CPU Load and Sound Quality

[STC]

16 hours ago, STC said:

It is the same even If you capture a world class live concert hall performance and post them via YouTube. It will be a compromised version. BUT only a deaf would unable to rank the performance and SQ even with YT quality. 

When you can’t tell the difference then you are deaf  

 

 

[Blackmorec]

15 minutes ago, STC said:

I’m absolutely certain he can 🙂   Problem is, we’re not talking about changing the tone of anything. 

[davide256]

My observed results are that CPU load under 50% doesn't  degrade what I hear with the caveat that I don't use/like oversampling/PCM to DSD conversion.

And that given two like computers playing complex music pieces, the computer with the faster CPU will resolve better even if CPU usage is approximately the same.

 

[STC]

10 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

I’m absolutely certain he can 🙂   Problem is, we’re not talking about changing the tone of anything. 

Amplifier, Preamp, source and cable should not impart any coloration of their own. A well constructed cable should carry the signal without any alteration. The only cable that make difference are those designed differently to alter the sound. For some this can be useful because they do not how to remedy the problem. 
 

Difference must be obvious and identifiable under different system. Anything other than this, they are a sign of weakness in your system. 

[STC]

16 minutes ago, STC said:

When you can’t tell the difference then you are deaf  

 

 

 This sounds realistic because it got no interaural crosstalk. 

[marce]

45 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Hmmmmm interesting argument

Lets say i take your well designed cable, put it into my system and it sounds fine, perfect, good as I’ve ever heard. Then i take another cable and when i play the same music i hear far more detail from the violins, i can suddenly hear that guitar notes are being played on nylon strings, the background drum has more depth and timbre, and i hear the vocalist breathing through her nose.  “Can’t be”,  I think. “Its just a passive cable”. So I put back the original cable and yes, all the extra detail is gone. Swap back again and the detail returns. 

 

So here’s the thing. The second cable isn’t creating the detail.....the first cable is losing it. Smearing it, smoothing it.  So i look at the second cable in more detail and what do i find?  It seems that’s far more care went into its manufacture....its metallurgy is superior, its drawing process more involved and complex, its dialectic a different material...far more complex to make. The copper conductors have fewer contaminants, its drawing technology avoids crystal boundaries, its dielectric is foamed PTFE, more closely resembling an ideal air dielectric. The result?  Both cables can pass an electric current but one interacts with and influences that signal a lot more than the other and in the process of interacting, small details are lost. 

 

 

 

 

 

This is all audiophile myths, especially the crystal boundaries.

Dielectric has NO effect at audio frequencies, Audio Myth...

You keep repeating the same myths...

Or provide some real evidence on this... Not hearsay.

[Racerxnet]

57 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Hmmmmm interesting argument

Lets say i take your well designed cable, put it into my system and it sounds fine, perfect, good as I’ve ever heard. Then i take another cable and when i play the same music i hear far more detail from the violins, i can suddenly hear that guitar notes are being played on nylon strings, the background drum has more depth and timbre, and i hear the vocalist breathing through her nose.  “Can’t be”,  I think. “Its just a passive cable”. So I put back the original cable and yes, all the extra detail is gone. Swap back again and the detail returns. 

 

So here’s the thing. The second cable isn’t creating the detail.....the first cable is losing it. Smearing it, smoothing it.  So i look at the second cable in more detail and what do i find?  It seems that’s far more care went into its manufacture....its metallurgy is superior, its drawing process more involved and complex, its dialectic a different material...far more complex to make. The copper conductors have fewer contaminants, its drawing technology avoids crystal boundaries, its dielectric is foamed PTFE, more closely resembling an ideal air dielectric. The result?  Both cables can pass an electric current but one interacts with and influences that signal a lot more than the other and in the process of interacting, small details are lost. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hunt for the HOLY CABLE GRAIL to match your desired outcome is flawed. You either have a amp, pre-amp, and/or DAC that is influenced by the cable. Maybe all 3, which I would term as poorly designed. A well engineered cable will neither add, nor subtract anything. 

 

MAK

 

[Blackmorec]

2 hours ago, marce said:

This is all audiophile myths, especially the crystal boundaries.

Dielectric has NO effect at audio frequencies, Audio Myth...

You keep repeating the same myths...

Or provide some real evidence on this... Not hearsay.

Here’s the reason why they’re audiophile myths.

 

When an audiophile replaces a perfectly designed cable with one built from UP-OCC 7N copper and finds the new conductors sound much better, providing a lot more detail and information, the audiophile keeps it and buys more. Then they tell their friends and they buy some. 

