CPU Load and Sound Quality

[fas42]

3 hours ago, Teresa said:

 

Yes!! Insulting great audio manufacturer's and the engineer's of realistic naturally made recordings is just a few of the insults of @fas42 that I find unacceptable.

 

Teresa, it's all okay ... 😀. Different countries have different ways of expressing themselves - we don't bow down to anyone; and if we disagree with what someone has done, we will tell it as we find it.

 

My interest is making music reproduction better, so if someone has be 'insulted' on the way, so be it. I don't perceive it as an insult; I would see myself as being hypocritical if I didn't call it as I see it ... okay? 😉

 

 

[marce]

3 hours ago, Blackmorec said:

So, no good answer huh? 

Ralf, don’t you realise that this type of puerile reply says far more about you and your lack of ability to debate, argue and use scientific facts to support your arguments than it says about the person you’re attempting to insult?  Adults using childish style insults never really works that well, generally speaking. It just demonstrates a level of immaturity, highlights the lack of substance and adds no value to the discussion. 

This is your 4th or 5th reply baiting people into a pointless argument on science and its relationship to your reality. you constant insults, superior attitude is tiring....

[marce]

3 hours ago, Blackmorec said:

On a really well set up, transparent and highly resolving system just about every cable will make a difference. The question is; is the difference for the better or the worse?   Typically cable companies will manufacture and sell a range of cables. Take Nordost for example....their cable pricing correlates very closely with sound quality, so if you look at the specs of their cheapest and most expensive cables, the difference in specs is strongly reflected in the sound quality. I assume that’s what you’re looking for....correlation between specifications and sound quality? 

If so, compare Leifstyle 14.2 and ODIN 2 specifications and you’ll see the changes required to go from good to exceptional SQ. 

Are you an aggressive rather than neurotypical reincarnation of GUTB?

[Confused]

9 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

Ok, I'm confused now ... 

 

Oh no!!!!

[Richard Dale]

26 minutes ago, marce said:

This is your 4th or 5th reply baiting people into a pointless argument on science and its relationship to your reality. you constant insults, superior attitude is tiring....

Pot meet kettle

[Blackmorec]

1 hour ago, STC said:

Thanks. So that will be a non issue.  Sometimes when they use adapter it gets reversed. And the US plugs standard is always confusing because sometimes the earth is at the bottom and at times on top. I have always checked the wiring inside before deciding which should be the live wire. 

A standard Schuko plug can fit in either direction so easy to have some amps connected opposite to others. Naim plugs are 90 degree Schukos so phase always matches as long as powercord exits downward.  Minor set-up errors with big impact 

[Teresa]

2 hours ago, STC said:

You use NuForce to drive the Maggies?  

 

STC this post should be directed to @Ralf11 it was his system I was posting. I was just disagreeing with @sandyk that @Ralf11's system was mediocre. I have heard his Magneplanar 3.7i's and was very impressed and so if they are mediocre I hate to think what @sandyk would think of my Speakers. I have Infinity Reference Standard Kappa 7's which I purchase at 50% clearance discount for $700 for the pair decades ago. I never could afford the Magneplanar 3.7i's. I know nothing about the NuForce as I have never seen or heard one.

 

In short, try addressing this question to @Ralf11 instead of me.

[Racerxnet]

2 hours ago, Blackmorec said:

Actually, if I’m not mistaken this is what you said:

 

So, a couple of things spring immediately to mind. If you can’t hear the difference between Belden and XLO Reference cable it means one of 2 things

1. The 2 cables sound very similar to one another. That would be unlikely but certainly not impossible. I don’t know XLO cables or 

2. Your system isn’t revealing the differences 

 

Let me relate a little experience I had. 

 

Back many years ago I ran a Linn Naim system which I wanted to make active. I was running 250 amps and wanted to switch to 135 monoblocks. I was living in Germany at the time and Naim gear was way more expensive than the same stuff in the UK, so I simply waited until my next UK trip and bought the amps there. On getting them back to Germany I simply needed to cut off the plugs and replace them with some Schuko mains plugs. Easy-peasy. I installed everything, waited a few days for it to settle in then sat down for a serious listen. 😧  Why did it sound quite a bit worse than my 250s? Can’t be fully run-in....but a week later I’m still looking for reasons for poor performance and because I’d imported the units I couldn’t call a dealer. The units were functioning correctly, there was no extraneous noise, the channels and frequencies were properly balanced....it just didn't sound very good....bass wasn’t really deep and solid, treble was slightly hard and mechanical....not at all nice. 

The only thing that came up in logical trouble shooting was the power cable changes.   

Given that was only thing I could identify I purchased some original Naim Schuko power cords and hey-presto....sunshine and light.  

So, bit off topic, but when it comes to hi-fi this may be all it takes to turn a top class system into something altogether more average. Its also when I started to realise that power cables can make a difference. 

 

Never mind the mains grunge coming in from the electric company. Lets chop off the plug or swap the power cable and forget about the backend supply. Did Bryston supply or do they recommend boutique power cords? NO!  James won't steer anyone away from this, but considers the supplied cord as properly made for the task. How about engineering the amps to reject the incoming distortions as best they can. Fix the source coming into the house supplying the components.

