"Some people don't recognize the difference between perceivable difference and audible difference."
Just like some people don't recognize the difference between a Steinway grand piano and a cheap Kawai vertical piano.
Those people are still trying understanding the difference by reading the SINAD proselytizing rather than listening to the music.
They are the minions of the prophet.
The Lord of the Blue Screen who used a Mark Levinson 360S DAC for 21 years, he finally measured it and, according to his own measurements, the 360S is worse than the MEIZU dongle (45 USD).
Of course, he replaced the 360S immediately.
So what happened?
21 years to understand the Steinway sounds different than the Kawai?
Or just 5 minutes of measurements to vanish 21 years of listening?
This means Hi-Fi today.
Just like some people don't recognize the difference between a Steinway grand piano and a cheap Kawai vertical piano.
Those people are still trying understanding the difference by reading the SINAD proselytizing rather than listening to the music.
They are the minions of the prophet.
The Lord of the Blue Screen who used a Mark Levinson 360S DAC for 21 years, he finally measured it and, according to his own measurements, the 360S is worse than the MEIZU dongle (45 USD).
Of course, he replaced the 360S immediately.
So what happened?
21 years to understand the Steinway sounds different than the Kawai?
Or just 5 minutes of measurements to vanish 21 years of listening?
This means Hi-Fi today.
In the small towns I've been living in the term HiFi is almost exclusively associated with car subwoofers 
has been as long as I remember, from the end of nineties at least. I know many music lovers, but no-one that would be interested which loudspeakers they use. Only few have stereo setup at home, and even they like their portable USB speaker better because "it is so handy".
It is always fun to provide good full range sound to the kids though. My kids and their friends. It is fun to see how amused the kids are first time they hear big speakers. They often stay still and quiet and try to figure out whats that sound and where it is coming from
Hopefully some of them will get into good sound later in their life. The adults just don't understand/mind/care about sound at all, they either nag about the music or why it has to be so loud and then advert how good their USB speaker is.
has been as long as I remember, from the end of nineties at least. I know many music lovers, but no-one that would be interested which loudspeakers they use. Only few have stereo setup at home, and even they like their portable USB speaker better because "it is so handy". It is always fun to provide good full range sound to the kids though. My kids and their friends. It is fun to see how amused the kids are first time they hear big speakers. They often stay still and quiet and try to figure out whats that sound and where it is coming from
Hopefully some of them will get into good sound later in their life. The adults just don't understand/mind/care about sound at all, they either nag about the music or why it has to be so loud and then advert how good their USB speaker is.
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Ah, the language barrier strikes again. It's unfortunate that such barrier is handicapping your interaction on English based forum.
Wrong depiction. Such windmill would be pointing out DACs with distortion beyond audible level as the monster and fighting to get even lower distortion.
Tech has advanced enough so that the 20Hz to 20kHz spectrum is easily covered by most media. Going for wider bandwidth or lower distortion wouldn't get much more fidelity, since it would exceed hearing capabilities and go undetected. In the old days, when getting out to 10kHz was a big deal, then high fidelity made sense, because improvements in bandwidth and distortion were clearly audible. Basically, we're there now, and technical improvements are not likely to make for better perceived sound by way of better amplifiers, speakers and the like.
Because the only skill he learned is just copy and paste.
Asynchronous I2S FIFO project, an ultimate weapon to fight the jitter
Your are tilting against the search for ever lower distortion which when looked at in a larger context is a waste of time. If there is a parameter to be chased down then humans will do it just for the sake of doing it.
There is no need for average people to seek anything better than a mass marketed sound system, because it is more than enough to fully enjoy the current crop of commercial music and home theater sound effects. Convenience, design and ancillary features are more important than the sound reproduction itself, and rightly so because commercial music is engineered to be easy to reproduce by limited systems, to avoid posing any barrier to the comsumption.
On the plus side, I believe that the ubiquitous music background is increasing the interest towards music production and better sound reproduction, at least because anyone that does have even the smallest desire to explore the issue can do so with very little expense and a wealth of information that was only a dream a few decades ago. I don't remember any better time than now to buy or assemble a good sounding system.
On the plus side, I believe that the ubiquitous music background is increasing the interest towards music production and better sound reproduction, at least because anyone that does have even the smallest desire to explore the issue can do so with very little expense and a wealth of information that was only a dream a few decades ago. I don't remember any better time than now to buy or assemble a good sounding system.
Current products are generally not in my "to do list".
Being human, with human limits, I find that the era of solid and reliable equipment was built in the 1970's, early 80's, and is quite suitable for anyone that doesn't have mental issues like they seem to do today.
You know what I mean..... the nitpickers, the obsessed, the nervous-nut cases, and the gullible types.
And that is why so many seem to go the "vintage" route and restoring those great products of days gone by.
Obviously there is a reputation about them, and the styling appeal that is now only a shallow copy in current designs.
Now that vinyl and C-cassette are just a curiosity, real (audible) differences lie in loudspeakers. Mid price amplifiers were hifi in 80s, CDs in 90s. Streaming services have varying quality, but most do offer hifi quallity (eg. Spotify Premium). I'm very glad that really good active monitors are available for 300€/pc, at almost every music shop or web shop -and they are selling big numbers!
I am very sad of Stereophile magazine's new focus on vintage and snake oil tech... But money talks, manufacturers and distributors of "high end" gear are wiling to pay. This trend is twisting, distracting and corrupting hifi concept even more, speciallly in the eyes of younger people.
I am very sad of Stereophile magazine's new focus on vintage and snake oil tech... But money talks, manufacturers and distributors of "high end" gear are wiling to pay. This trend is twisting, distracting and corrupting hifi concept even more, speciallly in the eyes of younger people.
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Perhaps you don't know what I posted. Haven't you seen those who claimed sound quality improvement of DACs, cables and other audio accessories?
Unless you consider audio replaying electronics as the forefront of exploration like studying Mars or deep ocean, doing it for the sake of doing it has passed long ago for DACs, amps and cables. Some will taut the measurable DAC performance for the sake of business, not audible reasons.
This is a very good question. I hope the self appointed Golden Ears will bother to answer too, although I won't hold my breath.
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