Some actually believe that music from different drive types (SSD,HDD) or different SATA cables can sound different

[mhardy6647]

It's a waste of time, and arguing with them is what gives them credibility, imho.

I believe it was Samuel Langhorne Clemens who said (or wrote... work with me here!):

Don’t wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.

Latest scientific studies performed by prof. Vytautas Kusetus have proved conclusively that the problem with harsh and sterile sound caused by usage of digital technology has actually nothing to do with DACs, or cables. It is all about the storage technology and media. Modern SSDs and hard drives are the worst, and even the 3,5" floppy disk drives lose the finer nuances of music. If You really want the lush analoque-like audiophile quality sound, the only solution good enough is the venerable 5 1/4" floppy disk.

FWIW, realizing that nobody asked , I prefer to listen to classical digital music encoded on the original paper tape.

 

[mhardy6647]

But even the 5 1/4 floppy is vastly outperformed by paper punch tape. The only problem with that is the need to stack a bunch of paper tape readers in parallel to get the data rate high enough. .... oblig. anti poe emoji ----->

Dang. You beat me to it!
A low bar, I'll admit.

 

[voodooless]

The only problem with that is the need to stack a bunch of paper tape readers in parallel to get the data rate high enough.

Isn’t that why MP3 was invented?

 

[antcollinet]

S

Sometimes silence is considerably more effective. At this moment, the troll in question, is laughing at the collective responses while rolling on the floor.
Just "sayin".

I really don't care - he can take all the fun he wants. As I point out, my refutation is not for him. It is (as I point out above) intended for the 2000+ guests we might have reading the forum at any one time. So that they don't see incorrect information left up without correction - like they do at all the subjective forums they visit.

 

[antcollinet]

Isn’t that why MP3 was invented?

I can't believe you have made me look up the speed of paper tape readers. 

One of the fastest ever made is the FS1501 used at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. It fed the tape at an astonishing 4 metres of tape per second, and could achieve 1500 data units per second - a data unit consisting of up to 8 bits. So a max data rate of 12 kb/s. The link includes a video about it - the first few seconds show what 4 m/s of tape looks like.

Even with this beast, you'd need 20 running in parallel to get the 240 kb/s needed for (close to) transparent MP3. Feeding a combined total of 80 metres per second of tape.

Of course, MP3 is never going to be sufficient for that "warm analogue sound." Lossless Redbook would be the bare minimum - let’s say FLAC at up to 1.4 mb/s.


So to get the best ever digital data feed on this planet - or any other - we need to run around 120 of these beasts in parallel, feeding a total of 480 m/s of tape. An absolutely essential set up for anyone who truly cares about their music.




EDIT - and your average 45 minute 'CD' would need about 805 miles of tape.

 

[solderdude]

Bits is bits.

and timing is everything

 

[mhardy6647]

I really don't care - he can take all the fun he wants. As I point out, my refutation is not for him. It is (as I point out above) intended for the 2000+ guests we might have reading the forum at any one time. So that they don't see incorrect information left up without correction - like they do at all the subjective forums they visit.

I think most of the guests are probably bots (but do note my choice of two weasel words).

 

[antcollinet]

I think most of the guests are probably bots (but do note my choice of two weasel words).

2000? 200? 20? - still worth it.

(I've spent much more time stating why I made the post than I did actually making it - I'm going to stop now. This is the waste of effort. )

 

[wwenze]

and timing is everything

Bits are like jokes: Timing is everything --ASR forum

 

[NTK]

I think most of the guests are probably bots (but do note my choice of two weasel words).

But bots are the ones spreading the information (or misinformation). Here are what Google came up with when I asked a question. And one ASR post was given as reference.

 

[EJ3]

But bots are the ones spreading the information (or misinformation). Here are what Google came up with when I asked a question. And one ASR post was given as reference.

View attachment 476024

Schools where once supposed to teach us how think for ourselves and how to learn.
They did that less & less.
But: Not to worry!:
Google & AI will save us.
(Yes, I am being facetious).

 

[Jinjuku]

I don't buy into expensive hype, but hard drives definitely sound different.
Many cables sound different.
Come visit me..
I will prove beyond any doubt night and day difference between some drives.

I built my first few DACs.
I used Maplin hook up wire initially.
Put the completed DAC at the back of a cupboard in disgust.
A year later I dug it out, listened again and mused on whether better, single core wire would be different.
Changed it out for 5N silver and boom!
Transformation.
Multi strand Vs solid core speaker cable - utterly different.
Usb cable between PC and DAC changed to Silver, huge improvement.
However, if your gear can't reveal nuances, you won't get to hear them so much will you?

Gear can be made to sound different and then that difference marketed.

But here's the rub: Computer and networking gear are predominately created to standards for moving data around with 100% integrity.

So when I see the likes of Darko propagating the myth that Ethernet and RAM manufacturers even sound different I'm going to require some objective proof.

On the Ethernet cabling side of the house I still have a $4000 to anyones $1000 that in two rounds of 10 possible swaps that no one, on a good headphone setup, can tell me what cable is in use.

The only requirement is that the boutique cable pass 586 spec. I even said I would bring bog standard Triplite or Panduit that was 300% longer just to make it that much more biased in favor of a fancy ethernet cable. They would have to be of the same construction and UTP. I won't entertain shielded, ground tied, because those are for very specific types of installations.