mhardy6647
Grand Contributor
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... or the Boeing 737 MAX.Kind of like the modern warbirds requiring computers to maintain the ability to fly.
... or the Boeing 737 MAX.Kind of like the modern warbirds requiring computers to maintain the ability to fly.
Agreed!You realize that gear is great but it’s the content that brings joy.
At this point, you stop caring about the SINAD. You get the biggest and best speakers you can and are satisfied with what you already own, knowing that chasing higher performance is pointless since it no longer affects your enjoyment of the music and the gear.
This is the true end game. Not a set of electronics but a state of mind. It often does include nice electronics.
Obsessive people gravitate to fiddly things.[rant]
As I remember my days as a college student, there was always some rich kid with a fabulous stereo. It would be a pair of AR 2a's, maybe a Phase Linear amp, a Dynaco preamp (or maybe Pioneer receiver). You get the idea. Speakers went wherever they fit in a dorm cubicle room, not a thought about acoustics or much else. We all thought it sounded fabulous! Fast forward a few years later as we advanced to fancier stuff. McIntosh! KEF! Maybe Magneplaners for the oddballs. Still, little thought about acoustics except to do the best you could. If you were fancy maybe some kind of equalizer. But no SPL sweeps, no waterfalls, measurements, none of that. Somehow we still managed and enjoyed the results. Who had the ability to obsess about a 1/8 octive 10dB null at 74Hz?
Fast forward to now. DSP now allows us to tweak to a degree previously unimaginable. Pefection seems theoreticaly attainable, though perhaps always just out of reach. Is this creating a new cohort of audio neurotics? Are we tweaking things that we never heard before, or didn't care, just cause we can? I'm finding myself increasingly drawn into the DSP rabbit hole (I refer to 2ch, HT/video is another matter). This distrubs me, cause I think my system already sounds damn good. The perfect has become the enemy of the good. God save us all.
[/rant]
It takes a computer to really crash.... or the Boeing 737 MAX.
some truth to that.It takes a computer to really crash.
explains the popularity of so-called trophy spouses, I suppose.Obsessive people gravitate to fiddly things.
Hahaha, I remember those dorm sessions with the Dark Side of the Moon! In my college era, I had a Dynaco PAT-4 I built, and a power amp I built with Motorola power Darlingtons from an application note, a phono preamp I built from an AES paper, a Philips GA312/V15-IV, an Otari MX-5050, and EPI100s. It was a very economical system.[rant]
As I remember my days as a college student, there was always some rich kid with a fabulous stereo. It would be a pair of AR 2a's, maybe a Phase Linear amp, a Dynaco preamp (or maybe Pioneer receiver). You get the idea. Speakers went wherever they fit in a dorm cubicle room, not a thought about acoustics or much else. We all thought it sounded fabulous! Fast forward a few years later as we advanced to fancier stuff. McIntosh! KEF! Maybe Magneplaners for the oddballs. Still, little thought about acoustics except to do the best you could. If you were fancy maybe some kind of equalizer. But no SPL sweeps, no waterfalls, measurements, none of that. Somehow we still managed and enjoyed the results. Who had the ability to obsess about a 1/8 octive 10dB null at 74Hz?
Fast forward to now. DSP now allows us to tweak to a degree previously unimaginable. Pefection seems theoreticaly attainable, though perhaps always just out of reach. Is this creating a new cohort of audio neurotics? Are we tweaking things that we never heard before, or didn't care, just cause we can? I'm finding myself increasingly drawn into the DSP rabbit hole (I refer to 2ch, HT/video is another matter). This distrubs me, cause I think my system already sounds damn good. The perfect has become the enemy of the good. God save us all.
[/rant]
Very true - Yes, DSP is encouraging poor basic speaker design and construction. As long as the drivers between them are capable of producing the entire range of frequencies needed for music, cheap speaker builders can cut their design and R&D budget and leave us relying on DSP to make a poorly-performing speaker appear like a well-designed one! How bad is that?
absolutely agree. I look at photos and videos of audiophiles who simply have not yet understood that there is no point in changing devices every week, if the system and speakers are poorly positioned. This is a fairly common problem. Clearly, you often have to deal with a room that is often also a study, living room or bedroom. At that point, clearly, if you cannot do without being able to position the speakers correctly, at least with DSP and EQ you can solve it. But if you do not even want to resort to "electronics" ...Positionning the speakers & the seats properly in the room remain important,
Some people just listen to the pops and clicks of their LPs and are happy. Any problem is above the neck no matter what system they have.
This phenomenon has little to do with just DSP. The thing is that most forum members apply actual tangible knowledge to improve their systems. Using DSP is just a small part of the complete picture.
I don’t think it is any more or less neurotic that Jon Snowing through Audiophelia. It’s just a hell lot more efficient
Agree with @Jim Taylor that neurotic or obsessive behavior with regard to one's system is nothing new, and is not to be blamed on the equipment.
"Audiophilia nervosa" has been a thing for a long time, way before REW hit the scene. The objects used to soothe its symptoms were simply cables, preamps, acoustic treatments, special rocks, whatever.
At least DSP works.
that's what I do too!! I have three subwoofers parked, I tried and tried again, but it always gave me a strange effect. I also used the AV preamps, with the possibility of changing the setting....I didn't understand anything!! in the end I dismantled everything, put it aside and with my simple system I started playing with the speakers and the acoustic treatment, ASC tube traps....I had fun, and for months now I've been listening to music without worrying about anything, just writing a few posts around here. No more tests, no cables, microphones, instructions, manuals, the same track to try to understand...I listen to music and nothing more!!!just using my ears. It was extensive experimentation, admittedly, almost obsessive for a while, but I was having tons of fun and totally fascinated, and ended up with truly fantastic results.
and for months now I've been listening to music without worrying about anything, just writing a few posts around here. No more tests, no cables, microphones, instructions, manuals, the same track to try to understand...I listen to music and nothing more!!!