 

MAK

[PeterSt]

3 hours ago, STC said:

So that will be a non issue.  Sometimes when they use adapter it gets reversed.

 

Of course it matters. But it is out of your control unless you "measure". Doing it "all" wrong implies the largest current flow over interlinks. "All" right, implies the least current flow.

It is a matter of trialing because you won't know how the devices hook up internally. Two the same amps will be the same (hopefully), but the (matching) preamp already maybe not. And all of the other stuff ...

[PeterSt]

PS: Over here (the Schücko) we are lucky to be able to reverse the plugs at will.

[semente]

2 minutes ago, PeterSt said:

 

Of course it matters. But it is out of your control unless you "measure". Doing it "all" wrong implies the largest current flow over interlinks. "All" right, implies the least current flow.

It is a matter of trialing because you won't know how the devices hook up internally. Two the same amps will be the same (hopefully), but the (matching) preamp already maybe not. And all of the other stuff ...

 

I use one of these to check the polarity.

[PeterSt]

Just now, semente said:

I use one of these to check the polarity.

 

But that is not the device to use. You should measure the "connection" hence current flow. The other day I posted the Van Medevoort "meter" ...

wait

[PeterSt]

 

[semente]

34 minutes ago, PeterSt said:

 

But that is not the device to use. You should measure the "connection" hence current flow. The other day I posted the Van Medevoort "meter" ...

wait

 

Is it not enough to measure the residual current and then choose the plug position with the lowest value?

[PeterSt]

1 minute ago, semente said:

Is it not enough to measure the residual current and then choose the plug position with the lowest value?

 

It is. But how are you going to accomplish this ?

 

Anyway, notice that this Van Medevoort device measures some kind of field. I never investigated it really and I have it since I was ... ?

15 ?

It does not exist any more. Google doesn't show it either, though here and there they talk about it. I had to take a picture of it myself.

 

You hover this above your audio device and with buzzing (softer and louder) it indicates the strength of the field. The least strength is the best connection(s) for the mains (this relates to all the devices in the chain).

Please don't ask me *what* is actually measured, because I plainly don't know.

 

Mind the polarity checker as you showed it (vdHul I think). This measures the polarity from the mains all right, but this does not relate to the wire connections in the cabinet. They could be random, like we ourselves (Phasure) chose it once (DAC, PC, Amps), and although we always apply that the very same, how people plug it in is out of our control for the "Schücko" plugs. In US, UK, Japan etc., it will always be the same (plugs won't rotate), but over there another manufacturer also just "did something" (no rules that I know of), and thus the one brand will be connected "wrongly" opposed to the other. And then you can't switch ... quite inconvenient because it really matters for SQ (not for ST  - kidding !)

[marce]

3 hours ago, Richard Dale said:

Pot meet kettle

Very good Richard, I have posted some relevant technical stuff in the past on numerous occasions only to be ripped apart, I have also over the years looked hard for possible mechanisms that may relate to the perceived differences some report... Its interesting how you all come crawling out of the woodwork...

[semente]

47 minutes ago, PeterSt said:

 

It is. But how are you going to accomplish this ?

 

Anyway, notice that this Van Medevoort device measures some kind of field. I never investigated it really and I have it since I was ... ?

15 ?

It does not exist any more. Google doesn't show it either, though here and there they talk about it. I had to take a picture of it myself.

 

You hover this above your audio device and with buzzing (softer and louder) it indicates the strength of the field. The least strength is the best connection(s) for the mains (this relates to all the devices in the chain).

Please don't ask me *what* is actually measured, because I plainly don't know.

 

Mind the polarity checker as you showed it (vdHul I think). This measures the polarity from the mains all right, but this does not relate to the wire connections in the cabinet. They could be random, like we ourselves (Phasure) chose it once (DAC, PC, Amps), and although we always apply that the very same, how people plug it in is out of our control for the "Schücko" plugs. In US, UK, Japan etc., it will always be the same (plugs won't rotate), but over there another manufacturer also just "did something" (no rules that I know of), and thus the one brand will be connected "wrongly" opposed to the other. And then you can't switch ... quite inconvenient because it really matters for SQ (not for ST  - kidding !)

 

I had never seen that Medevoort gadget.

 

I use the VdH thing to measure residual current from the outer contact of the RCA sockets then I rotate the mains cable plug and measure again; I choose the mains cable plug position with the lowest value.

I do this for the integrated amplifier (double-insulated, no ground pin) and for the DAC.

[Richard Dale]

24 minutes ago, marce said:

Very good Richard, I have posted some relevant technical stuff in the past on numerous occasions only to be ripped apart, I have also over the years looked hard for possible mechanisms that may relate to the perceived differences some report... Its interesting how you all come crawling out of the woodwork...

But what you said in response to Blackmorec was entirely unnecessary and rude.
 

All Blackmorec did was to make a perfectly reasonable comment about cables, including how he thought Nordost positioned their various cable ranges in the market. I am a perfectly happy owner of various Nordost cables, and I particularly like the Heimdall 2 range.

