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The Inner Ear & Crystal Glass


rando

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By far the silliest subject very relevant to listening that has not been tackled in great detail here, as far as I can tell, has been one's preferred drink while attuning the ears to the best sound available.

 

I'm partial to an extremely rare thimble of good Sherry cask aged Scotch in the best crystal glass the house has on offer. Most days I greatly enjoy a sparkling table water like Appollinaris or Vichy Catalan. Tonight however, Stone Double Bastard made it home from the conveniently placed liquor store next to a Comcast office I spent a few hours habitating.

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Alcohol dulls the senses, I never drink if I will be doing serious listening. Ever notice how after a few drinks the bar's sound system starts to sound good?[emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Main System: [Synology DS216, Rpi-4b LMS (pCP)], Holo Audio Red, Ayre QX-5 Twenty, Ayre KX-5 Twenty, Ayre VX-5 Twenty, Revel Ultima Studio2, Iconoclast speaker cables & interconnects, RealTraps acoustic treatments

Living Room: Sonore ultraRendu, Ayre QB-9DSD, Simaudio MOON 340iX, B&W 802 Diamond

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Alcohol dulls the senses, I never drink if I will be doing serious listening. Ever notice how after a few drinks the bar's sound system starts to sound good?[emoji6]

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

I agree. Actually I've been having a non-alcoholic period for the last three years, which is quite a suprise for me (I used to like mainly good dry wine). I still like the taste of wine or good beer but but I don't enjoy the way it affects my consciousness.

 

So - strong tea. Usually with lemon.

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I should make it clearer extremely rare applied to frequency first and availability second. Being a fairly dedicated cyclist mineral water and vitamins are par for the course.

 

Strong tea is a very interesting answer. High in caffeine and other elements that can have a sizable effect on perception.

 

Alcohol dulls the senses, I never drink if I will be doing serious listening. Ever notice how after a few drinks the bar's sound system starts to sound good?

 

I won't discredit anyone winding down after a stressful day with a few drinks. The serious effects of alcohol don't come in the hours following though. The effects continue for a good week or more. Particularly when one never lets their intake develop into an immunity to it.

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Alcohol is a relatively poor sensory enhancer for audio amongst other choices of product that can be taken for that purpose..

Synology DS1515+ >  PS Audio P10 > Innuos Zenith Mk II running Roon Core > IsoRegen/LPS-1 > Lyngdorf TDAI 2170 > Tekton Double Impact Speakers

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Is there such a thing as serious listening (unless you are a reviewer)?

 

IMHO alcohol, music and late nights are a match made in heaven.

 

;-)

 

Alcohol dulls the senses, I never drink if I will be doing serious listening. Ever notice how after a few drinks the bar's sound system starts to sound good?[emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

Source:

*Aurender N100 (no internal disk : LAN optically isolated via FMC with *LPS) > DIY 5cm USB link (5v rail removed / ground lift switch - split for *LPS) > Intona Industrial (injected *LPS / internally shielded with copper tape) > DIY 5cm USB link (5v rail removed / ground lift switch) > W4S Recovery (*LPS) > DIY 2cm USB adaptor (5v rail removed / ground lift switch) > *Auralic VEGA (EXACT : balanced)

 

Control:

*Jeff Rowland CAPRI S2 (balanced)

 

Playback:

2 x Revel B15a subs (balanced) > ATC SCM 50 ASL (balanced - 80Hz HPF from subs)

 

Misc:

*Via Power Inspired AG1500 AC Regenerator

LPS: 3 x Swagman Lab Audiophile Signature Edition (W4S, Intona & FMC)

Storage: QNAP TS-253Pro 2x 3Tb, 8Gb RAM

Cables: DIY heavy gauge solid silver (balanced)

Mains: dedicated distribution board with 5 x 2 socket ring mains, all mains cables: Mark Grant Black Series DSP 2.5 Dual Screen

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It's definitely got big smoky bass notes.

 

Laphroaig for big bass

Source:

*Aurender N100 (no internal disk : LAN optically isolated via FMC with *LPS) > DIY 5cm USB link (5v rail removed / ground lift switch - split for *LPS) > Intona Industrial (injected *LPS / internally shielded with copper tape) > DIY 5cm USB link (5v rail removed / ground lift switch) > W4S Recovery (*LPS) > DIY 2cm USB adaptor (5v rail removed / ground lift switch) > *Auralic VEGA (EXACT : balanced)

 

Control:

*Jeff Rowland CAPRI S2 (balanced)

 

Playback:

2 x Revel B15a subs (balanced) > ATC SCM 50 ASL (balanced - 80Hz HPF from subs)

 

Misc:

*Via Power Inspired AG1500 AC Regenerator

LPS: 3 x Swagman Lab Audiophile Signature Edition (W4S, Intona & FMC)

Storage: QNAP TS-253Pro 2x 3Tb, 8Gb RAM

Cables: DIY heavy gauge solid silver (balanced)

Mains: dedicated distribution board with 5 x 2 socket ring mains, all mains cables: Mark Grant Black Series DSP 2.5 Dual Screen

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Keystone Light, Almaden box wine, Old Thompson Whiskey or Lipton Tea :)

OK, then. I readily admit to never having heard of Old Thompson, so I googled it and found a very interesting review:

 

Nose: None. That is to say, it smelled like a clean hotel room glass.

