Snake Oil Department, Top This

[FrantzM]

And yet people buys these things

 

[Gekel]

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...-music-server/?do=findComment&comment=1135695

I am dying inside. Well, at least a little bit. The influence of RAM of a music server on the sound quality (plus the influence of the chosen harddrive to store the data).

I am dealing with large amounts of data on a daily base (databases with billions of records), but I never experienced any data manipulations which were caused by the type of hard drive I stored the data on, and my results didn't become better by swapping the RAM of my machines.

Ok, I am dying a bit more than a little.

[edit] and there goes my coffee, now I have to clean the table....

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...-music-server/?do=findComment&comment=1132909 - this Taiko adapter ( I asume it should clean up the voltage going to the mobo) sells for 1250 USD

And then i looked at the internal power cables: https://www.ghentaudio.com/pc/gt02.html - 68 USD for a simple 1m long 8pin power cable (typically used to power the GPU). I think I had at least 4 of these cables included in the PSU I recently bought, and despite buying a high quality one the total price was 140 USD total.

 

[xaviescacs]

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...-music-server/?do=findComment&comment=1135695

I am dying inside. Well, at least a little bit. The influence of RAM of a music server on the sound quality (plus the influence of the chosen harddrive to store the data).

These people are thrilled, and no wonder why, they are having a lot of fun searching, discussing, buying, selling, mounting, tuning,... Real fun. Nothing to do with computer engineering or audio though.

 

[Gekel]

Nothing to do with computer engineering or audio though.

Hmmmm,

For folks that are limited to non-ECC RAM, one noteworthy outcome was that I REALLY like the sound of this RAM from ATP Electronics. Very natural and organic sounding, I literally felt tension release from my head and shoulders when I swapped to it.

To me it looks like ECC RAM provides better audio, and if you pick the rigth one (even if not ECC), you get a very organic sounding.

I find this statement interesting, because according to what I know I either modify the quality of an analog signal by directly influencing this signal, or by changing the digital data before it enters the DAC. If i want to change the analog one I need to work in the same frequency band (10Hz to maybe 20KHz) of the sound and not in the range of the RAM frequency (3000 MHz and more).

If I modify the digital data, but don't do this in the correct way (signal decoding, signal recalculation, signal re encoding), I end with garbage. On top by ,modifying the content of the RAM of a computer in a random way, I do not only modify the small piece of data called "audio file" but everything else, including the running programs. The result of doing this is resulting in a blue screen and not in an organic sounding music.

I bought a 1TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD (m.2 pcie) and adding it to my server did bad, filthy, naughty things to SQ. Especially when I had it internally, but even when attached externally via USB adapter. So bad it makes me very curious about how the Extreme and other servers have managed to neutralize the impact.

And that is another nice piece of information. I have my network streamer attached to a Cambridge Audio CXA61 and the speakers shown here . Not the worst combo and I can e.g. clearly hear that some older resampled albums a renoisy, actually so noisy that I first thought the high tone speakers were damaged when playing them, and I had to test some other sounds to confirm it is the audio data and not the speaker.

I also own a bunch of standard hard drives ranging from 1 to 12 TB, and on the SSD side I have: 840 EVO, 850 EVO, 860 EVO (all in 2.5") and on top the 980 pro (2TB) and the 970 pro (1TB). I used most of them (because testing on your own is better than believing others), attached them internally, externally, locally, to a server connected via WiFi (using two different access points and 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and ethernet, used maybe 5-6 different USB cables and at least the same amount of PSU variations. The sound was/is identical - no matter what I did.

So I must be deaf enough on the one side not to spot the quality changes when changing the hardware while hearing the quality differences in different albums being played (all in lossless/ flac with at least 16/44 quality).

I am surprised

 

[Kalessin]

A hard drive affecting sound quality? RAM making music sound "natural and organic"?

My goodness. I'm a large-scale sysadmin by trade and... these people are on interstellar flights of fancy. I'm not at all surprised, though, after dealing for decades with people who believe that computer hardware, operating systems and software are voodoo, riddled with spirits and electronic humors.

 

[BluesDaddy]

Just when you think audiophoolery cannot sink any lower. I'm guessing that digiphiles felt jealous of all the tweaks that vinylphiles engaged in or some enterprising con man recognized an untapped income source. SMH so hard it's coming off...

 

[Gekel]

I shouldn't read so much and surf around:

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/cabl...r-rca-interconnect-cable-1m-pair-p-15371.html

This cable is presented to us with a new generation copper conductor, named Virgin Copper 102SSC, made of virgin, non recycled copper.

I hope I don't have recycled copper somewhere in my system.

 

[Wes]

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...-music-server/?do=findComment&comment=1135695

I am dying inside. Well, at least a little bit. The influence of RAM of a music server on the sound quality (plus the influence of the chosen harddrive to store the data).

I am dealing with large amounts of data on a daily base (databases with billions of records), but I never experienced any data manipulations which were caused by the type of hard drive I stored the data on, and my results didn't become better by swapping the RAM of my machines.

Ok, I am dying a bit more than a little.

