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Computer Audiophiles Are Anti-Computer

Hypnotoad

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Does that make sense? No. Is that what is happening? Almost certainly not. The demo guy said he'd sold over 50 of the discs btw.

And because they cost so much they have to be better.

I wonder if someone will come out with a green texta that will enhance there SQ even further?
 

Sal1950

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Sal1950

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I'd like to tone down a bit the anti CA tenor of my posts. There are a few good people there. People who posts sensical things: our own Mitchco for example or DallasJustice ... Else most of what I wrote, remains: They, now, Audiophilestyle.com pander to "everything-makes-a-difference" audiophiles.
Ehh, I dunno....I'm with the others on this and feel that the engineering type signal is mostly drowned out by the noise of people bloviating about USB scrubbers, reclockers, digital cables, or how much better insanely high resolution digital sounds.
Your right watchnerd, but there are some really smart, highly tech knowledgeable folks over there.
Also in the plus column is the fact that for the most part Chris will allow some very spirited debates to go on until things get too out of hand, as is usually the case with the subjectives becoming irrate and taking to name calling and such which at some point require the thread to be locked. This in balance against sites like WBF or HeadFI were your just a libel to be banned as anything for being too "objective"

On the negitive side, the site is populated by the craziest of the crazy, with regulars giving detailed reports on the sound of SATA drive cables, RAM modules, etc. EVERYTHING MAKES A DIFFERENCE is their motto. LOL
 

Blumlein 88

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And because they cost so much they have to be better.

I wonder if someone will come out with a green texta that will enhance there SQ even further?
Oh I've already been brainstorming improvements. They didn't mention what kind of glass they used. I don't happen to know what the regular CD glass masters are made of. Surely a quartz disc would be better. More temperature stability, healing properties of quartz and well just better. Can we provide anti-reflective coatings? I know you are thinking well don't we want reflectivity. Well yes, but just so. A coating the reflects everything other than the wavelength of the reading laser should improve optical signal to noise ratio. (hey don't bother mentioning the disc is in the dark).
 

Blumlein 88

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Your right watchnerd, but there are some really smart, highly tech knowledgeable folks over there.
Also in the plus column is the fact that for the most part Chris will allow some very spirited debates to go on until things get too out of hand, as is usually the case with the subjectives becoming irrate and taking to name calling and such which at some point require the thread to be locked. This in balance against sites like WBF or HeadFI were your just a libel to be banned as anything for being too "objective"

On the negitive side, the site is populated by the craziest of the crazy, with regulars giving detailed reports on the sound of SATA drive cables, RAM modules, etc. EVERYTHING MAKES A DIFFERENCE is their motto. LOL
Are you trying to single out this topic?

Testing RAM with different brands and models, seems to have more difference than I thought.


https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...seems-to-have-more-difference-than-i-thought/

Just follow the testing methodology.
 

dmac6419

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I have carefully followed the latest trends in computer to DAC playback for many years. And those trends are really a reflection of a philosophy by a small number of zealots who populate one or two forums. The trend in digital playback is to eliminate the computer as much as possible. Of course, the computer is needed and it can never be totally removed from the playback chain. But that's the goal.

IMO, computers offer many advantages to digital playback. Those advantages range from building a better digital attenuation method to utilizing computer power to build better digital reconstruction filters to make DACs work better and offer great possibilities for multi channel playback. Finally, powerful computers can even improve the acoustics at seated position. All of these improvements are easily measured objectively and subjectively.

But the computer Audiophile zealots don't like the computer's power. They don't like to use technology in the above described way. They only want a low power and low function computer which can only do one thing: playback 2CH music. There isn't even a theory. Some say the computer is noisy and therefore the noise must be stopped. What noise are they talking about? I've never heard any computer noise associated with playback. When I had a TT, I sure could hear noise associated with vinyl playback. But modern DACs are so well designed, there's no way computer "noise" could even be audible, if it exists at all.

What about the evidence or measurements that powerful and useful computing power degrades playback? I've seen no such evidence.

So I ask, has the so called "computer audiophile" become the new neurotic audiophile? Are these people clamboring for the next micro rendering Linux box or whatever totally insane? IOW, is this another USB hub hysterical circle jerk. It all seems to repeat over and over again like the Audioquest jitterbug or the embarrassingly designed Regen.

Here's the latest mass hysteria thread:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f...-fact-or-fiction-28490/index2.html#post539581
It's all about the money,think wine and cheese.
 