Magazines testers pick up the buzz, make some enquiries, get some units to try and obtain a similar result that they like the sound they get from the new cables....a lot.  So they publish their findings and more audiophiles buy in,  like it, buy more and in turn tell their friends. The business thrives 

None of those audiophiles could give a monkey’s about testing the cable, they have neither the required technology nor probably the interest. They are only interested in what it sounds like. If its a lot better than what they have and affordable, they’ll buy it. 

Then along come the engineers and claim its all snake oil and you know what? Audiophiles couldn’t give a rat’s ass. They’ve heard it all before. Dozens of times. On a multitude of topics.  So no, if it sounds better, it is better and they’ll buy more of it and it thrives. 

And that children is how the cable industry came into being and how audiophile myths are born. 😉

The bottom line is; when something sounds better, its not creating anything. Its simply doing less damage to the audio signal.....losing less, smoothing less, filtering less, reflecting less, picking up less noise, whatever.  Audiophiles aren’t imagining this. Its real which is why the whole thing gets so much traction. The fact that it contradicts what engineers have learned and read counts for very little when people actually experience it for themselves. 

As for providing evidence, last i checked this is an audiophile website, so if someone claims that what audiophiles actually experience is in fact illusion in my book its up to them to provide the evidence. 😊

[kumakuma]

32 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

The bottom line is; when something sounds better, its not creating anything. Its simply doing less damage to the audio signal.....losing less, smoothing less, filtering less, reflecting less, picking up less noise, whatever.  Audiophiles aren’t imagining this. Its real which is why the whole thing gets so much traction. The fact that it contradicts what engineers have learned and read counts for very little when people actually experience it for themselves. 

 

If this were true, you would think that there would be a cable that does so little damage that everyone agrees that is the best sounding cable out there and you all could get off your audiophile treadmill.

[marce]

6 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Here’s the reason why they’re audiophile myths.

 

When an audiophile replaces a perfectly designed cable with one built from UP-OCC 7N copper and finds the new conductors sound much better, providing a lot more detail and information, the audiophile keeps it and buys more. Then they tell their friends and they buy some. 

Magazines testers pick up the buzz, make some enquiries, get some units and obtain the same result that they like the sound they get from the new cables....a lot.  So they publish their findings and more audiophiles buy it, like it, buy more and they in turn tell their friends. The business thrives 

None of those audiophiles could give a monkey’s about testing the cable, they have neither the required technology nor probably the interest. They are only interested in what it sounds like. If its better, they’ll buy it. 

Then along come the engineers and claim its all snake oil and you know what? Audiophiles couldn’t give a rat’s ass. They’ve heard it all before. Dozens of times. On a multitude of topics.  So no, if it sounds better, it is better and they’ll buy more of it and it thrives. 

And that children is how the cable industry came into being and how audiophile myths are born. 😉

The bottom line is; when something sounds better, its not creating anything. Its simply doing less damage to the audio signal.....losing less, smoothing less, filtering less, reflecting less, picking up less noise, whatever.  Audiophiles aren’t imagining this. Its real which is why the whole thing gets so much traction. The fact that it contradicts what engineers have learned and read counts for very little when people actually experience it for themselves. 

No that's Hans Christian Anderson's "The emperors new clothes"

As I have said before, the cable myths and magic distracts from the real issues in audio reproduction...

And finally without engineers what would you play your music on, the whole music recording and playback chain depends on engineering... What about the quality of the cables used during the recording process, pro audio is not as concerned with magic cables, just well engineered ones that do the job.

The audiophile cable industry is a cash cow, a lucrative one, go figure.

Your last paragraph is rather disputable, expectation bias for one and the fact that physics dose not support the magic cable viewpoint for another.

[Blackmorec]

8 minutes ago, marce said:

No that's Hans Christian Anderson's "The emperors new clothes"

As I have said before, the cable myths and magic distracts from the real issues in audio reproduction...

And finally without engineers what would you play your music on, the whole music recording and playback chain depends on engineering... What about the quality of the cables used during the recording process, pro audio is not as concerned with magic cables, just well engineered ones that do the job.

The audiophile cable industry is a cash cow, a lucrative one, go figure.

Your last paragraph is rather disputable, expectation bias for one and the fact that physics dose not support the magic cable viewpoint for another.

Come on marce, that’s a terrible argument.  Some studios, the better ones, actually do care about their cables. Imagine how good our recordings would be if all studios knew enough to care about the quality of the cables they use. 

I’ve been in studios where microphone cables are wired up and the spare cable coiled up on the floor.  If you’ve never tried it just take a headphone cable, coil it a few times and see what happens to your sound. Recording studios and pro-audio should care.  Its negligent not to and they’re selling us substandard product when the cables they use are not up to scratch. 