[edit] and there goes my coffee, now I have to clean the table....

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...-music-server/?do=findComment&comment=1132909 - this Taiko adapter ( I asume it should clean up the voltage going to the mobo) sells for 1250 USD

And then i looked at the internal power cables: https://www.ghentaudio.com/pc/gt02.html - 68 USD for a simple 1m long 8pin power cable (typically used to power the GPU). I think I had at least 4 of these cables included in the PSU I recently bought, and despite buying a high quality one the total price was 140 USD total.

The crap is deliberate.

That site began under a different name (Computer Audio, IIRC) and had a number of knowledgable posters. The owner (Chris the Con) realized he could make a lot of money by getting rid of the knowledgable, catering to the uneducated rubes, and selling ads with a change of name.

Some of the denizens pop up here periodically to sling BS at any criticism of their poorly designed and completely untested "products" which are sold to decrapify various imaginary defects in digital sound.

 

[Angsty]

Snake oil flows from Audioquest like a river. Now, they are making silver ground wires. And reviewers are trying to review them, as if.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2021...er-and-saturn-tonearm-and-ground-wire-review/

Reviewer: "My gut told me I would hear differences between the AudioQuest GroundGoody wires. "
Roger Russell (RIP): "Believing is hearing. That's right, if you believe you will hear a difference, then there's a good chance that you will."

 

[BrEpBrEpBrEpBrEp]

Perhaps it isn't the most spectacular one, but my favourite one is Audioquest's claim that their ethernet cables are directional.

"Of course all AudioQuest Ethernet cables honor the directionality inherent in all analog and digital audio cables; arrows on the jackets indicate the direction (from source to destination) for the best audio performance."

Only UDP allowed.

 

[BluesDaddy]

Snake oil flows from Audioquest like a river. Now, they are making silver ground wires. And reviewers are trying to review them, as if.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2021...er-and-saturn-tonearm-and-ground-wire-review/

Reviewer: "My gut told me I would hear differences between the AudioQuest GroundGoody wires. "
Roger Russell (RIP): "Believing is hearing. That's right, if you believe you will hear a difference, then there's a good chance that you will."

I've bought a shit ton of music (as well as bourbon) this month because I don't waste money chasing a magic audio Leprechaun at the end of a cable rainbow.

 

[Wes]

why are you chasing a bourbon Leprechaun when you could have a nice Scotch?

 

[BluesDaddy]

why are you chasing a bourbon Leprechaun when you could have a nice Scotch?

Scotch tastes like dirt. I've tried for 30 years to appreciate it, but just never have. Bourbon is the drink of the gods!

 

[Wes]

which Bourbon?

and which gods?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

which Bourbon?

and which gods?

Any.

 

[BluesDaddy]

Any.

...and all!

 

[Wes]

I've tried several bourbons, but the only one I thought better than an 12 year old single malt was Pappys. I even tried 2 or 3 of theones said to be similar to Pappys.

 

[rdenney]

I always thought Scotch was undrinkably medicinal.

Then, quite suddenly as it happened, it didn’t.

Rick “oh, happy day!” Denney

 

[Kalessin]

I've tried several bourbons, but the only one I thought better than an 12 year old single malt was Pappys. I even tried 2 or 3 of theones said to be similar to Pappys.

Oh ho ho... I would love to engage you in some bourbon Double-Blind Testing, (or perhaps "Tasting"). You might be very surprised.

Pappy Van Winkle bourbons started out many years ago as leftover Stitzel-Weller bourbon in warehouses after the Stitzel-Weller distillery closed in 1972. Some of the old stocks were below average, and were sold on the bulk market. The better stuff was bottled and sold under the Old Rip Van Winkle and Pappy Van Winkle brands (Pappy was used for the higher ages), initially at prices roughly equal to other upper-tier but not top-shelf bourbons. Some non-Stitzel-Weller bourbon was sold with branding like "Old Rip Van Winkle Lot B", which was Bernheim bourbon.

After some people discovered that it was really good juice, they started buying it and sharing the find, and the prices started to rise, and eventually far exceeded normal top-shelf bourbon pricing. The rarity of the bottle allocations and the internet really helped this along, and what originally sold for about $50/bottle started selling for $600/bottle.

The Stitzel-Weller stocks started to run out in the late 2000s, and the bottles started to contain more Weller and less Stitzel-Weller whiskey. PVW hasn't contained any Stitzel-Weller bourbon since about 2014. What's in the Pappy bottles now is made by Sazerac (who own Weller and the Van Winkle brands) to taste as close as possible to the original "real thing", and sold at the same crazy-high prices.

So... not quite snake oil marketing, but it's pretty close, and there are some parallels to be drawn to audio snake-oil marketing. Whiskey, (scotch, bourbon and otherwise) is a crazy business, especially when you start to look at it from the inside, the making and marketing.

 

[BluesDaddy]

I've tried several bourbons, but the only one I thought better than an 12 year old single malt was Pappys. I even tried 2 or 3 of theones said to be similar to Pappys.

There's no accounting for taste.