BillG

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No, you don't actually get it. I simply think you don't have an accurate view of that site - and to that I would now add that you also have an inaccurate view of my intent and motives with my comment, along with an inaccurate view of your own reading comprehension and inference skills.:cool:

Hahahaha! You're an idiot! :p
 

RayDunzl

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Sal1950

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As for Linux. It is customizable to the nth degree , can be made to be brought to the last word in stability, can be tuned to work wonders on a Pentium 3 ... It is however NOT a consumer OS. It is a geek OS. You have to know your way around it to make it useful. Drivers are not easily found. And IMO its main weakness the interfaces suck. Yes some people have made Linux boxes with incredibly user-friendly interfaces, way beyond those available on any general purpose machine ... These were made by Pros not by the usual, casual audiophile; these products usually carry a price tag to gag . Some audiophile with IT skills can make their own Linux boxes and make it purr .. still , Linux is not for the faint of heart or the ignoramus in things IT.
Conclusion : For most audiophiles. Windows 10 is the best solution. <$400 Laptop with Win 10, the latest i5, 8 GB of RAM, ROON with SSD which have dropped in price ( 1 TB SSD for <$200 is common fare) should provide trouble-free music to the audiophile .... All that IMHO, YMMV , etc ...
There are a few really great distros out there when it comes to usability and interface, PCLinuxOS and Mint are just 2. I could load the OS on a box, hand it to grandma who had Win XP experiece and she could go to work doing the basic computing with little to zero training.
But audiophiles can be quite demanding and varied in their desires and requests. I started a few times to type a response to @DDF but just couldn't get it composed.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...audiophiles-are-anti-computer.481/post-175872
First I don't know any distro that could do a number of the things he asks without him being a ultra-guru hacker with compiling talents and much more.
But honestly I know it would take a user with advanced Windows knowledge to get a box with all those requirements up and running. Plus probalby a few weeks minimum of tweaking and de-bugging. A very complex configuration.
A ton of work no matter what direction you take, much more if your inexperienced in any OS
 

Sal1950

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Sal1950

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watchnerd

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Are you trying to single out this topic?

Testing RAM with different brands and models, seems to have more difference than I thought.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...seems-to-have-more-difference-than-i-thought/

Just follow the testing methodology.

If my music server (running Roon) is connected to my playback electronics only via wifi, does it matter?

Or, an even bigger bugga boo.....what about when I play vinyl through my Devialet, which has a DSP phono stage, does the RAM type matter for LP playback, too?

Oh, man, I don't know why I wasted so much time on cartridge alignment when I should have been paying attention to DIMMs.
 

Sal1950

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Blumlein 88

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If my music server (running Roon) is connected to my playback electronics only via wifi, does it matter?

Or, an even bigger bugga boo.....what about when I play vinyl through my Devialet, which has a DSP phono stage, does the RAM type matter for LP playback, too?

Oh, man, I don't know why I wasted so much time on cartridge alignment when I should have been paying attention to DIMMs.

I think you are getting a handle on things now. Yes, RAM matters for vinyl if it travels across DSP sections. If you are going to throw wifi in, then you must have audiophile grade wifi gear (think good LPS for powering the wireless routing gear (as a start)). Like when you have absorbing panels for reflections around speakers, you may need some RF absorbing measures to control scattered wifi. It'll jitter your teeth out if you don't.
 

DDF

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There are a few really great distros out there when it comes to usability and interface, PCLinuxOS and Mint are just 2. I could load the OS on a box, hand it to grandma who had Win XP experiece and she could go to work doing the basic computing with little to zero training.
But audiophiles can be quite demanding and varied in their desires and requests. I started a few times to type a response to @DDF but just couldn't get it composed.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...audiophiles-are-anti-computer.481/post-175872
First I don't know any distro that could do a number of the things he asks without him being a ultra-guru hacker with compiling talents and much more.
But honestly I know it would take a user with advanced Windows knowledge to get a box with all those requirements up and running. Plus probalby a few weeks minimum of tweaking and de-bugging. A very complex configuration.
A ton of work no matter what direction you take, much more if your inexperienced in any OS

Thanks for thinking about this. Daphile might be the closest contender but BruteFIR doesn't look very user friendly.

Win10 would cripple this machine. At this point, best bet looks like uninstalling everything possible but foobar, Tidal, Spotify and equalizer APO and setting up the firewall so only spotify and tidal slip in or out. Who knows how long their apps will work over Win7.

I think allot of new laptops will be selling this Christmas!
 
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