You mean like John Curl and the Vendetta?
"One of the secrets to the SCP-2B’s low noise was Curl’s selection of the input-stage FETs. Curl hand-measured each candidate FET with an analyzer that showed not just the FET’s intrinsic noise level, but also the spectrum of that noise. Selecting low-noise FETs isn’t unusual, but selecting on the basis of the noise’s spectral content was unprecedented, and reflects Curl’s uncompromising ethos."
--- The TAS Legacy: The Vendetta Research SCP-2 Phonostage -- Robert Harley - August 15, 2017
Streisand Effect rising, Louis Rossmann comments:
Bear in mind this was by Robert Harley, someone seeming more likely to drink the cool aide of any advertising copy produced by anyone that buys advertising pages in TAS. He is also the one that went on about MQA being a "paradigm shift" as seeming the new British Invasion, going on to reveal that he had read the 1962 "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn twice, he found it so inspirational. Of course MQA went bankrupt faster than Kuhn's work by his peers in the early 90's, seeming Kuhn was a victim of a paradigm shift in a "scientific revolution" of his own work. Harley would have been better off "reading on" as opposed to re-reading.
@Hierfi
Hmmm... I think in this instance Harley was acting more as a reporter not a novelist or shill.
In any event, you don't have to believe him (or John Atkinson who reported something similar):
You could ask @john curl what he actually did (unless you trust him as much/little as Tom Evans)
You could ask @rhthatcher how his Vendetta sounds (and about the advice he got re changing components)
You could ask @Craigl59 about his experience of careful matching (and of using elaborate regulation) on the Pearl 3
You could tell us how disappointed you were with your Vendetta and couldn't wait to get rid of it.
Hmmm... I think in this instance Harley was acting more as a reporter not a novelist or shill.
In any event, you don't have to believe him (or John Atkinson who reported something similar):
You could ask @john curl what he actually did (unless you trust him as much/little as Tom Evans)
You could ask @rhthatcher how his Vendetta sounds (and about the advice he got re changing components)
You could ask @Craigl59 about his experience of careful matching (and of using elaborate regulation) on the Pearl 3
You could tell us how disappointed you were with your Vendetta and couldn't wait to get rid of it.
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Okay... maybe I should give Harley the benefit of the doubt... just jotting down verbatim what John Curl had to say...
Although it seems Harley can't keep secrets very well ..."One of the secrets to the SCP-2B’s low noise"... thus betraying the trust of poor Mr. Curl in the careless reporting to reveal his secrets to the mass media.... Tattle Tales are what sisters are for...
Although it seems Harley can't keep secrets very well ..."One of the secrets to the SCP-2B’s low noise"... thus betraying the trust of poor Mr. Curl in the careless reporting to reveal his secrets to the mass media.... Tattle Tales are what sisters are for...
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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secret
definition 3 under noun:
"something taken to be a specific or key to a desired end"
that would be the normally understood meaning in that sentence.
definition 3 under noun:
"something taken to be a specific or key to a desired end"
that would be the normally understood meaning in that sentence.
Yup.
If anyone would want to make a ripoff, they should at least have to put in work to redesing the controller software. My controllers will scramble the internal software when a read is attempted. It's standard fare in modern controllers.
Jan
Yup. That's the reason I put a controller in several of my designs just for that purpose. They could have worked fine without.
If anyone would want to make a ripoff, they should at least have to put in work to redesing the controller software. My controllers will scramble the internal software when a read is attempted. It's standard fare in modern controllers.
Jan
And why would I do this? This assumes I am interested to engage further. Decisions can be made (without asking further) as being weighted based upon the extent of evidence one has in their current possession. Of course it can be incomplete or wrong (and I'm far too busy inventing a phono preamplifier I hope to sell for £25,500... in Delrin perhaps). By the way... who is their Vendetta against?...
