Purely anecdotal.
Relating to both ferrites and Bybee's effects.
At the time, frankly I had only heard about these Bybee thingies, and was rather skeptical in all regards. At a CES show, probably in the mid 1980s? Seems right. Actually at THE Show... but I forget who had a table with some nice headphones - I think I recall ESLs, but probably not. For some reason I went to listen. It was in the hall.
Didn't think much of the sound.
Somewhat grainy.
I think the guy was involved with headphone amps, back when they were a new thing.
Maybe even the Head-Fi guy. Tyell, was that his name?
Anyhow, I said that I thought the sound was not too good.
He said, here, how about now? He moved a white object up about 2 ft along the power cord. Looked like a ferrite bead. The sound changed rather dramatically. Went from grainy to not grainy.
I said, hey, let me try that.
I did it too.
Same effect.
I said, what's that, a ferrite bead??
He said, no, it's a Bybee.
I said, not a ferrite? What it is it then?
A Bybee.
The effect surprised the c**p out of me.
keep in mind this was when I could still hear beyond 20kHz.
So, a whole lot of stuff that most people could not detect drove me bats.
Now perhaps a ferrite clamp/bead would have had the same effect.
Doesn't matter. Assuming it WAS a Bybee thingie, it had an unmistakable, not subtle effect. Does not matter what the design flaws of this headphone amplifier box may have been. The effect was apparent from merely sliding the thingie up and down the AC line cord.
So, in this anecdotal situation, it did SOMETHING.
Bringing this up because, A) I heard it unmistakably and B) IF this thing did something to the sound in this situation, I see no reason that a ferrite might not have an audible effect in some situations.
Perhaps "excellently designed" these effects would be either inaudible or non-existent.
Also, has no one here ever changed the type of cable between their CD transport and DAC and heard some sort of change in the sound?? Again, in "excellently designed" cases, perhaps you can use almost anything as the "coax" cable for SPDIF and it makes no difference. But who can clearly point to the exact mechanism by which any audible difference is made? Who has measured it?
Raise your hand if you have NEVER EVER heard a change in SPDIF cable be audible?
Relating to both ferrites and Bybee's effects.
At the time, frankly I had only heard about these Bybee thingies, and was rather skeptical in all regards. At a CES show, probably in the mid 1980s? Seems right. Actually at THE Show... but I forget who had a table with some nice headphones - I think I recall ESLs, but probably not. For some reason I went to listen. It was in the hall.
Didn't think much of the sound.
Somewhat grainy.
I think the guy was involved with headphone amps, back when they were a new thing.
Maybe even the Head-Fi guy. Tyell, was that his name?
Anyhow, I said that I thought the sound was not too good.
He said, here, how about now? He moved a white object up about 2 ft along the power cord. Looked like a ferrite bead. The sound changed rather dramatically. Went from grainy to not grainy.
I said, hey, let me try that.
I did it too.
Same effect.
I said, what's that, a ferrite bead??
He said, no, it's a Bybee.
I said, not a ferrite? What it is it then?
A Bybee.
The effect surprised the c**p out of me.
keep in mind this was when I could still hear beyond 20kHz.
So, a whole lot of stuff that most people could not detect drove me bats.
Now perhaps a ferrite clamp/bead would have had the same effect.
Doesn't matter. Assuming it WAS a Bybee thingie, it had an unmistakable, not subtle effect. Does not matter what the design flaws of this headphone amplifier box may have been. The effect was apparent from merely sliding the thingie up and down the AC line cord.
So, in this anecdotal situation, it did SOMETHING.
Bringing this up because, A) I heard it unmistakably and B) IF this thing did something to the sound in this situation, I see no reason that a ferrite might not have an audible effect in some situations.
Perhaps "excellently designed" these effects would be either inaudible or non-existent.
Also, has no one here ever changed the type of cable between their CD transport and DAC and heard some sort of change in the sound?? Again, in "excellently designed" cases, perhaps you can use almost anything as the "coax" cable for SPDIF and it makes no difference. But who can clearly point to the exact mechanism by which any audible difference is made? Who has measured it?
Raise your hand if you have NEVER EVER heard a change in SPDIF cable be audible?
How old were you at the time?
Also, how did you determine what frequency range you could hear?
George,
Sorry I wasn't confused I should have pointed to this reply as I had been looking at those examples.
JBL Master Reference Monitor - Page 74
Testbericht - JBL M2 - Master Reference Monitor - Monitor für große Studios und Abhörräume / SOUND & RECORDING Ausgabe 12/2014
Seems pretty clear it is a rarefied time when we have agreement on this thread!
Sorry I wasn't confused I should have pointed to this reply as I had been looking at those examples.
JBL Master Reference Monitor - Page 74
Testbericht - JBL M2 - Master Reference Monitor - Monitor für große Studios und Abhörräume / SOUND & RECORDING Ausgabe 12/2014
Seems pretty clear it is a rarefied time when we have agreement on this thread!
