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Message to golden-eared audiophiles posting at ASR for the first time...

Judas

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So try doing three, for starters.

There actually are some problems with digital tech & studio recordings (mentioned e.g. by Steve Albini on one of his speeches), but none of these are connected with digital sounding worse.
I was not expecting a pop quiz.
1. Sampling Rate
2.filters
3Aliasing
Did I pass professor?
 

Robin L

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I was not expecting a pop quiz.
1. Sampling Rate
2.filters
3Aliasing
Did I pass professor?
What are they doing wrong?
 

Sukie

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Did I pass professor?
@Judas, I'm warming to you and I rather like your name! I don't mean this in a condescending way, I mean it with genuine warmth.

I'm interested to listen to what you have to say. But I have one small request. Can you please check the sarcasm? You're free to tell me to p**s off, but I thought I'd ask. :)
 

BDWoody

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But they might be due to:

View attachment 107966

That's where I'll put my money typically... But, when people and their reality as they know it are treated dismissively, that just reflects poorly on the dismissers for the most part.

In any size group, there are going to be unpleasant people who enjoy trying to make others feel stupid. That's sad, and not what this place should be about, and isn't for the majority here. A small obnoxious minority can really take the laughs out of things sometimes.

It isn't a club, it is a source of information, and people coming here from whatever place on the learning curve they happen to be, should be treated in a way that is more likely to get them to stay than to leave.

It's almost like some are waiting around looking for people to tell they don't belong here. Those that don't will make it clear, but no need to shove them out the door before they've gotten their bearings in a place that's not like many others.

To many and to complicated to list here. Sampling rate is a hot topic for one.

It is a hot topic... There is a lot of misunderstanding.

But, not too complicated, at least not here.
Do you feel that digital doesn't give you an accurate reconstruction (assuming competent filters per/Nyquist-Shannon) compared to an analog source?
 

Robin L

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In any size group, there are going to be unpleasant people who enjoy trying to make others feel stupid. That's sad, and not what this place should be about, and isn't for the majority here. A small obnoxious minority can really take the laughs out of things sometimes.

It isn't a club, it is a source of information, and people coming here from whatever place on the learning curve they happen to be, should be treated in a way that is more likely to get them to stay than to leave.

It's almost like some are waiting around looking for people to tell they don't belong here. Those that don't will make it clear, but no need to shove them out the door before they've gotten their bearings in a place that's not like many others.
I'll cop to some of that. I've accepted some major-league disinformation in the recent past, and I'm sure plenty of people coming here for the first time have swallowed a lot of High-End BS much as I did.

I probably shouldn't post loaded for bear. And I really do have too much free time on my hands.
 

GGroch

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I got here looking for data to confirm that the 33 & 1/3, Long Play record album is a broken and unrepairable design/concept. I found plenty of data here....

Absolutely. And if you had come here looking for data about why the LP format persists you would find other equally relevant data about how our positive previous experiences impact our appreciation of music listening; how the process of cleaning a record before play, viewing the cover art and reading the notes can slow things down to focus our minds on the music.

I have not owned a turntable in years, but I still get more focused, and feel a slight endorphin rush, whenever I hear the sound of a needle being dropped on the first groove of an LP...even if that sound is from a digitally recorded streamed source

For many years I restored vintage tube radios. Modern technology is certainly more faithful to the original live performance than AM tube radios could ever be. But that does not prove that the experience of listening to FLAC tracks through high end headphones is more impactful than the 1930's experience of listening to the weekly Saturday night classical music concert broadcast in your living room surrounded by family and friends.

A lot more than audio measurement impacts what we hear, and what each of us enjoys.
 

Judas

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That's where I'll put my money typically... But, when people and their reality as they know it are treated dismissively, that just reflects poorly on the dismissers for the most part.

In any size group, there are going to be unpleasant people who enjoy trying to make others feel stupid. That's sad, and not what this place should be about, and isn't for the majority here. A small obnoxious minority can really take the laughs out of things sometimes.

It isn't a club, it is a source of information, and people coming here from whatever place on the learning curve they happen to be, should be treated in a way that is more likely to get them to stay than to leave.

