Audio MYTHS

[Guest]

Have you heard/read any claims of audible improvements in sound that are just to hard to believe?

 

I'd like to know some of these crazy ideas. If possible [feasible] I'd like to even do a small Myth Busters experiment to test it.

 

Keep in mind though, many ideas that we currently accept as fact today were indeed wild and crazy notions some years ago....so let's keep an open mind.

 

 

 

 

[Christopher]

I’ve heard that water is one of the best insulators for RFI and EMI. According to the myth, you have to completely submerge your equipment in a steel drum filled with water. Apparently, you’re supposed to dunk twice and remove once.

 

Sorry, couldn’t resist : )

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

p.s. please do not try this at home...

 

 

 

[Guest]

Here is a guy claiming he has a water cooled tube...notice the water in the inside.

 

 

 

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tubes/messages/22/227757.html

 

[kana813]

See the article on the "The 10 Biggest Lies in Audio:"

 

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Here's an interested cooling method used in the computer world. I wonder if any audiophiles have tried this with stereo components.

 

 

 

http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

 

[Guest]

I'm going to try that with my Mac Mini.....I bet it sounds incredible and no worries about oxidation either. I wonder if that will work with a power amp?

 

I have seen IC's and speaker cables that use oil inside the jackets though.

 

 

 

 

 

[akai]

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf

 

 

We report, you decide.

 

mP

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Interesting to say "we report, you decide." It appears like a decision has been made and that decision has been reported. One that is obviously incorrect is what's called "The CD Treatment Lie."

 

"[The CD's] tiny indentations do not correspond to analog waveforms but merely carry a numerical code made up of 0's and l's. Those 0's and l's cannot be made "better" (or "worse," for that matter) the way the undulations of an LP groove can sometimes be made more smoothly trackable. They are read as either 0's or l's, and that's that. ... Just say no to CD treatments, from green markers to spray-ons and rub-ons. The idiophiles who claim to hear the improvement can never, never identify the treated CD blind."

 

Some CD treatments clearly effect the way the servo / laser reads the data from a disc. Many treatments force the servo to move back and forth at a very high pace that produces huge jitter. These treatments produce objective measurable differences. I've completed blind listening tests with discs containing treatments and discs created with different materials. The sonic difference was pretty easy to identify and I did identify each treatment 100% of the time. I'm not saying I liked the sound or that the sound was better with treatments. I am saying CD treatments produce an audible difference.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Dynobot - Do you think fans are still necessary if one sinks a computer in oil? It seems like the fans would fail fairly fast in such a different environment than they were designed to operate.

 

[Guest]

Seems the power supply fan is still working after a year. But I was thinking the same thing, get rid of the fan and use a ssd as well as an external oil radiator.

 

However besides having a conversation piece I don't know if there would be any improvement in audio.

 

I do have an extra PC though I might have to experiment.

 

 

 

[Guest]

What I find somewhat disturbing is how fast people will dismiss something without even trying it. Also what is more disturbing is how people will readily tell someone they are 'not' hearing and improvement in sound because of some awkward tweak or strange device/method. As far as I can tell, humans can only hear with their own ears, so who is anyone to say John Doe is 'not' hearing what John says he is....

 

FYI, scientific explanation may validate reality, but it does not create reality....meaning there is a lot of reality that has yet to be explained scientifically, but is real non the less. Even Scientists themselves get hung up with their own measurements, calculations and postulations. Thinking that somehow things like gravity for example obeys Newtons laws...when in fact it is not Newton who 'made' gravity behave the way it does, he simply discovered the way gravity works and postulated a set of laws to explain it to humans. Science itself has not created a single thing, it is a method of discovery and comprehension not creation.

 

Scientifically speaking bits-R-bits [that is digital music], however most computer "Audiophiles" will tell you without a doubt that the exact same 'bits' sound different with different operating systems and different media players for example. Yet those bits remain exactly the same before, during and after the interaction with the computer, media player and operating system. There is no scientific reason why bit-perfect data sounds different when being played with Amarra for example vs. being played with VLC.

 

[Christopher]

Hi Dynobot,

 

I respect everyone’s right to have an opinion and I believe that you are entitled to your opinion regarding the science of bits and Amarra. If we all kept our opinions to ourselves, CA would not be the same, and I don’t think it would be nearly as informational, educational and fun.