I was working on a cloning machine, but this was shut down in the interest of public safety.
Do I have to say?
Less than 40, I'd have to figure it out accurately.
At one time I could hear the ultrasonic motion detectors that they installed in the Museum of Natural History in NYC after the Star of India ruby was stolen. After that I couldn't be in the room - didn't occur to me at that time to put in cotton or other earplugs...
Easy, run a signal generator into an amp into a tweeter, moderate to low volume, sweep it. I could hear it. Otherwise, I'd say that I couldn't.
_-_-
Why? two thought:
1] Self fulling expectations.
2] The ferrites removed a small amount of background noise that you had come to enjoy.
If you are talking about the metal corrugated one, it is consistent with a microwave lens.
The theory is that the velocity of propagation between the parallel folded metal sheets is lower than air. So the structure is delaying the sides moreso than the middle. This results in a more cylindrical horizontal wavefront which causes more horizontal dispersion.
In microwaves, they will use a variable density (or permittivity) structure in front of the beam with the intent of changing the prop velocity to alter the wavefront shape. I've seen them used at the receiver horn end with sub mm equipment.
In general, the safety systems here are never touched by the scientific staff for that exact reason. In our case, human safety is involved so they are very strict with these rules. Also, we have two chains of safety's running independently, and each chain uses a different manufacturer safety rated PLC, each programmed by different individuals who were not allowed to view the other's code. (we do not want any chance of duplicating the same error)
I admit to enjoying that full time...I love it.
Holy mackeral...relying on a blinking light??? What happens if the bulb burns out?? (nevermind screening employees for epilepy) Sigh, we're getting old, aren't we?
By catwalk, do you mean cable tray?? We do not have a mouse problem here, so do not require cats...
Sigh..you guys must consider scale. If you did, you'd realize from the scale that the ID is too small by a factor of three to four...
John
yes, quite so...
However working here, deep into the nights, it has been found that we can ameliorate this issue by the subtle continuous injection of a gaseous combination of both Oxygen (in it's purest form) and Oxygen-free Nitrogen, both combined in a virtually sublimating compound. This is an option that is only available with our rarefied air generatortm system.
Surely, you must try it!
Private enquiries only regarding custom installations, thank you.
I have heard some ultrasonic motion detectors on rare occasion, and like you I was younger at the time. Always assumed I was hearing a sub-harmonic. Some non-linearity in the transducer.
Those mouse/rat deterrent things (at least the ones I've heard) drive me up the walls. We have a family friend whose vacation house we rent for family gatherings and they have a bunch scattered around (which makes sense given the occasional use). First thing I do when I walk in the door: unplug them all.
I'm sure I'm hearing one of the undertones, as it's 10 kHz+ (the rest of my family isn't bothered by them at all) but man oh man. Crawling up the walls sensation.
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Thanks Bear for your latest subjective input. That is how I found out about Bybee devices as well. Of course, separately from you, on the other side of the USA, but I also was experimenting with ferrite devices on the power cord as well, and I always got a trade-off. Then, because I was asked to evaluate a Bybee by my major employer (Parasound) I found that it did something good when put in series with the power cable, WITHOUT any obvious compromise. It was stunning! Something for 'nothing'!
My experience happened in 1995. Now, I realize that many here do not believe Bear or me, just because we cannot give you measurements or double-blind tests to verify what our ears told us, but we are the designers of first class amps, and we can't afford to ignore our ears.
My experience happened in 1995. Now, I realize that many here do not believe Bear or me, just because we cannot give you measurements or double-blind tests to verify what our ears told us, but we are the designers of first class amps, and we can't afford to ignore our ears.
Let's look through the history books of scientific discoveries versus, say rulers? Not many make it in the books, but from what I remember of my bajillion history classes...
Lot more "these things were invented and took hold, greatly advancing said societies' prosperity" than "you know, this ruler was actually good to his people".
I digress.
People tend to believe things the most when they can see for themselves and reach their own conclusions. When someone comes along that (1) sounds like they are bragging about their great hearing, (2) that don't give others a chance to see for themselves how it sounds, and in their own way, and (3) that make theoretical claims about some operating principle that appear to be at odds with well established science, then what should you expect? I don't think it would be reasonable to expect people to be convinced you know what you are talking about.
Regarding point (3) above, consider the medical practice of chiropracty. One thing that made it very hard for insurance companies to recognize it as a treatment for low back pain, was the absurd theory for how it works. We now know it often works, but not because of the theory -- that all disease is the result of a misaligned spine -- which happens to be incorrect. So we ignore the theory and use the treatment because statistically, it often seems to help people with back pain.
Similarly, if you want people to take you more seriously, you might want to lighten up on the theoretical claims, and make it easier for other people to check out your stuff for themselves without having to buy something first.
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