fastfreddy666
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2021
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Let me start with the definition of an audiophile: a person who is very interested in and enthusiastic about equipment for playing recorded sound, and its quality. Am I an audiophile ? Guilty as charged.
You forgot to mention that the full title is HI-FI: The History of High-End Audio Design. But as we all know high-end doesn't necessary mean higher fidelity. It only means that you pay a lot more for the looks. The focus of the book is mostly external design and as an amateur photographer I must say that the pictures are stunning. It's definitely a coffee table book. But what is a coffee table book exactly? In my eyes coffee table books are not meant for reading. You just flip through the pages and stare at the pretty photographs. But this is just my opinion on what it is. So here's the definition: a large, expensive, lavishly illustrated book, intended especially for casual reading.
Reading is a slow and time-consuming activity so i would recommended this book to subjectivists. If it looks good and cost a fortune it must sound good. A friend of mine is an accountant and his favorite expression is "You get what you pay for" so he bought two monobloc ESOTERIC GRANDIOSO D1X 64 bit DACs (they're not sold separately). My first reaction was (i didn't know the price at the time) that I really liked the design. My first question was. according measurements are useless because the operation of the human ear is so complex that its interaction with measurable parameters lies forever beyond human comprehension. My diplomatic answer was "that's one way of looking at it"
Want a drink? Sure. Make it double. I didn't ask any further and I just sit here and make small talk. I'm on the autistic spectrum so talking about nothing is a challenge for me. The alcohol helped a little to steady the nerves and we had a somewhat pleasant evening. After a glass or two i pretended to feeling a little dizzy and i excused myself.
the first thing i did when i went home is check the specs of the Esoteric Grandioso. What's in a name? (LOL)
Frequency response 5Hz to 75kHz (–3dB, 192kHz PCMsignal input)
S/N ratio 113dB
Distortion 0.0007% (when 1kHz, D/A converter operation mode set to M3)
Impressive right? Frequency response. WOW. Come on. Nobody is going to fall for this nonsense. I would rather see a 20-20khz (if you're young) measurement with the test frequency specified. This is usually 997hz. There's a specific reason for this and it's fascinating but out of the scope of the comments.
Signal-to-noise ratio is meaningless if the measurement bandwidth is not specified. 20-20khz? I don't know.
Distortion? Do they mean THD+N? I give them credit for specifying the test frequency. Actually it's 997hz.
THD+N is easy to measure. You first apply a notch filter. (I prefer the term reject filter) to remove (reject) the fundamental. (the test tone) If you really want to confuse people you say something like it's bandpass filter with a high Q-factor (narrow stopband). But i won't do that.
The filter has (hopefully) no insertion loss at second harmonic and higher, This means that harmonics are passed essentially without being lowered in value (techno-babble: unattenuated) Wideband noise, ac mains hum, and any other interfering signals below and above the notch filter frequency are also passed unattenuated. This explains the +N (plus noise) in the name of the measurement.
BTW Amir also uses the Q-word often when applying EQ to a headphone. I want more sub bass damn it. The Q(uality factor) defines the bandwidth (range) of frequencies that will be affected by an equalizer. The lower the Q, the broader the bandwidth curve of frequencies that will be boosted or cut.
Another thing to remember that SNR = Dynamic Range but only if the bandwidth limiting filter is the same.
under the graph you can see he refers to the Aes standard. Simply put: a measurement of noise in the presence of signal. This signal is a 997hz tone at -60Db FS. The upper bandwidth is 20khz. What a coincidence
You get two Grandioso's for the price of one for the bargain price of $48.000. It cost more than my car. But at that price point i like to see some graphs.
Understanding scientific evidence involves complex, logical and difficult type of work of your brain. "We're standing on the shoulders of Giants"
Opinions are an automatic, intuitive processes which requires little effort. "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one" This has no value in science.
Recommended books: (it's only 1500 pages and $40 on Amazon)
How does Amir do it?
But of course that's still not enough. You also want to know things about Acoustics and psychoacoustics. It will blow your mind
The last book i bought about was about Sigma Delta converters. This is only for the die-hards I hope you are a math-head. IT's assumed you know a thing or two about information theory which is strangely enough based on probability theory and the mathematical basis of a science called statistics. This is a tough one even for me.
Definitely not coffee table material. They're all on my E-reader on my coffee table.