 

I don’t need all this ‘self appointed defenders of the scientific method’ crap from you and others on this thread. This is primarily a HiFi hobbiest web site, and if mainstream guys like myself and Blackmorec don’t share you views, then I’m sorry but you should learn to be a bit more tolerant. I’m pretty certain we’re not a bunch of anti-science loonies as we seem to be portrayed, and Blackmorec actually said he was a scientist.

[mansr]

3 minutes ago, Richard Dale said:

Blackmorec actually said he was a scientist.

He said a lot of things, though that one may be the least believable.

[firedog]

17 hours ago, John Dyson said:

Sometimes, on the face of it, anecdotal claims can, from a technical standpoint, appear to be nonsensical.  It requires engineers and like people with open minds *and the ability to think* to be able to accept that there might be *something* uncontrolled going on.

 

I guarantee you -- sometimes beliefs based upon anecdotal evidence are mistaken, sometimes they end up being true.  Instead of discounting a claim that initially appears to be absurd -- it would be a good thing to assume that the claim has some truth, and then try to figure out what is going on.

Your entire post may  be correct. But if we are talking about sighted listening, the most likely explanation is expectation bias. 

I find it amazing that so many audiophiles have such fragile egos that they refuse to acknowledge well established principles of how human perception works.
 

No need to appeal to laws of physics.
 

Your mind can totally change what you hear, see, feel, taste, and smell - all based on expectation/preconception. The power of suggestion can, for example, make us think we see objects that aren't there, and not see objects that are. Look up the McGurk effect video on YouTube. Hearing is no different.

 

If you think it is, or that you are immune, you are simply not being honest with yourself. 

[Blackmorec]

18 minutes ago, mansr said:

He said a lot of things, though that one may be the least believable.

Would you like me to explain in transactional analysis terms how these childish insults are supposed to operate and what’s behind them or would you rather discuss hi-fi? I’m sure most Forum members would prefer hi-fi, since that’s what they’re here for. 

[John Dyson]

12 minutes ago, firedog said:

Your entire post may  be correct. But if we are talking about sighted listening, the most likely explanation is expectation bias. 

I find it amazing that so many audiophiles have such fragile egos that they refuse to acknowledge well established principles of how human perception works.
 

No need to appeal to laws of physics.
 

Your mind can totally change what you hear, see, feel, taste, and smell - all based on expectation/preconception. The power of suggestion can, for example, make us think we see objects that aren't there, and not see objects that are. Look up the McGurk effect video on YouTube. Hearing is no different.

 

If you think it is, or that you are immune, you are simply not being honest with yourself. 

Well, I try to be fully nonjudgmental -- sometimes claims are so absurd that I cannot even attempt to prove them.  One thing that I do not believe in -- the difference of resulting physical phenomena using exactly the same digital source in multiple instances, with no other changes.  I am someone who actually accepts/understands that there can be an audible difference between a flac file and wav file on a computer -- there are potentially physical reasons for it.  Initially, before thinking, I felt it to be absurd, but then when listening to a proponent of that position -- I had to accept that it was plausible.

 

On the other hand, I never get into metaphysics or even the actual science of perception...  That is so far out of my area of expertise that I cannot comment on it.  People who know me understand that I never intend to make claims about how material sounds to OTHER people.   I can only comment on the actual physical sound itself.

 

My personal rules are that it is okay to make claims that 'project A' can produce a siginal more accurate WRT the original source than 'project B'.   I cannot/do-not make claims that the more accurate sound does 'sound better' to anyone else but me.

 

When writing about audio quality, I use the recording signal as presented to the tape deck during the mixdown as the 'perfect' copy, and I try to use that original signal from original authors intent as the baseline.

 

Admittedly, I sometimes claim that a signal generally 'sounds' better -- that is a mistake, and the intention is to claim that the signal is more accurate to the original.   I assume that an accurate signal will better match the authors intent, and therefore should 'sound better'.  Of course, I cannot know what 'sounds better' except for myself.

 

John

 

[kumakuma]

17 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Would you like me to explain in transactional analysis terms how these childish insults are supposed to operate and what’s behind them or would you rather discuss hi-fi? 

 

Not surprised that you should mention a pseudoscience like TA...

[Ralf11]

12 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

Only by sarcastic and closed minded members like yourself with cloth ears and mediocre gear.

 

my ears are a LOT better than yours; and your mind is like a screendoor in a submarine

 

then there is the gear - I am curious about that attack...  which piece of my gear do you think is mediocre?

 

Is it the $5,000 tubed pre-amp?

 

The widely acclaimed speakers?

 

The award winning amplifier?

 

WHAT?

[Ralf11]

11 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

 It's a shame that you aren't capable of working with Audiophiles to investigate what they report, instead of automatically dismissing them.

 

 

Scientists don't waste time on things known to be incorrect.

 

Now if you - or your little friend - actually have some real observations, let us know.  Not anecdotal claims easily explained by confirmation bias - an actual study - mechanistic explanations not needed, just real data.