 

Palate: You know how, with some whiskies, you're disappointed that what you experience nosing doesn't carry through in your experience tasting? This is one of those whiskies. To be clearer, let me transcribe what I wrote during the tasting itself: "nasty mud" (That is, it was nasty, and there was a flavor of mud; the mud flavor itself wasn't the nasty part.)

 

Finish: Some things are more clearly grasped when shown than described. Here, for me, is the finish of Thompson American Whiskey:

 

the+finish+2.jpg

 

So Old Thompson appears to be a non-starter as an audio accomplice.

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Some time ago I watched a BBC documentary. It was about an independent academical study of harmfulness of 20 (legal and illegal) substances. They took three aspects into consideration : social harmfulness, health harmfulness and death risk. The conclusion was - the most harmful drug on the market is obviously heroine. The next 3 places (I'm not completly sure this was the exact order but probably so): cocaine, methamphetamine and annabolic steroids. Number 5 ...alcohol.. Some academic commenting on this said 'if alcohol was invented recently there would be probably no chance for it to be legal anywhere in the world'. No 9 - tobacco, 10 - marijuana. No 17 - LSD, 18 - ecstasy (both are schedule 1 drugs in many countries meaning in the same group as heroin and in the USA marijuana is in the same group too).

 

BTW I think that a study on the infleunce of drugs on the perception and creation of music could be an interesting one.

 

Any thoughts on that, guys.?

 

And BTW my abovementioned 'non-alcoholic' period is in no way connected with watching this documentary.

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Keystone Light, Almaden box wine, Old Thompson Whiskey or Lipton Tea :)
@mrvco: I hate to say it dude, if you are drinking any combination of the above beverages - don't. Only Flint Michigan has it worse. Seriously, save yourself!

In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake ~ Sayre's Law

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OK, then. I readily admit to never having heard of Old Thompson, so I googled it and found a very interesting review:

 

Nose: None. That is to say, it smelled like a clean hotel room glass.

 

Palate: You know how, with some whiskies, you're disappointed that what you experience nosing doesn't carry through in your experience tasting? This is one of those whiskies. To be clearer, let me transcribe what I wrote during the tasting itself: "nasty mud" (That is, it was nasty, and there was a flavor of mud; the mud flavor itself wasn't the nasty part.)

 

Finish: Some things are more clearly grasped when shown than described. Here, for me, is the finish of Thompson American Whiskey:

 

the+finish+2.jpg

 

So Old Thompson appears to be a non-starter as an audio accomplice.

 

Haha, funny. I knew it was bad, but... well, it really depends upon what you're listening to :)

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Haha, funny. I knew it was bad, but... well, it really depends upon what you're listening to :)

It might just be the perfect accompaniment when listening to this, though...

 

 

 

The album from which this comes (Sports) is actually pretty fine - it wasn't a serious audiophile session, but the band produced it themselves so there was more care, thought and effort than usually found in early 80s pop. And it's fun music. I love listening to the original vinyl - check out the pedal steel on Honky Tonk Blues. I can't vouch for any digital versions because there weren't any when this came out in 1983. I don't listen to it often enough to rip the vinyl or buy and rip a CD, so this is the only version I've ever heard.

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Oooh, flashback to my formative years sitting in front of the television watching MTV :)

 

It might just be the perfect accompaniment when listening to this, though...

 

 

 

The album from which this comes (Sports) is actually pretty fine - it wasn't a serious audiophile session, but the band produced it themselves so there was more care, thought and effort than usually found in early 80s pop. And it's fun music. I love listening to the original vinyl - check out the pedal steel on Honky Tonk Blues. I can't vouch for any digital versions because there weren't any when this came out in 1983. I don't listen to it often enough to rip the vinyl or buy and rip a CD, so this is the only version I've ever heard.

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Any cognitive psychologist will guarantee that if you just sit a bottle of your favorite beverage on the stereo while listening, the you will rate sound as better.
Provided the dose won't be higher than the one that makes rating or judging anything difficult!
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