/voodooless grabs some popcorn…
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cardas gold ref cables
- Thread starter 19lexicon78
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Thanks for the… “kind” welcome.
I never claimed in my findings (solders or RCA connectors) that what I submitted is universal truths. And of course better or different is my definition of better, not anyone else’s. There is no universal audio truth. Transparency to me may be painful to you; lush to me may be euphonic to you.
Quite simply, my post submitted some of my findings (my own audio truth, in my own setup, in my own listening space and of course for my own ears and tastes having 50 years of experience in Hi End), which came about after painstaking and costly time-consuming repeated tests and comparisons (the scientifically accepted method of trial and error) that says – not at all imaginary - that for better or for worse even each different type of solders or any different type from RCA connector they can elevate or degrade the sound quality of an excellent cable costing only ~5 €/m.
Something that could help OP (or other forum members as well) in the endless exploration of their own audio truth, also smiling satisfied with its sonic result, but also saving a lot of money instead of buying boutique cables costing hundreds or thousands € or $.
So please detail how you implemented basic controls, specifically the double blind controls. I mean, if you claim "painstaking" and "time consuming," I'm sure you did rigorous controls and are ready to share them. Right?
If you think science is about trial and error, I would personally enjoy beating the teachers you had in school who polluted your brain with that nonsense.
tecnogadget
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Im surprised this thread has 24 replies.
I'm surprised this is (still) a thread.
Hm. Imagine that.
I’ve got over 55 years of using my ears to make judgement about sound. I think it is terrible the high end roll-off that I hear in all modern audio equipment. Twenty-plus years ago the high frequencies (14kHz and above) had much more sizzle and presence. I don’t know if it is to do with more pollution in the atmosphere now or where the copper mines were then, but something is definitely up with modern audio equipment.
Ultimately it is extremely sad that a hobby such as listening and enjoying music at home, as well as searching on the way that will make this hobby as enjoyable as possible for eachone of us (through the exchange of our – subjective of course - experiences ), can unprovoked make some to expel so much ironies, rude aggression and even vulgarity! Smearing this way, the image of a forum that is supposed to deal exactly with this very polite hobby.
Also, among other things, to ironically to call me, more or less to apologize for how I came up with the findings I submitted. Obviously, you being a typical flat – earther you didn't understand anything I wrote in my second post, nor do you seem to have the mood or that ability! And of course I do not intend to follow you in your pathetic plight.
So you're probably right, I have registered with a forum which some rude people like you, make it seem like the wrong forum for sure.
You might want to try this forum:
forums.stevehoffman.tv
How I became an audio cable believer*
You know, I've been researching that today. Totally intrigued. Yeah, Power cables and interconnect cables. Being a student; you can upgrade Power...
DanielT
Major Contributor
...or not.
I myself like of course everyone else, have gradually, over the years, lost more and more ability to hear the highest frequencies.
Not much to do about that. it is just how it is.
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dkinric
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Michael,
Welcome to ASR! I wrote this in another thread and I think it applies here too:
I think the overarching point is that other's subjective comments (ie lifeless, bland, how good it sounds, etc) is just their personal interpretation in the moment. Here at ASR, we mostly focus on what happens with the music before it hits yours ears. What happens between your ears and your brain is different for everyone, and even trying to pick words to describe what you think you are hearing is basically useless, because not only will others hear it differently, the adjectives they try and use to describe it are up for interpretation and imprecise. Reading about a stranger's experience on the internet has almost nothing to do with your experience. Combined with the study of psychoacoustics (we usually hear what we want to hear or think we should hear, whether it is there or not), it's just not reliable to put much stock in other's opinions. That's why we focus on the measured performance, so everyone is starting on the same page.
This isn't meant to be flippant, but have you checked your high frequency hearing lately? Few of us in our 50's+ are getting far into the high teens without a lot of roll off...
I guess my facetiousness was not evident enough without some sort of emoji! Sorry.
If those subjective experiences didn't have meaningful controls (which it sounds like they didnt), they aren't worth as much as you believe they are.
There are lots of sites that don't differentiate between anecdote and evidence, so what you take as rude is simply 'us' trying to determine which we are dealing with.
YOU claimed lots of scientific rigor in your testing. Looks like it wasn't so rigorous after all. Don't get worked up because you were challenged to back up your claims. If you aren't up for, or interested in that, there are lots of places that dig a good story.
Sgt. Ear Ache
Major Contributor
People are free to imagine whatever sonic magic they want to imagine in their own listening room. What you have to understand though is that when you pop onto an audio forum and you start trumpeting the wondrous magic of this new boutique cable or that new boutique dac, you are SELLING product for that manufacturer. People read what you say and they add that recommendation to their list of pros for that item they might have been considering for a time. Now of course, buyer beware and all that. There's lots and lots of audio forums on the internet where you can sell those products for those manufacturers and nobody will bat an eye. But, this is ASR and things are different here. Most of us here are not willing to just accept that a person can hear ultrasonic frequencies. The fundamental assumption here is that there are no audible differences between things that don't have measurable differences. In fact, even beyond that...there aren't likely audible differences between some things that actually do have measurable differences. Our electronic machines are more sensitive than our biological machines. So, anyone that posts a thread about the benefits of a cable here are going to get challenged on it...especially an expensive cable.
If there is a difference in sound between different competently designed cables, and the cables are stupidly expensive, I don't understand the value in paying so much money for such microscopic, barely discernable differences. Lotsa bucks for little or nothing at all.
Because audiophiles think they have special hearing and are the best at describing their experiences!
Especially if it's "high-end"
Please give me your science teachers' names. I have a baseball bat ready. They really did a number on you.
Thanks for your kindness! I will answer to you and to Sgt. Ear Ache with what has been formulated from time to time by many in relevant forums as an unanswered question, but also as a statement:
What kind of measurements do you propose for an interconnect, or for a RCA connector, or for a solder? The most common measurements for cables are capacitance and inductance (impedance). What will that tell you?
A cable’s capacitance and inductance might give you a somewhat vague idea of things, but it will not tell you how a cable sounds, nor how it sounds with different equipment in different listening rooms. The same more or less happens when you use an oscilloscope. Unfortunately your ears and brain are the best judge for that, supposing that they are adequate trained to do that.
And believe it or not, I'm not a... Luddite. As a qualified mechanical - marine engineer and naval architect I have conducted a bunch of performance measurements and scientific tests, with repeatable process, validation, proof, etc.
In an ideal world, we would be able to conduct research and find out why, scientifically, audio gear sounds the way it does. It involves a very – very complex interrelationship between materials, their purity, build, electricity, EMI, RFI and many – many other factors. Many phenomena in audio unfortunately are not yet totally backed up by science. That does not mean these things are non existen, and that we should not talk about them.
Instead, implementing our - subjective of course - experience, it may motivate some music lovers to experiment on it in order to draw their own conclusions on sound issues that concern them. And if they want, to compare their above findings with the relevant scientific measurements currently available, lest they find any correlation.
After all, if a soprano manages to make me emotionaly shocked by her performance (while another does not for the same musical part), I honestly don't need any measurement or double blind tests of her performance to convince myself of her greatness in this ART.
So it’s obvious that I do have registered with the wrong forum. I'm done._
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