Audiophiles: Dead or Dying?

[kumakuma]

23 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

You just proved his point !   😜

 
Really? I thought Gumby's claim is that all low-priced audio equipment is shite. 

[kumakuma]

1 minute ago, sandyk said:

 Streaming, especially using the above mentioned is nowhere near as good as can be obtained  locally with good source equipment and, even CDs from before the Loudness wars, no matter how pleasing it may sound to easily satisfied people like yourself and Frank .😜

 

???

[kumakuma]

44 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 Utter rubbish ! Even the PSU area of a computer can  change a little how a Digital Music file sounds, even changes to the PSU area for the OS SSD such as a much cleaner low noise +5V supply.(see attached +12V to Dual +5V PSU <4uV noise)

I am by far from the only member that has reported marked improvements by using a Linear PSU, or improved voltage regulation to the ancillary devices such as SSDs and USB areas. for a PC or Server too.

The front end matters whether you want to believe it or not. Do you really believe that the 100s of A.S. members that retrofitted the Uptone Linear PSU and reported marked improvements in SQ were hearing a different stream of 1s and 0s before and after the changes ?

I don't doubt that you believe that all the reports were due to EXPECTATION  BIAS , which is highly insulting to those many members, as well as the majority that post in Rajiv's massive thread in the Music Servers section of the forum.

A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming 

I note that you also appear to believe that high res is also a waste of time, despite the numerous reports to the contrary , and measurements by highly qualified members like Jussi , and YES, I was able to hear and report back ,clear and accurate differences between Frederick V's posted X and Y files where an original 24/96 file was converted to 16/44.1 and back again.. 

  A recent suggestion by one and a half to securely earth the cases of the internal SSDs in my Desktop PC by measuring the mV difference between their cases and the 0 volts of the internal SMPS PSU, and reducing it by earthing improvements resulted in MARKED improvements in SQ via Coax SPDIF WITHOUT any change in the exported Binary Data. In fact, the original saved file on my old internal HDD, now sounds markedly worse than when this file is copied from there  to another internal SSD/HDD  or USB Memory stick when played from System Memory after these changes, when played with JRiver 26.

 NO, I did NOT expect any more than minimal changes at best, when I followed Gary's advice.

 

I would also recommend that other members using Desktop PC's try one and a half's suggestions. It won't cost them any money either, just a few minutes of their time.

(The 0 volts of an SSD or HDD is internally connected to their metal case)

 

I didn't see anything in your post that addresses "streaming lossless vs. local playback/CD".

 

Based on what you have said, I would expect streaming to provide better quality sound because you wouldn't have all the PSU issues associated with local playback from computer or CDP. 

[kumakuma]

5 minutes ago, sandyk said:

Tom

You appear to believe that the converted file that they are playing was created using a very low noise perfect server, and that there is no degradation in the TX and RX paths. You don't even know that the music you are listening to hasn't had some degree of compression or is even a bit accurate copy of the original Music CD or file. Add to that ,that no WiFi connection which of necessity uses modulation and demodulation techniques is completely blameless, any more than a conversion to Toslink and back again either, as much as we would like to believe it is . That is why many now prefer an Ethernet connection, where even then, many get improved results when using an Ethernet Regen.

 

Are you able to directly save any of your streamed music for comparison purposes ?

 

 

You appear to be confusing local streaming like Rajiv and many, many other members here are doing with streaming from services like Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz, etc.

 

I am, of course, asking about the former.

 

 

[kumakuma]

Just now, sandyk said:

The 1st and 2nd sentences still apply, as does the question I asked

 

I don't stream music but even, if I did, it would be music that I ripped or downloaded myself so the idea of saving the streamed data seems to make little sense to me.

 

The fact that numerous members here locally stream their music suggests that the benefits greatly outweigh the issues you have raised.

 

 

 

 

 

[kumakuma]

8 minutes ago, sandyk said:

Many people just like the convenience and variety.

Don't forget too, that the files saved on their servers will have been highly compressed before you get to hear them to reduce storage space. If it doesn't matter, why don't they just have one compression size for .flac files (the most compressed setting) and why did they eventually provide a non compressed version if these things don't matter ?

For that matter, why did JRiver eventually cave in to demands and provide a play from System Memory option ?

 Clearly, a lot of customers demanded it because it sounds better to them.

Perhaps North Americans have more disposable income and don't mind paying for the same music every time they play it ? I doubt that Streaming is anywhere nearly as popular in many countries such as Au. and N.Z. 

 

I asked about the saving of the files so that you and others are able to do a comparison with their own locally ripped copies.

 

Again, you are confusing streaming services with local streaming of your own music.

 

What Rajiv and others are talking about in that massive thread you linked to is the latter (local streaming).

[kumakuma]

1 hour ago, sandyk said:

 

 No I am not. I am talking about directly listening to music "from the Clouds"

 You are still at the mercy of the compression and file size reduction techniques used by Subscription  services, with no guarantee that the content is a bit perfect replica of the original CD etc. track. , which is why I suggested doing a listening and Binary comparison with a locally ripped CD track of the same album . Bear in mind too, that many of the streamed tracks are likely to be remastered versions from after the start of the loudness wars in some genres, perhaps even  MQA corrupted ? 😝

 

As I said already, I'm not talking about this kind of streaming and neither are the folks in Rajiv's thread you keep mentioning. 

 

They are typically streaming their own music from a NAS unit attached to their own network although they may also use streaming services as well as another source of music.

 

I would very surprised if any serious audiophiles use streaming services as their primary source for music.

[kumakuma]

8 hours ago, Blackmorec said:

The Rajiv thread is about streaming music data over a network. Both local and remote. 

 

Yes, but I was only talking about the former.

 

As Alex has already highlighted, comparing the sound quality of your own music to music of unknown providence from streaming services is problematic.

[kumakuma]

8 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

"....back in my day, I had to walk 40 miles to school, these youngins ....".

 

 

uphill... both there and back...

 

 

[kumakuma]

7 minutes ago, Albrecht said:

Agreed, - the amount of pseudo-science generated by the anti-audiophile "preachers" on this site is INSANE...

 

I agree.

 

Pseudo-science should only be used by those selling high-end equipment to audiophiles.

[kumakuma]

6 minutes ago, Albrecht said:

Naw....

 

That market is already cornered by the measurers

 

Really? The marketing materials of high-end audio manufacturers seems to be a measurement-free zone, in my experience...

[kumakuma]

1 hour ago, Albrecht said:

The marketing and "selling" by the "skeptics" who "straw-man" the equipment are the REAL problem. 

 

Maybe for you. My self-esteem isn't as fragile as yours appears to be. 👺

[kumakuma]

1 hour ago, Albrecht said:

I am not here to attack audiophiles (on an audiophile website), - and call them stupid.....

 

You need to report those folks to Chris. He has zero tolerance for that kind of name calling.

[kumakuma]

7 minutes ago, Albrecht said:

No, - I don't, - I'll just respond to their posts. 

 

Thank you for your service...