It's almost like some are waiting around looking for people to tell they don't belong here. Those that don't will make it clear, but no need to shove them out the door before they've gotten their bearings in a place that's not like many others.



It is a hot topic... There is a lot of misunderstanding.

But, not too complicated, at least not here.
Do you feel that digital doesn't give you an accurate reconstruction (assuming competent filters per/Nyquist-Shannon) compared to an analog source?
Misunderstanding? misleading? I can only judge by the results. There can be no comparison between the lp and cd. Digital discard the analog wave and recreates it from a sample. Analog records the wave entirely. Each creating its own unique set of problems. Digital has improved mightily by addressing a whole set of problems. Despite what I have said in the pass I no longer believe it is inherently flawed medium. Of course you need the best recordings and playback equipment. As always the proof is in the pudding not the recipe.
 

BDWoody

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I'll cop to some of that. I've accepted some major-league disinformation in the recent past, and I'm sure plenty of people coming here for the first time have swallowed a lot of High-End BS much as I did.

I probably shouldn't post loaded for bear. And I really do have too much free time on my hands.

That wasn't directed at you by the way...
 

Feelas

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I was not expecting a pop quiz.
1. Sampling Rate
2.filters
3Aliasing
Did I pass professor?
All of these work well, so I believe it's not a passing grade. Care to elaborate what's wrong?

Aliasing doesn't happen w/ properly bandlimited signals, unless you have a proof that Nyquist-Shannon's theorem is wrong and then it'd be great if you cared to share.
 
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Sombreuil

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I hope it's fine to ask questions in this thread instead of creating a new one?
Is there really something when people say that some headphones scale better than others? According to some people it unlocks a new world like if they're going to Narnia because their pair scales well if you're able to drive it correctly. I understand the need of an amp if the impedance is high or if the headphones are hard to drive, what I don't understand is what having a high impedance provides?
 

Sombreuil

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Out of curiosity, why? I noticed that some people have this aversion to create a new topics and I don't understand why.
Because I assumed there might be an already existing thread that I haven't found, plus the fact that a short answer could be enough so a whole thread would be more pollutant than anything else.

@Killingbeans Thanks!
 

Killingbeans

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Digital discard the analog wave and recreates it from a sample. Analog records the wave entirely.

That's an extremely common misconception. This video gets referenced a lot on ASR, mainly because it does an exceptionally good job at descibing the basics of AD/DA conversion. It also shows why DA conversion doesn't recreate anything from nothing. It holds exactly the same amount of information about the analog wave as a non-digital storage medium would:

 

Lbstyling

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It doesn't take a genius to get some idea of what level of inaccuracy (distortion) records have given a better understanding of what you have to overcome to get sound out of one.

Forget distortions of 0.0xxx distortion, you can see the needle jumping around the gap if you look carefully.

 

Robin L

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That's an extremely common misconception. This video gets referenced a lot on ASR, mainly because it does an exceptionally good job at descibing the basics of AD/DA conversion. It also shows why DA conversion doesn't recreate anything from nothing. It holds exactly the same amount of information about the analog wave as a non-digital storage medium would:

Also worth noting, analog recording introduces wow & flutter & other types of speed variation, which deforms the signals captured by the microphone [which also distorts in its own sweet way]. Analog recording also has increasing distortion as levels go up. Digital recording has an absolute upper limit of dynamics. The two modes of recording will naturally sound different, but it's the digital recording that will successfully capture peak levels without distortion, assuming competent recording practices are observed. Bouncing from a digital recording to an analog tape recorder and back is a common practice in pop music as an 'effect'. And, as previously noted, LP playback introduces additional [and quite audible] distortions. The waveforms at the end of a digital chain have fewer distortions than the waveforms at the end of an analog chain.
 

Judas

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That's an extremely common misconception. This video gets referenced a lot on ASR, mainly because it does an exceptionally good job at descibing the basics of AD/DA conversion. It also shows why DA conversion doesn't recreate anything from nothing. It holds exactly the same amount of information about the analog wave as a non-digital storage medium would:

He's wrong. I have degree in math. This remedial for me.
 
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