands, the Benson Band got quite a lot of coverage.🙂

Calrec still beavering away up your way?
 
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