Do you consider yourself an audiophile?

[fishfinger]

Jesus, there's been some completely unsubstantiated nonsense spouted on the previous page
Well done audiophiles

Edit to add:

Please read this article, and watch the digital show & tell video linked there:

24/192 Music Downloads are Very Silly Indeed

 

[Nylock]

When you're "driving the signal hard", you're risking pushing the amplifier into overload. At which point, most amps will clip the signal. Depending on what kind of amplifier it is, it will either clip hard (transistor), in which case it won't sound warm at all, or will clip somewhat more gently (MOSFET, valve), in which case it won't sound so nasty. But the sound of a domestic amplifier being overloaded, whatever the owners of Fender guitar amps might think about theirs, is rarely ever going to be "warm".

As for the analogue vs digital thing - I am pretty well convinced that it's a subjective perception thing, more to do with people's appreciation of the rituals and history of listening to music on "analogue" media than anything else. It's interesting, incidentally, that you never hear anyone waxing (ahahaha) lyrical about the "analogue" tape quality over digital - it seems to be confined to LPs.

Whatever it is that's nice about listening to analogue - LPs or otherwise - I suspect it's got very little to do with the quality of sound reproduction.

Yeah, it is subjective I guess. Having been brought up on analogue at home (vinyl/cassette/open-reel) and at work (2" open-reel/Analogue kit in the studio and out live) i prefer the sound of analogue kit to digital -even though I now work pretty much exclusively with digital. I just find something is a bit 'off' with the sound (i.e. too bright/brassy (not very accurate terms I accept) especially in the presence range (4-7kHz)). Not sure what you're driving at with the guitar amp stuff and besides, fender guitar amps sound shite (to me) anyway

No, I am not an audiophile either.... I hope my previous posts on this thread have established that...

 

[Saul Goodman]

Now, i have a digital set-up as i fiddle about on my computer with music software, I have good quality active monitors (KRK rokits) and a nice soundcard.

I had a set of Rokkit 6 for about 4 months. They were probably the worst monitors I ever owned.

Whilst this achieves a very nice sound, especially with electronic tunes (great sound seperation), it's not quite the warm rich sound my hifi set up used to produce.

It never will be. Those Rokkits are studio monitors. They're acoustically flat (well they're supposed to be... mine were far from it). If you want HiFi sound, get HiFi speakers.

 

[Boycey]

Just spent an evening fucking about with an aira tb-3 and a x0xb0x and can tell you in no uncertain terms that analogue murdered digital.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Blue Horizon - Proburn

 

[BigTom]

Blue Horizon - Proburn

£694

I particularly like how they want to try to force electrons into the insulation of a cable

 

[danski]

"It is a well-known fact that high-quality audio and video cables improve over time when used in a hi-fi or home cinema system. A hard, closed-in sound with a distinct lack of bass are the qualities most noted when a cable is new; a cable that has been ‘burned-in’ will sound more open, extended and three-dimensional, with a more natural, less sterile performance overall."

 

[danski]

So, after wiring a new house I should explain to the builder that anything using electricity won't work at its best until the cables have "burned-in". ffs

It's a fucking piece of copper

 

[twentythreedom]

Clearaudio unveils £92,500 Statement v2 turntable | What Hi-Fi?

'statement'

 

[fishfinger]

Clearaudio unveils £92,500 Statement v2 turntable | What Hi-Fi?

'statement'

Statement is understatement

 

[twentythreedom]

"Hello, I am a fucking twat"

 

[existentialist]

Statement is understatement

Bank statement.

 

[fishfinger]

"Hello, I am a fucking twat"

There's probably a Saudi prince with a pair of them and a mixer.

 

[BigTom]

Clearaudio unveils £92,500 Statement v2 turntable | What Hi-Fi?

'statement'

Searching for info about the Panzerholz material used in this, led me to this website - I know their power cables have feature on this thread before but there's at least one more gem here:

Tunnelbridge Distortionless Interconnect System : High end audio interconnect cables | Interconnect systems | Speaker cables by LessLoss

You plug your phono or speaker cables (not sure which, probably they'll say both) through them.

The signal is electronically cloned in real time, and is fed into a separate circuit called the Tunnel. The cloned signal in the Tunnel absorbs all naturally occurring corruption, then, is discarded. The perfect signal, entirely unscathed, exits through the circuit called the Bridge into the interconnected audio component

SCIENCE! and only $2,600 for the unit and $1,800 for the phono cables (1.5m) or $2,500 for XLR.

 

[ViolentPanda]

got ya, but the speakers only amplify the sound the amp produces, so i guess the amp is just as important?

Most solid state amps contain the same internal gubbins (integrated circuits, capacitors, transformers etc), made by the same manufacturers, as each other. what you're generally paying for is looks and layout. It's only when you get to the so-called "high-end" amps that the manufacturer might use expensive "boutique" components.

 

[BigTom]

Still looking for info about Panzerholz, which is a genuine material that does appear to be bulletproof wood, but every site I look at (bar a translation from German wikipedia) has been an audiophile site... this one must have something on it but they seem to steer clear of the wilder language.. :

TiGLON Magnesium Accessories

Tiglon’s RCA plugs are central to the “TiGLON Sound”. These RCA plugs provide tranquil sound, along with maximum information, not heard in ordinary undamped gold-plated brass plugs. They combine top quality materials for a plug that damps vibrations and blocks EMI/RFI. The outer locking-collet is machined from magnesium, providing exceptional damping and shielding.

Being about the best I found, pretty standard audiophile fare... $200 for four phono plugs

 

[twentythreedom]

Searching for info about the Panzerholz material used in this, led me to this website - I know their power cables have feature on this thread before but there's at least one more gem here:

Tunnelbridge Distortionless Interconnect System : High end audio interconnect cables | Interconnect systems | Speaker cables by LessLoss

You plug your phono or speaker cables (not sure which, probably they'll say both) through them.



SCIENCE! and only $2,600 for the unit and $1,800 for the phono cables (1.5m) or $2,500 for XLR.

Electronically cloned

 

[moody]

I had a set of Rokkit 6 for about 4 months. They were probably the worst monitors I ever owned.


It never will be. Those Rokkits are studio monitors. They're acoustically flat (well they're supposed to be... mine were far from it). If you want HiFi sound, get HiFi speakers.

bit off topic but the rokits are quite well reviewed across the web and print too.

fair enough they are budget monitors (mine were £300 for the pair) but for that, they are pretty decent and very popular.

 

[badseed]

Blue Horizon - Proburn

Apart from the invented science the whole thing seems to have been written by a massive helmet.

A well known fact
The problem is quite simple
Furthermore
Therefore
Thus

 

[badseed]

Love this thread, although it's not really my concern what other people chose to throw away money on the whole world of audiophillia is fascinating. I had no idea these people existed before this thread.

These are nice. - Firewall Module: Current Conditioning Unit | Audiophile Current Conditioner

Just as the DFPC Reference is a highly effective upgrade to the DFPC Original and Signature, the Firewall Module represents the ultimate upgrade for use with any of the DFPC power cords. Where the DFPC leaves off, the Firewall Module takes over. Because the Firewall Module is so small, it can be placed inside many existing pieces of equipment. Alternatively, one can exchange existing traditional power filter technology based on resonance for Firewall Modules, and thus obtain the ultimate audiophile sound quality, at a much lower cost.

The Firewall Module does not color the sound nor influence dynamic performance. Unlimited sound quality improvement is available through daisy chaining multiple units in series. Fear not that one might achieve overkill. That is the realm of traditional filtering built on caps and coils. Traditional filtering is based on resonance of a limited bandwidth. And, as it turns out, that is the very defintion of a color. LessLoss Skin-filtering exhibits no resonance of this kind, and, thus, does not color the sound.

Unlimited sound quality improvement is available.
Thus

I haven't gotten the new Firewalls into "the good system" yet, but did manage to install a pair to feed the TV. Absolutely wonderful. REALLY REALLY AMAZING! A month of burn-in (and I had them cryogenically treated) these new generation Firewalls make a huge improvement. The colors on the TV are now exceptionally deep and saturated......... almost 3D. The Sony TV was very good before but now watching movies is almost a visceral experience. And yes, the audio is better so I can hardly wait to finish the upgrades to the big system and get it back up and running.

 

[ska invita]

Apart from the invented science the whole thing seems to have been written by a massive helmet.

A well known fact
The problem is quite simple
Furthermore
Therefore
Thus

I liked "Research shows"

 

[stuff_it]

I don't follow where all the additional information to fill that 9216kb/s bandwith is going to come from?

With any luck, bass noises.

 

[existentialist]

With any luck, bass noises.

If they're going to be there, they're already there in the signal.

 

[Athos]

If they're going to be there, they're already there in the signal.

Some audible bass sounds might be lost amongst the part of the signal that the mp3 codec discards.

 

[existentialist]

Some audible bass sounds might be lost amongst the part of the signal that the mp3 codec discards.

I thought the discussion had moved past mp3 to FLAC, and the merits of broader sampling bandwidth?

 

[Athos]

I thought the discussion had moved past mp3 to FLAC, and the merits of broader sampling bandwidth?

I'd interpreted your reply to Ska's question about what additional information would be in a FLAC (versus mp3) to suggest that the full bass signal would be present in an mp3 file. If that's not what you meant, that's cool.

Also, the issue with mp3 as a lossy format isn't the 'sampling bandwidth.' It is not like it just chops of highs and lows; rather, the codec uses psychoacoustic algorithms to remove what it 'thinks' are inaudible parts of the signal. Sadly it often gets it wrong - losing stuff which has an noticeably deleterious effect on the sound.

 

[chemn]

Early mp3 algorithms 'got it wrong' far more than the latest algorithms which are very good.

 

[Athos]

Early mp3 algorithms 'got it wrong' far more than the latest algorithms which are very good.

That's true. However, not only are modern ones still not perfect, but, also, how do you what you're getting a lot of the time e.g. from Spotify?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Searching for info about the Panzerholz material used in this, led me to this website - I know their power cables have feature on this thread before but there's at least one more gem here:

Tunnelbridge Distortionless Interconnect System : High end audio interconnect cables | Interconnect systems | Speaker cables by LessLoss

You plug your phono or speaker cables (not sure which, probably they'll say both) through them.



SCIENCE! and only $2,600 for the unit and $1,800 for the phono cables (1.5m) or $2,500 for XLR.

Or you could just use XLR cables on balanced outputs, which will do the same thing for rather less money.

 

[chemn]

Nothing is perfect and I don't listen to spotify, but doesn't it tell you the bit rate?