I Now Consider The Stereophile Staff Snake Oil Salesmen

[Samuel T Cogley]

2 minutes ago, eclectic said:

 

Thank you. Very helpful, though I prefer the more polite description "Male Bovine Excrement". Wouldn't want to offend anyone's sensibilities after all. 

 

FWIW, I share your experience with the elusiveness of PRaT.  The consistent read that I've gotten from audiophile forums is some variation of, "if you can't hear PRaT, your system is not resolving enough".  I just lumped it in with danceable cables.

[Samuel T Cogley]

4 minutes ago, Shadders said:

You are aware, that there are services online, and in the phone book to remedy this. Not too costly either. Apparently. So i am told.

 

I'm assuming this is some attempt at humor...

[Samuel T Cogley]

3 minutes ago, Brinkman Ship said:

You realize that PRAT, along with other pretentious nonsense, started with the magazines.

 

I'm not really familiar with the etymology.  It seemed to be a favorite term with some who spent a substantial amount of money on their systems.  And it didn't really seem like a thing with headphones, so I just sort of moved on.

[Samuel T Cogley]

2 minutes ago, Brinkman Ship said:

..they invented a pretentious pseudo intellectual way of describing how gear sounds so as to position them selves as voices of authority.

 

It also cannot be measured. 

[Samuel T Cogley]

7 minutes ago, Shadders said:

I think it was me who initiated it, taking the pee out of Samuel.

 

I think this thread was educational. Just not for audio.

 

UK slang terms go right over my head.  But no surprise that female genitalia is popular on the internet.  

[Samuel T Cogley]

4 minutes ago, dalethorn said:

 

That's the usual reply, that "digital sounds as good or better", and related statements.  That I don't necessarily disagree with.

 

But when someone says that "digital captures and represents everything that analog contains", then I disagree.  Now to be fair, the above quote is an approximation of 100 different wordings on the subject, and some of those statements contain subtle hedges and disclaimers such as "effectively all" or "everything you can possibly hear" and so on.

 

The truth is, a lot of the pointless discussion can be cut off at the beginning when the argument starts with "while digital recordings are a sampling and do not capture *everything* that's in an analog recording, we believe that good digital recordings capture all of the essentials, and eliminate certain analog problems."

 

Words are important, and too many analog/digital arguments contain incomplete or incorrect premises.  Once we get past those, we can focus on the real differences.

 

I agree there's nuance to the discussion/debate around analog vs. digital.  But as long as we're trying to "complete" or "correct" the premises, consumerism and the psychology surrounding it should be in the mix as well.  My experience in audio forums is that the zeal with which someone argues one side or the other is directly proportional to how much they've invested in analog vs. digital.  It's pretty easy to spot "Team Analog" and "Team Digital".  There are others who see their gear as a mere appliance (like a toaster or microwave) and leave those debates to audio forums.

 

I've personally always seen the various flavors of, "scientists don't know everything" as way to dodge reality.  There is a bona fide "faith" aspect to audiophilia that derives from the narcissistic trappings of consumerism.   And both Team Analog and Team Digital worship at their respective altars.

[Samuel T Cogley]

I had to go back and confirm that this Dale Thorn is the same one whose reviews on headphones I have read.  Lots of them.  While I really don't want to add girth to his seemingly immense ego, I have to say dude has lots of interesting things to say about a lot of different headphones.

[Samuel T Cogley]

2 minutes ago, crenca said:

 

I don't think he ever makes that sort of statement, he just compares the frequency response which he terms as "similar", admits he's using the iPod Touch to drive them, etc.

 

Besides nobody bats a hundred, and I bet that day he was trying very hard not to whistle... ?

 

And I'll pile on by saying "sounds like the HD800" is not necessarily a compliment (in my experience).   The HD800S is a completely different kettle of fish.