Fitzcaraldo215
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2016
- Messages
- 1,440
- Likes
- 635
As if there weren't enough problems in audio, there is this fascinating story about the cottage industry of "modders". Our sptitual brother, Archimago, has just published some measurements of a tube-modded Oppo 105, considered a decent player/DAC in its day, which was not too long ago, as follows:
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2018/06/musings-thoughts-on-audio-device.html#more
If there were ever uglier measurements, I do not ever recall seeing them.
But, the underground modder business carries on with a certain cachet and perhaps even more hype than main stream audio manufactures. I know a guy, a musician who has even done a few video reviews here and there, but he would not even consider a device that has not been somehow modded in his own system. A mod here or there, everywhere a mod. Sorry, but that reminds me of people who must absolutely pick up the salt shaker and salt their food before even tasting it, home, restaurant or anywhere. What a mindset.
So, Archimago's measurements only confirm my worst fears. Of course, modders, like our old buddy John Swenson, have essentially no adequate audio testing equipment, so they cannot provide even the most basic audio measurements. And, even for total subjectivists, you ship your unit off, then weeks or months later you get the promised mod back for you to evaluate by ear, but against what, exactly? Your original unit is long gone. What a wonderfully sensible proposition to use in evaluating whether anything is any good or not?
I think I see a few of the irrational issues lurking in the minds of modders and their patrons. It seems to me that the idea is partly a reaction to big business and support of the enterprising little guy who is going to show those corporate automatons though tireless hard work in his garage how much better he can transform their stuff to sound. Real engineering doesn't matter, since "better" individual circuit devices can be cherry picked - a femtoclock here, a tube output stage there, elimination or substitution of op amps, better wiring, etc., etc.
Somewhere, there are possibly careful, knowledgable modders out there who might come up with someting better than the original. But, how can you tell?
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2018/06/musings-thoughts-on-audio-device.html#more
If there were ever uglier measurements, I do not ever recall seeing them.
But, the underground modder business carries on with a certain cachet and perhaps even more hype than main stream audio manufactures. I know a guy, a musician who has even done a few video reviews here and there, but he would not even consider a device that has not been somehow modded in his own system. A mod here or there, everywhere a mod. Sorry, but that reminds me of people who must absolutely pick up the salt shaker and salt their food before even tasting it, home, restaurant or anywhere. What a mindset.
So, Archimago's measurements only confirm my worst fears. Of course, modders, like our old buddy John Swenson, have essentially no adequate audio testing equipment, so they cannot provide even the most basic audio measurements. And, even for total subjectivists, you ship your unit off, then weeks or months later you get the promised mod back for you to evaluate by ear, but against what, exactly? Your original unit is long gone. What a wonderfully sensible proposition to use in evaluating whether anything is any good or not?
I think I see a few of the irrational issues lurking in the minds of modders and their patrons. It seems to me that the idea is partly a reaction to big business and support of the enterprising little guy who is going to show those corporate automatons though tireless hard work in his garage how much better he can transform their stuff to sound. Real engineering doesn't matter, since "better" individual circuit devices can be cherry picked - a femtoclock here, a tube output stage there, elimination or substitution of op amps, better wiring, etc., etc.
Somewhere, there are possibly careful, knowledgable modders out there who might come up with someting better than the original. But, how can you tell?
Last edited: