SBAF, GoldenEars & USB. Fabulous BS.

[julian_hughes]

There are people who believe that USB DACs sound different according to which USB port the DAC is connected to, and if any other devices are on the same bus.

DACs: Improve your USB (break out PCI USB card with Unison)

Using computer USB with DACs has been a dilemma for audiophiles. For many years, USB was thought to sound worse than SPDIF or AES from a good...

www.superbestaudiofriends.org

Apparently if you hit the jackpot with a magic audiophile USB port with its own power supply(!) then it prevents your DAC sounding "wet, tubey, and smoothed over" and helps it sound "not glossed over, with the focus and microdetail".

That Super Best Audio Friends clique actually gets madder and madder. It, and its predecessor Changstar, used to host some very frank discussions but people have to really suck up there these days, and you won't see anyone calling out this kind of nonsense because they receive torrents of abuse until they quit or are banned. Or I guess until they agree and set up or buy a magic USB port and tell everyone how different it sounds.

 

[Lupin]

SBAF is toxic as hell.
I've followed a thread there a while ago and saw first hand that 2 members were banned just because they were asking critical (but fair imho) questions and didn't agree with Purr1n's statement.

That place is one big circle jerk around the staff members. As long as the regular members agree with everything the staff says or does and praise them to heaven and back at least once a week you're a "super best friend". Disagree with them and the rest of the mindless horde will come to the defense of them make fun of you until you're banned a week later.

Your mileage may vary but I would suggest to stay away as far as humanly possible from that place.

 

[Hapo]

...a lot of forums are like that...that is something that seperates this one from most...

...nobody seems to like youse guys much... .!..!.

 

[JSmith]

JSmith

 

[Ambient384]

SBAF is toxic as hell.
I've followed a thread there a while ago and saw first hand that 2 members were banned just because they were asking critical (but fair imho) questions and didn't agree with Purr1n's statement.

That place is one big circle jerk around the staff members. As long as the regular members agree with everything the staff says or does and praise them to heaven and back at least once a week you're a "super best friend". Disagree with them and the rest of the mindless horde will come to the defense of them make fun of you until you're banned a week later.

Your mileage may vary but I would suggest to stay away as far as humanly possible from that place.

The whole site is just pure fail, all audiophile forums have there up & downs. But SBAF issues are so overwhelming that I'm not shocked that It a dead community and anyone who kinda cared gave up, Purr1n & his goons are just scum. I posted there in two threads I got nothing but out of nowhere personal attacks and then banned for a day for dumb as hell reasons. Now they dig there own fail even further with the HD8XX backlash showing any criticism & disagreement is just seen as trolling & abuse.

4chan's own Headphone & IEM threads are way more civil to my shock.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Hey do they have our Panther in a battle? Looks like ASR is winning.

 

[JSmith]

banned for a day for dumb as hell reasons.

JSmith

 

[NiagaraPete]

JSmith

Hey Jim,
Your signature. Not Hex?

 

[Ambient384]

JSmith

It was for saying the ER4XR was great IEM, Then had a a poster melt at me about THD & BA drivers not long after. I came back with -32 with a mod threatening to nuke the thread, That was about here after that the hypocrisy made my brain hurt.

 

[MaxBuck]

I think some of the guys at SBAF make some good points about the limitations of measurements, and more specifically about the limitations of limited measurements. But then they rapidly devolve into their own special brand of nonsense, and there's not much more substance to be found there IMO.

 

[Lupin]

Doesn't take long to see how narrow minded they are at SBAF, small example:
At SBAF Topping is evil and garbage while Schiit is the best thing ever happend to the humanrace.

I'm not saying that Schiit is bad or anything (I don't think it is) but over at SBAF they're somehow completely oblivious to the fact that Schiit is often not a very compelling option for people outside of America due high import fees and shipment costs. At the price point of the low/mid tier of Schiit gear these extra costs make up a significant part of the total cost of buying Schiit. Not to mention if you need to send back your unit for RMA...
But no, over at SBAF they willingly and knowingly ignore this and call everyone "stupid", "moron" and "should not even be allowed to life" when they express that they looking into other brands like Topping because of this.

Sorry but I can't take that place serious for one moment.

