Article: Reality Quest: Going to Extremes with the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme (Part 3 of 5)

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

1 hour ago, ray-dude said:

I clearly hear differences (and much more importantly for me, I react differently to the music).

 

I accept ..........the obvious plain truth ("there is no possible difference")

 

 

 

I  accept that you hear a difference (although I obviously have no way to confirm this) but cannot reconcile it with other assertions that "there is no possible difference". The way I see it, you are hearing a difference or not, and if not, it is explained by other means such as expectation/confirmation bias.

 

All I would humbly suggest is to be initially less concerned with what you're supposed to hear or not hear. Bias can work both ways and there should be room for doubt in either direction but only you know if you "react differently to the music"

 

 

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

2 hours ago, bbosler said:

 

So that answers the question.. which despite all of the fun we all may be having playing around with this stuff and the idea of "wasted money" may not be the exact way to say it, if USB has no issues as you say then anybody spending money to solve a non-existent issue is by definition,  spending money they don't have to to achieve the same result. If USB has no issues, then one way to say it would be they are wasting money to solve this non-existent issue. If there isn't an engineering issue, then this highly engineered product is not needed.

 

BTW I'm not arguing. I'm asking legitimate questions that I obviously can't answer or I would be making statements, not asking.

 

Could it be that the server is more than just a USB interface and there are other components to consider. Some of those other components are to optimize the implementation of the USB interface for audio.

 

USB to my ears originally sounded crap. Not so these days.

 

Also, don't forget that to make CDs sound good back in the 90's it took IMO very expensive gear like the Levinsons using AES/EBU or spdif or optical ST glass.

 

All I am saying is that USB is not unique in needing to be well implemented and it has been a journey.

 

The cost is a choice someone makes to get cutting edge gear but I am not saying you always get what you pay for or that there is not a law of diminishing returns. Whether its worth it is subjective.