I agree. I'm addicted to Fun and Learning. I even dare to say that learning is fun. Knowledge is power
You forgot to mention that the full title is HI-FI: The History of High-End Audio Design. But as we all know high-end doesn't necessary mean higher fidelity. It only means that you pay a lot more for the looks. The focus of the book is mostly external design and as an amateur photographer I must say that the pictures are stunning. It's definitely a coffee table book. But what is a coffee table book exactly? In my eyes coffee table books are not meant for reading. You just flip through the pages and stare at the pretty photographs. But this is just my opinion on what it is. So here's the definition: a large, expensive, lavishly illustrated book, intended especially for casual reading.
Reading is a slow and time-consuming activity so i would recommended this book to subjectivists. If it looks good and cost a fortune it must sound good. A friend of mine is an accountant and his favorite expression is "You get what you pay for" so he bought two monobloc ESOTERIC GRANDIOSO D1X 64 bit DACs (they're not sold separately). My first reaction was (i didn't know the price at the time) that I really liked the design. My first question was. according measurements are useless because the operation of the human ear is so complex that its interaction with measurable parameters lies forever beyond human comprehension. My diplomatic answer was "that's one way of looking at it"
Want a drink? Sure. Make it double. I didn't ask any further and I just sit here and make small talk. I'm on the autistic spectrum so talking about nothing is a challenge for me. The alcohol helped a little to steady the nerves and we had a somewhat pleasant evening. After a glass or two i pretended to feeling a little dizzy and i excused myself.
the first thing i did when i went home is check the specs of the Esoteric Grandioso. What's in a name? (LOL)
Frequency response 5Hz to 75kHz (–3dB, 192kHz PCMsignal input)
S/N ratio 113dB
Distortion 0.0007% (when 1kHz, D/A converter operation mode set to M3)
Impressive right? Frequency response. WOW. Come on. Nobody is going to fall for this nonsense. I would rather see a 20-20khz (if you're young) measurement with the test frequency specified. This is usually 997hz. There's a specific reason for this and it's fascinating but out of the scope of the comments.
Signal-to-noise ratio is meaningless if the measurement bandwidth is not specified. 20-20khz? I don't know.
Distortion? Do they mean THD+N? I give them credit for specifying the test frequency. Actually it's 997hz.
THD+N is easy to measure. You first apply a notch filter. (I prefer the term reject filter) to remove (reject) the fundamental. (the test tone) If you really want to confuse people you say something like it's bandpass filter with a high Q-factor (narrow stopband). But i won't do that.
The filter has (hopefully) no insertion loss at second harmonic and higher, This means that harmonics are passed essentially without being lowered in value (techno-babble: unattenuated) Wideband noise, ac mains hum, and any other interfering signals below and above the notch filter frequency are also passed unattenuated. This explains the +N (plus noise) in the name of the measurement.
BTW Amir also uses the Q-word often when applying EQ to a headphone. I want more sub bass damn it. The Q(uality factor) defines the bandwidth (range) of frequencies that will be affected by an equalizer. The lower the Q, the broader the bandwidth curve of frequencies that will be boosted or cut.
Another thing to remember that SNR = Dynamic Range but only if the bandwidth limiting filter is the same.
under the graph you can see he refers to the Aes standard. Simply put: a measurement of noise in the presence of signal. This signal is a 997hz tone at -60Db FS. The upper bandwidth is 20khz. What a coincidence
You get two Grandioso's for the price of one for the bargain price of $48.000. It cost more than my car. But at that price point i like to see some graphs.
Understanding scientific evidence involves complex, logical and difficult type of work of your brain. "We're standing on the shoulders of Giants"
Opinions are an automatic, intuitive processes which requires little effort. "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one" This has no value in science.
Recommended books: (it's only 1500 pages and $40 on Amazon)
How does Amir do it?
But of course that's still not enough. You also want to know things about Acoustics and psychoacoustics. It will blow your mind
The last book i bought about was about Sigma Delta converters. This is only for the die-hards I hope you are a math-head. IT's assumed you know a thing or two about information theory which is strangely enough based on probability theory and the mathematical basis of a science called statistics. This is a tough one even for me.
Definitely not coffee table material. They're all on my E-reader on my coffee table.
I agree. I'm addicted to Fun and Learning. I even dare to say that learning is fun. Knowledge is power
