Pushing the Computer Audio Boundaries :)

[Diapason]

I find my wife has a more discerning ear even though she is not really interested in this hobby but when she says she like this better than that it is usually spot on.

Mine's the same, and reviews come bullshit free: 'sounds tinny', 'sounds muddy' or whatever. Refreshing in one way!

[Fran]

Actually there's an interesting idea DaveF - burn the 2 files to a CD and see do they sound different back on CD again!!!



Fran

[jkeny]

Guys,
I don't think these files are suitable for a test. I've been doing these tests with a guy from Oz over a number of years & I have a very high success rate in identifying the "good rip". I'm fairly convinced that here is something in this but remember extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. The differences between the files were never huge - it was always subtle so the possibility of a placebo or positive bias is always possible.

I have not produced files myself so I cannot stand over the following. He tells me that the "good rip" results from treatment to the PC or equipment doing the rip. Firstly it was vibration treatment with better PS supply to the CD writer, lately using Fidelizer also has improved things further & finally t now seems that booting the PC into Safe mode improves it even more than with fidelizer.

IF you read the original poster on the Jplay thread he says similar things as my Oz guy - that the original rips are the ones that sound the most different & it would seem that subsequent processing degrades this difference. He uses a Corsair USB stick for storing these rips & sends them around for evaluation.

I will see if I can get my hands on some "bit identical" files in which the differences are better demarcated. But you have to be careful how these files are manipulated as copying/moving, etc. removes a lot of the sonic differences between the files. . This seems to be a fragile difference & because we don't know the mechanism whereby it operates, we can easily ruin this.

It would appear that Martin Colloms, well known audio journalist with a Masters in Ee is evaluating these files & is about to produce a report on the blind tests that he has conducted. He has posted on HiFicritic about these tests so far & flame wars ensued, of course :)

Please don't ask me to explain this as I don't know it's mode of operation - so no flame wars, please. So far we have all been very well behaved :)

[Diapason]

I had missed the point that they're 'bit identical'. I'd better not say any more!

[jkeny]

I had missed the point that they're 'bit identical'. I'd better not say any more!

Hehe, Si, are you no longer interested in doing a further test then? :)

[Diapason]

I wouldn't say that necessarily, but I think even if I heard a night and day difference, I'd never admit it in public, private, or even to myself! But hey, if you get anywhere with it I'll want a look at your Nobel Prize!! ;-)

[jkeny]

I wouldn't say that necessarily, but I think even if I heard a night and day difference, I'd never admit it in public, private, or even to myself! But hey, if you get anywhere with it I'll want a look at your Nobel Prize!! ;-)

Haha! Don't worry it doesn't invalidate Information Theory so the world is safe!
I know you think me foolish to admit to such "nonsense" in public but there you have it! I'm still open to being wrong!

[Diapason]

Ah look, as I said elsewhere, I'm interested in the truth whatever it might be, and I try to keep as open a mind as I can. I'm actually more interested in why you might hear a difference than in any of the kind of arguments we've all seen elsewhere. This is probably beyond my level of interest or acceptance, so I'm probably too biased to be a reasonable subject anyway. But I still find the whole area fascinating.

[Fran]

A wise man once said:

I never measure sound quality, I only listen.

I think I'm going to adopt it as my line....

[cybot]

A wise man once said:

I never measure sound quality, I only listen.

I think I'm going to adopt it as my line....

That's how Glenn (Croft) does it :)