 

As for engineers, what we need are engineers who really understand the ins and outs of properly setting up audio systems. For the most part they are already the ones building our systems, certainly the ones I’ve met over the years. 

 

As for cables being a cash cow, I agree completely. But that doesn’t mean the cow doesn’t produce milk......the fact that cables do make a substantial difference is exactly why they’ve become the cash cow they have. Audiophiles hear what they do and are willing to pay large amounts of money for that level of improvement, which makes cables very profitable. Too much so I would say

 

Finally those old, worn out cliches are simply ways of supporting a denial habit devoid of real arguments and do you no favours whatsoever. 

[Blackmorec]

52 minutes ago, kumakuma said:

 

If this were true, you would think that there would be a cable that does so little damage that everyone agrees that is the best sounding cable out there and you all could get off your audiophile treadmill.

Its a competitive market out there so you’re not going to get just one, you’ll get many...unfortunately with very high prices.  Consequently you'll get the next level of cables, the nearly best, not quite so eye watering but still a fairly major financial commitment. Which leads to the next level of value cables, great performance for more affordable money. Next you’ll get the affordable cables, really good performance for a reasonably economical price.  Finally you’ll get the bog standard, basic cables, well designed, adequate if unremarkable performance and broad appeal to people who just want to get a signal from A to B in the most cost efficient way possible. 

[Racerxnet]

Expectation bias when making a purchase plays a huge role in what one expects. The linkage to this is that "it always sounds better". Then everyone can feel better about the expensive cash outlay when the wife asks where the money went, or the gas bill didn't get paid on time. DOES IT EVER SOUND WORSE? Without the engineer, I'm afraid all the cable guru's wouldn't have a stereo system to play with.

 

MAK 

[Racerxnet]

9 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Its a competitive market out there so you’re not going to get just one, you’ll get many...unfortunately with very high prices.  Consequently you'll get the next level of cables, the nearly best, not quite so eye watering but still a fairly major financial commitment. Which leads to the next level of value cables, great performance for more affordable money. Next you’ll get the affordable cables, really good performance for a reasonably economical price.  Finally you’ll get the bog standard, basic cables, well designed, adequate if unremarkable performance and broad appeal to people who just want to get a signal from A to B in the most cost efficient way possible. 

What if the bog standard cable sounded much better than the high dollar one? Would that make the high dollar one inferior?? Just asking! Maybe the high dollar one is unremarkable. Maybe people should tune their room as part of the system instead of cables.

 

MAK

[kumakuma]

50 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Its a competitive market out there so you’re not going to get just one, you’ll get many...unfortunately with very high prices.  Consequently you'll get the next level of cables, the nearly best, not quite so eye watering but still a fairly major financial commitment. Which leads to the next level of value cables, great performance for more affordable money. Next you’ll get the affordable cables, really good performance for a reasonably economical price.  Finally you’ll get the bog standard, basic cables, well designed, adequate if unremarkable performance and broad appeal to people who just want to get a signal from A to B in the most cost efficient way possible. 

 

Are you a dealer or in the industry?

 

I ask because I've read numerous reports from other audiophiles stating that there is limited correlation between price and quality, especially when it comes to cables. 

[esldude]

2 hours ago, kumakuma said:

 

If this were true, you would think that there would be a cable that does so little damage that everyone agrees that is the best sounding cable out there and you all could get off your audiophile treadmill.

And you and I both know what audiophiles really think is cables can actively improve the signal.  It lets them massage their egos that they have good taste in sound and are willing to spend money to make it better.  It allows the perpetuation that next year they'll come up with an even better sounding improved cable.  

 

If there were a cable so perfect in transparency, then it would be the end of the line and everyone could reproduce copies or use that one cable.  That would kill a multi-million dollar industry.  Even worse is the fact we already have that cable.  The cable industry has its own reasons for existing that have nothing to do with cables transmitting a fully accurate signal. 

[Blackmorec]

1 hour ago, Racerxnet said:

Expectation bias when making a purchase plays a huge role in what one expects. The linkage to this is that "it always sounds better". Then everyone can feel better about the expensive cash outlay when the wife asks where the money went, or the gas bill didn't get paid on time. DOES IT EVER SOUND WORSE? Without the engineer, I'm afraid all the cable guru's wouldn't have a stereo system to play with.

 

MAK 

“It always sounds better” Really? I recently tried a number of things that didn’t, at least not in my system. Some highly acclaimed footers that weren’t a good match for my power supply and table combination, a platform that didn’t work well with my rack and a usb reclocker that robbed the system of some of its magic come immediately to mind. Ive also had products who’s level of improvement didn’t justify the asking price, a rather expensive usb cable for example. 