 

Having said this, I think we also have a responsibility when presenting our opinions in an open forum. Then again, there is always the element of 'reader beware...consume this information at your own risk.'

 

Amarra software has certainly been discussed at great length here at CA. Trial versions of both Amarra and Amarra Mini are available for downloading online. With all the resources that are readily available, I trust that CA readers can explore Amarra for themselves and form their own opinion.

 

So...you may be asking yourself...what’s my point? Well, your posting stirred me I wanted to address something you wrote. Excerpt below:

 

***begin quote***

Scientifically speaking bits-R-bits [that is digital music], however most computer "Audiophiles" will tell you without a doubt that the exact same 'bits' sound different with different operating systems and different media players for example. Yet those bits remain exactly the same before, during and after the interaction with the computer, media player and operating system. There is no scientific reason why bit-perfect data sounds different when being played with Amarra for example vs. being played with VLC.

***end quote***

 

This got me thinking...what if I read your post and never tried Amarra? If I never tried it, I wouldn’t own it, and I would, personally, be missing so much enjoyment. For me, using Amarra Mini makes a meaningful difference.

 

Dynobot, my apologies if any of this comes across the wrong way. I’m not trying to lecture or pontificate. Even more so, I’m not trying to cheerlead and waive pom poms for Amarra.

 

I’m not stating that Amarra is the best player. There may be better players on the market (haven’t heard them yet) and Amarra may continue to improve in the future. However, for me, the product is an improvement over iTunes and VLC. My opinion represents a lot of listening.

 

Is my opinion better than yours? Of course not. I’m only hoping to encourage readers to try Amarra...other players...and lots of the products and approaches that are discussed here at CA instead of quickly disregarding them in the name of science before listening.

 

Some may decide to pass on Amarra for any number of reasons, but hopefully this will be after a listening test. For me, the bit myth is busted.

 

Respectfully,

Chris

 

 

 

[Guest]

I hope that you understood my post as in favor or Amarra and not against it.

 

The jist of my whole post was in fact that people should try out different things [tweaks, gadgets, software, players, etc] and not dismiss any of them because of the lack of measurements to back them up or scientific proof.

 

I hope you are understanding my position clearly. Furthermore I hope I stated my position clear enough so that others will understand it as it was meant to be understood.

 

To make another point, VLC, Amarra, JRiver, Media Monkey, Foobar, etc. are all wonderful players "In the right system" as it takes a synergy of components / room / listener.

 

Hoping to make my point clear once again. I encourage everyone to "Try" everything the can or may be inclined too, because it takes a bit of adjusting, tweaking, etc. to get things just right. Plus its fun.

 

 

 

 

[Christopher]

Wow Dynobot, I completely missed the intention of your earlier email.

 

So glad we’re on the same page. Here’s to listening...and I promise to work on my reading skills : )

 

Sending my best,

Chris

 

 

 

[tallpaul]

i read the audiocritic 10 myths with interest. from personal experience i have found that cables do change with use. i have experienced it with both interconnects and speaker cables. when i recently changed my speaker cables i continuously had something playing including white noise, pink noise, etc., for a number of days. periodically i would put on "spanish harlem" by Rebecca Pidgeon recorded at Chesky Studios. the audio changed. the first day it sounded good, the second the quality got worse, the third day was a vast improvement over the first day. nothing else changed in my listening room. even the temperature remained constant although humidity levels might have changed. did my ears change?! my amplifier sounds "better" (more detailed, more separation, etc) after an hour of playing. it has no moving parts that need to get worn in. the article states that only moving parts need wearing in. although i do not listen to cds anymore, when i did and played the same track twice it would sound different. only slightly but still different. i thought about this on a molecular level. the laser is disrupting the molecular surface of the cd when it reads. those molecules need to "settle" again. this requires a period of time. this was the only reason that i could logically come up with. different hard drives sound different in my experience yet surely it is only an image of binary code? the digital domain is still in its infancy. jitter might well be only one of a number of effects on the audio quality. i think that power supply is very important. when i upgraded the power supply on my pc, the audio changed. once again, only slightly but a change all the same. i must admit to have gone through a stage of constant tweaking of my system! one can become anally retentive about the whole thing! i am a firm believer in garbage in, garbage out. that has everything to do with the original engineer and his/her ears as well as the mastering engineer.

