noob here, trying to find the light....

[mayhem13]

Yes .....my gear isn't expensive or exclusive enough to hear a difference.

 

[mayhem13]

No Troll here, just a guy who actually knows the science behind the analog side of things and the ability to hold so-called Audiophools to account. And I'll continue to do so as long as there's people out there looking for help on how to spend their hard earned $$$ on gear that will actually make a difference......or until the mods ban me but that won't happen as any reasonable Mod knows guys like me bring balance to a speculative Forum. Someone's gotta hold speculations to account. Don't feed me please as I'm not posting for you and honestly, posts like yours and Dallas' do little to actually help yourselves. By all means, let me be.

 

[Jud]

posts like yours...do little to actually help yourselves.

 

You mean the one where I carefully answered the OP's questions by giving him inexpensive options, advising he take advantage of free trial periods to listen to them, and buy if he felt a product was worthwhile after having had a chance to hear it for himself in his own system?

 

You're right I guess, that did nothing to help me. I hope it helped the OP by directly and politely answering his questions.

 

But perhaps you were even more helpful by chortling that spending money on a DAC might get him divorced.

 

[bill_s]

You guys don't even know who mayhem is. And it's clear you really do not have a clue about loudspeaker design even though you can afford to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a commercial loudspeaker. Too bad most of you can't even read between the lines of Stereophile's John Atkinson and see how many of the speakers they review are crap (but they sho' do look purty). Sorry for the indignation but this kind of know it all crap is what ticks me off with audiofools. I find it sad that this audiofoolery has managed to come into computer audio where I have to read stuff from people who cannot even code a simple BASIC program or build a computer with off the shelf parts tell us how this stuff works. I have really had it. TIme to go back to designing and building loudspeakers, music servers, writing software and forget this crazy universe of subjective know-it-alls.

 

If anyone bothers to reply to my soapbox rant, go ahead because I will not see it anyway. This site seems to be just another place inhabited by people who can afford to buy stuff but cannot advance the state of the art one bit, pun absolutely intended.

 

[Viola_Player]

Based on my experience I would argue that adding an external DAC does make a difference. I don't have an expensive system but I can tell the difference between the Mac Mini's built in DAC and my external Musical Fidelity V-DAC (the original one) on headphones (Sennheiser HD-250 Pro) or speakers. I have a set of CD's with Simon Preston playing Bach organ music. Using just the MM DAC the music gets louder and softer when he adjusts the swell louvers (they open and close to adjust volume). With the external DAC I can tell that some of the pipes, the swell ranks, are getting louder and softer while the great ranks are staying at a constant volume. (think reeds staying constant and flutes modulating volume) In some cases I can even hear the movement of the swell louvers, something I could never hear with the Mac Mini DAC. As in all things "your mileage may vary" but I do believe that an external DAC improved what I hear from the Mac.

 

Good luck on your journey!

 

Ray

 

[dallasjustice]

Welcome to digital audio "from the analog side of things." I would like to know more details of your comparisons of downsampled redbook from native DSD with the native DSD. Which DAC are you using?

 

You obviously know your opinions are controversial. I don't mind strong opinions. I do mind folks with strong opinions and little apparent experience.

 

I previously posted my comparisons of remastered 24/88.2 from native DSD to the native DSD. I found that I could easily hear the difference. You could also find the opinion of credible folks like Bruce Brown of Puget Sound who basically say that not even the best DAW and engineer can remaster DSD to any PCM format without some audible loss. (paraphrase)

 

[mayhem13]

Ok, Thanx and I do appreciate the civility. Now again I must add that the reson for the content of my posts and what seems like an aggressive nature isn't, but a simple intolerance for subjective opinions on SQ without having the tech facts to back it up. In the digital domain, having the extra resolution does have an audible advantage......in the digital signal processing domain if needed.

 

I can accept that YOU hear a difference. What I can't accept is your assumption that because you stated as such, the linked examination is BOGUS and by proxy so must be the test group ( insulting no?), the gear and the methodology of the testers.......not to mention the Boston Audio Society who I would venture to say is sliced from the same loaf of bread as yourself?...........Does my post seem a bit more..em...reasonable now?

 

Now I'll add that for my own sanity, I've taken the time to research just how accurate our ear/brain relationship is and I've gotta tell you the research and psychology behind that have revealed some pretty scary evidence as to just how successful that relationship is!

Off topic.......but scary just the same.

 

[dallasjustice]

Mr. Mayhem,

I don't think the study's subjects' findings are bogus. I just think the conclusion drawn therefrom that there's no audible difference between native DSD and downsampled redbook from the same DSD is bogus.

 

 

 

[mayhem13]

Ok.