 

[DSJR]

When you're seriously in the grip of audiophillia, I can assure you that *EVERYTHING* to do with the gear makes a perceived audible difference. I was there myself some decades back, swapping fuses end to end and 'hearing' a difference, turning Linn LP12 belts upside down and inside out and the rather awful felt mat one way and then the other - I was then reminded how utterly superior the master recording was and this, coupled with fresh exposure to live music, started a reaction against audiophoolery as we were conditioned to in the UK. Speaker cable direction was a given and so on and so on. I'm not at all surprised to read that different USB sockets can make a difference and perfectly adequate USB cables can appear to 'sound' different as well.

Best thing is not to offer challenges especially as I once did on forums, as the vitriol and sarcasm that floods one's way isn't pleasant. It'll take an epiphany moment for these people to be brought up short - we've seen it here where suddenly, reality kicks in and the shock is palpable. The love of the gear needs to be toned down and the love of the MUSIC increased and only then, will the balance be restored.

I say this as I've been on both sides of the fence and try to see both sides, although these days in my mid 60's and with easily fooled and not wonderful hearing, I sit more firmly in the objective camp now.

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

Doesn't take long to see how narrow minded they are at SBAF, small example:
At SBAF Topping is evil and garbage while Schiit is the best thing ever happend to the humanrace.

I'm not saying that Schiit is bad or anything (I don't think it is) but over at SBAF they're somehow completely oblivious to the fact that Schiit is often not a very compelling option for people outside of America due high import fees and shipment costs. At the price point of the low/mid tier of Schiit gear these extra costs make up a significant part of the total cost of buying Schiit. Not to mention if you need to send back your unit for RMA...
But no, over at SBAF they willingly and knowingly ignore this and call everyone "stupid", "moron" and "should not even be allowed to life" when they express that they looking into other brands like Topping because of this.

Sorry but I can't take that place serious for one moment.

The guy who runs SBAF literally works for Schiit; him and Jason are old buddies. But it's Amir who is a corporate shill that cant be trusted

 

[solderdude]

AFAIK Marv (for a while) worked for Eddy Current.
Marv, and others, are indeed buddies with Jason but that is because they lived close by and knew each other from meets and stuff.
I am not aware Marv ever worked for Schiit.

Marv has a firm belief in what he says and just like Amir he has got a whole bunch of followers. They just believe different things.

 

[Julf]

Marv has a firm belief in what he says and just like Amir he has got a whole bunch of followers. They just believe different things.

Problem is that anyone can believe whatever they want. That doesn't make it true.

 

[Mart68]

'Belief' in anything is a mistake. Assess the evidence and the probabilities and make your bet. Faith is not required.

Nor is it necessary to 'follow' anyone. Just because you post here does not mean you 'follow' Amir, he's not your leader.

Really annoys me when media talks about 'world leaders.' They're not our 'leaders', they're our democratically elected representatives. Not the same thing.

 

[solderdude]

'Belief' in anything is a mistake

Progress is almost never made based on an accidental discovery, even though that happens now and then.
Most discoveries and progress is based on the belief that something exists and a way has to exist to prove the existence or the effects.
Of course lots is also done on assumptions and assertions that something must exist or be true.
Also many people (not me) draw a lot of comfort and will based on something they believe in.
So belief can be a positive thing and isn't exclusive to scientists either.
Belief can certainly be based on things that aren't true in which case it could be called a mistake.

Indeed, a belief is not needed but it can be beneficial.

I was more interested in the statement that Marv works for Schiit which I 'believe' is not the case.

 

[Julf]

Belief can certainly be based on things that aren't true in which case it could be called a mistake.

But if you have verified that something is true, you don't have to believe any more - you know. So isn't belief in verifiably true things somewhat redundant?

 

[solderdude]

But if you have verified that something is true, you don't have to believe any more - you know. So isn't belief in verifiably true things somewhat redundant?

Very true. One can also do incorrect/incomplete measurements and believe they are correct and all telling or even dismiss them because one believes they are not the whole story. The latter could be a mistake but could also be true and only evident with more and/or different measurements

 

[Mart68]

Progress is almost never made based on an accidental discovery, even though that happens now and then.
Most discoveries and progress is based on the belief that something exists and a way has to exist to prove the existence or the effects.

I don't think 'belief' is the correct word in that situation. You might theorise or suspect something to be true but you don't believe in it. If you believed it then you would not need to experiment to decide if it is true or not, you'd just accept it as true without evidence.

An enquiring and open mind is good, whereas faith or belief requires a closed mind and a lack of curiosity in order to work.

But we may be straying into semantics here, I know what you meant.