 

[bordin]

> Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

 

You may buy this one.

 

LessLoss BlackBody: improve your sound for just $959 and your sense of reason

 

"The high-end audio market has always been more about marketing than about music, but it's hard to say if we've ever seen a product as phenomenally insane as the LessLoss BlackBody, a $959 block of metal that designer Louis Motek says "takes advantage of the quantum nature of particle interaction" to improve your stereo's sound quality by simply being in the same room. How? "Your gear's radiation is transformed into room-temperature blackbody radiation." Yeah -- and that's just the tip of this crazy iceberg. We can't say we believe it for a second, but LessLoss says that the BlackBody is so effective at altering "electromagnetic ambient conditions" that the quality improvement is obvious to "even non-audiophiles" listening to "a noisy home PC playing through your average SoundBlaster." That sounds like a challenge to us -- hit us up, LessLoss."

 

 

 

[Audio_ELF]

And in an exclusive ... I have for you the biggest myth of Audiophile ... some "audiophiles" get enjoyment from listening to music, rather than listening to the equipment!!

 

Eloise

 

[Guest Claude]

They will arrive tomorrow. But if I hear an improvement, will that bust a myth? ;-)

Anyway I will report back.

Claudius

 

[BobH]

These are reviewed in the latest issue of HiFi+. The reviewer kind of hedges his bets, when it comes to scientific explanations, but concludes by saying that he wants the review samples back on his wall - they work, in other words.

 

Briefly, you stick these things to the wall, wait a few days, and all of your badly behaved resonances are given a thorough thrashing and put firmly in their place. Prices, per resonator, are : Basic - £145; Gold - £660; Platinum - £1315.

 

Do you think they'll help with my new Rig?

 

 

 

[Guest]

Ok we all have heard of CD mats, pens, etc. that are supposed to make your CD's sound better. I haven't tried it BUT many trust worthy people have and actually claim that it works. I don't doubt it though.....my question is, if your CD's sound better after these things will they also produce better sounding rips. In short, if I apply a CD treatment to my CD then RIP it to hard drive will the RIP sound better?

 

 

 

 

[Suteetat]

I am always rather embarrassed when someone come to my apartment and spotted those little resonator cups on my wall as there seemed to be no reasonable or easy logical explaination for them but they work!

I had a local dealer came and demo the resonators and other Acoustic System stuff on recommendation from one of my colleague and fellow audiophile. Being rather skeptic because of the price and rather voodoo science, I was not prepare for the improvement. It is quite obvious to hear the improvement right away and things did improve further.

Acoustic System has a standard plan of where to place all the stuffs but since not every room is identical, there is always room to adjust. After installing resonators etc for almost a year, Franck Tchang came to Bangkok for some workshop for his local dealer, my local dealer invited him to my place for a couple of hours. He rearranged a few things, sometimes just inches,without adding more stuffs, and actually removing some other room treatment stuffs away (not his, but absorptive panels, cornor treatment etc), my room sounded better than ever. So I marked everything carefully now just in case.

 

While I never had a true blind test, there were times when I found the sound of my system not quite the way it usually sounds (actually sounded worse), then after looking around I found one or two cups fell down. I also invited a few friends over where I played my stereo with or without some cups install and everybody heard a difference for the better. Whether the improvement is worth the cost, that's depending on the person. One friend is now building a new listening room and planned to try out Acoustic System stuffs as well after hearing what it does to my room.

 

[akai]

Would love to test the Acoustic System next time I am in BKK. I do believe in room treatment, but resonator? McIntosh is selling a room correction unit (MEN220) based on the Lyngdorf technology.

 

mP

 

 

[bordin]

Enjoy watching !!

 

>

 

 

 

 

[Guest Claude]

Dynobot, I tried a cd demagnetizer which I found had a very profound effect when used with a cd-player but had no effect, when ripping cds, at least I didnt hear a difference.

I think silverlight also tried various CD Treatments with the same effect - none.

The process of ripping just isnt like real time playback.

Claude

 

[Guest Claude]

Received the 3 Blackbodies today. They work. So much can I say right now. The difference is actually striking. I will listen some more and report back in a couple of days. Do not want to jump to conclusions too fast.

Claudius