 

[mansr]

10 minutes ago, Blackmorec said:

Some highly acclaimed footers that weren’t a good match for my power supply

That's the funniest thing I've read all week.

[Ralf11]

1 hour ago, kumakuma said:

 

Are you a dealer or in the industry?

 

I ask because I've read numerous reports from other audiophiles stating that there is limited correlation between price and quality, especially when it comes to cables. 

 

Please answer this question, @Blackmorec

[sandyk]

12 hours ago, Miska said:

 

I don't need or use such... Although I don't regularly use Windows either.

 Miska

 My PC is of necessity a general purpose Windows 10/64 used for email and A and V processing as well.

 Marcin from JPlay and John Kenny , in a series of tests with me several years ago got me to try Fidelizer with my then  XP clunker.

 I did note an improvement, but I found that I could get the same kind of improvement when ripping CDs by using Windows in Safe Mode to reduce the number of running processes.

I also found that I could get a small but worthwhile improvement by using a selector switch to disable the connection to the Broadband Router. With later W8 and W10 machines, as Safe Mode is a P.I.T.A. to access, I have not bothered, and in any event the SQ from these OS is clearly better than from either XP or W7.

Regards

Alex 

 

 P.S.

In the case of headphones, it is not generally known that older headphones such as the AKG K701, Audio Technica W1000  etc. needed to be used with an output impedance of 120 ohms as per IEC61938. Many did not realise this and used a lower output impedance which greatly accentuated HF response.

 Most recent headphones no longer comply with IEC 61938, HOWEVER, it is  possible to tame their upper HF response by still using a 120 ohm output impedance as I do with my headphone amplifier. This will of course also reduce the output volume too.

 If others with recent headphones find them a little too peaked in the 10kHz and higher area, they will also find that increasing the value of the series resistor at the output of their headphone amplifier will help to tame them too.

 Conversely, it is usually possible to increase HF detail a little by decreasing the value of the series output resistors, but you need to make sure that you aren't risking the damage of the headphone amplifier by reducing this too far.

[sandyk]

2 hours ago, Racerxnet said:

What if the bog standard cable sounded much better than the high dollar one? Would that make the high dollar one inferior?? Just asking! Maybe the high dollar one is unremarkable. Maybe people should tune their room as part of the system instead of cables.

 No cable can improve the SQ of a system. The better ones can only reduce the degradation .

Not all Audiophiles are as stupid as esldude and some others attempt to insinuate.

 

Yes, far greater improvements can be made by improving the room itself, but better quality cables can in some cases be the " icing on the cake" 

[sandyk]

2 hours ago, Racerxnet said:

Without the engineer, I'm afraid all the cable guru's wouldn't have a stereo system to play with.

 

 A well engineered piece of equipment should be virtually immune to the vagaries of cables meeting certain minimum requirements such as those supplied by Belden for the purpose.

 

[sandyk]

7 hours ago, Racerxnet said:

If someone is TUNING their system with cables, my take is that they are on the wrong path. IF a competently designed cable is tested and used accordingly as it was intended, and a boutique cable changes the sound measurably, then the boutique cable is flawed or the system was not competently engineered. IF someone does not like the sound reproduction they hear then I suggest these few simple things to try first.

 

Measure the room response with REW. Its free!

Add acoustic treatments where needed.

 

If they still do not like the sound after treatment, BUY NEW SPEAKERS that match Your taste. The room/speaker interaction has the largest impact on sound. If the room still has an unmanageable response, then most people will have to live with it or remodel.

 

All the rest have a diminishing effect on reproduction if using quality components to start with. 

 

Great engineering does not include boutique cables as part of the design process. And, I'm not saying that tweaks do not have a place in audio. I just do not hear benefits to swapping cables on the Mid/hi panels of my system after trying 3 different cables. The bass columns have a proprietary cable for the servo feedback and I have the last iteration of those from Genesis. That was redesigned because of oscillation due to cable length, capacitance, etc.. 

 

 +1 .

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, esldude said:

If there were a cable so perfect in transparency, then it would be the end of the line and everyone could reproduce copies or use that one cable.  That would kill a multi-million dollar industry.  Even worse is the fact we already have that cable. 

 

Lamp cord?

[Blackmorec]

 

1 hour ago, kumakuma said:

 

Are you a dealer or in the industry?

 

I ask because I've read numerous reports from other audiophiles stating that there is limited correlation between price and quality, especially when it comes to cables. 

No, but thanks for the compliment. 😊