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secret
definition 1 under noun
a: something kept hidden or unexplained : MYSTERY
b: something kept from the knowledge of others or shared only confidentially with a few
c: a method, formula, or process used in an art or operation and divulged only to those of one's own company or craft : TRADE SECRET
"something taken to be a specific or key to a desired end" "that would be the normally understood meaning in that sentence"
That it only suggests definition 3 "something taken to be a specific or key to a desired end" in the context by Harley and or Curl seems nonsense, as that is unlikely to be the intention by Harley or Curl. Otherwise they could have just as easily used "One of the key elements...." As advertising copy there is no advantage to using "One of the key elements...." This doesn't elude to magical secret sauce properties that theirs does. It isn't the innocent "reporting" of advertising copy that you seem to suggest. Using the word "secret" isn't innocent...perhaps hopefully misunderstood.
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And yet, when you connect a real world cartridge, the absolute best case SNR is 76.5 dB (1350 Ohm and 500 mH with 200 pF cable capacitance ref 5 mV) unweighted and non-resistor-cooled. That’s before you think about the vinyl itself which is never better than 60 dB. What is the point of an uncompromising ethos when it is completely rooted in fantasy?
Bragging rights. Mine's bigger than yours.
Years ago I did measurements on an LP system.
Channel separation on a special test disk was almost 30dB on a good day.
Yet many preamp designers brag about 100dB of channel separation and speak with disdain about the competitor at only 85dB.
High End audio is a fashion industry, let's admit that.
John Curl's position is not very unlike, say, Christian Dior.
Except Christian has been dead for some time now, that definitely gives John the edge 😎
Jan
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@jan.didden
Does that go for Richard Marsh too?
To what do you attribute the performance of the Vendetta? @rhthatcher has one. He thought it actually sounded good (rather than read well on the page).
Just askin'
Does that go for Richard Marsh too?
To what do you attribute the performance of the Vendetta? @rhthatcher has one. He thought it actually sounded good (rather than read well on the page).
Just askin'
@Hierfi
If the "secret" is being told then it not a secret... probably never was.. and the 3rd definition is the one that makes obvious sense. Unless you are projecting your own motives without evidence -- which you indicated you are happy to do.
@Scottmoose knows "secrets" -- or at least confidential information -- about the Mark Audio drivers he worked on that are used in the Pearl Acoustic Sibelius loudspeakers. He never seems to reveal that key information. (the NDA probably helps)
It's "allude" by the way.
If the "secret" is being told then it not a secret... probably never was.. and the 3rd definition is the one that makes obvious sense. Unless you are projecting your own motives without evidence -- which you indicated you are happy to do.
@Scottmoose knows "secrets" -- or at least confidential information -- about the Mark Audio drivers he worked on that are used in the Pearl Acoustic Sibelius loudspeakers. He never seems to reveal that key information. (the NDA probably helps)
It's "allude" by the way.
@jan.didden
Just out of interest are there any modern projects for which the Super Regulator is appropriate or do the new components and designs make them moot?
Just out of interest are there any modern projects for which the Super Regulator is appropriate or do the new components and designs make them moot?
Ever since I have seen the whole production process of a vinyl disc (including mastering), it was totally clear, that the "vinyl sound" is just happening in ones head. There is no way, this comes close to what the original recording engineer did imagine. At least on regular cuttings, this is all a selection of "which parameter does the least damage to the sound", quite some form of art and intuition and experience, nevertheless a hefty reduction in quality.
The cutter can cheat a bit with low speed cuts, reduced playback length (larger track distance to allow for greater needle movement), maybe a fresh cutting needle - but still the master tape is better, obviously.
Bragging about technical specs is fun though. Not that it matters in most real world use cases...
Any project that will benefit from clean, low impedance, low noise power supply.
Jan
which is every project... and none with today's PSRRs??
Is the BA2018 a good candidate where the Pearl 3 is not?
Is the BA2018 a good candidate where the Pearl 3 is not?
If you have heard a good vinyl setup playing a good recording the thing that will always amaze is how such an ancient technology can produce such a good sound - imaging, bass extension, HF etc. It will give nothing away to a digital recording of any bit depth you choose. The fact that a 60 dB SNR playback system with heavy EQ in both the record and playback chains still delivers the sonic goods tells you more about the inadequacies of the human ear<>brain system in assessing the absolute performance levels of digital or vinyl than anything else.
YMMV
🙂
YMMV
🙂
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