What type of measurements are you interested in?

[Rja4000]

We mainly have here
- DAC in various form/size/price
- Headphone amps
- Power amps
- a few ADCs
- AVR
- Phono preamps

What I'd like (/love) to be able to measure (on top) are
- Mic preamps (at SM58-like as well as U87-like level)
- Microphones
- DI boxes
- Headphones
- Loudspeakers (in room)
- Pre amps, volume controls and attenuators
- Room correction and EQ
- PA loudspeakers (you know, we speak 105dB SPL @10m)
- Some pretty esoteric stuffs (Anti-feedback, transient processors, compressors, ...)
- Reliability/bit perfectness of sources like CD, Streamer devices, PC software, DAT or other recording, multi room distributed sound (sonos, bluesound, room,...) and sound networking (AVB, Dante,...)
- Streaming services sound quality (and stability)
- ...

What kind of measurements is relevant for those? That's what I'm interested in.

Relevant is the keyword: what's the use of measuring THD <0.0001% for a microphone if noise floor in studio is 35dB SPL anyway?

What about you?

 

[Blumlein 88]

We mainly have here
- DAC in various form/size/price
- Headphone amps
- Power amps
- a few ADCs
- AVR
- Phono preamps

What I'd like (/love) to be able to measure (on top) are
- Mic preamps (at SM58-like as well as U87-like level)

I'd like that too, but I don't know if this is helpful to very many people

- Microphones

I think this is not viable. Measuring microphones well is a specialized thing, and again probably not of interest to all that many though it would be to me. The good part is shipping microphones to Amir is easy to do.

- DI boxes
- Headphones
- Loudspeakers (in room)

Well there has been discussion of both headphones and speakers. Speakers done right are expensive. Headphones seems a quagmire without agreement on how to meaningfully measure those. Speakers there is more agreement upon it just is expensive and logistically difficult.

- Pre amps, volume controls and attenuators
- Room correction and EQ
- PA loudspeakers (you know, we speak 105dB SPL @10m)
- Some pretty esoteric stuffs (Anti-feedback, transient processors, compressors, ...)
- Reliability/bit perfectness of sources like CD, Streamer devices, PC software, DAT or other recording, multi room distributed sound (sonos, bluesound, room,...) and sound networking (AVB, Dante,...)

The bit perfectness is not really hard to do. Several others could probably do that just fine. So we could leave Amir free to focus on stuff where his top quality test gear makes a difference. Collectively we could likely figure out and help each other measure bitperfect-ness of most everything without anyone needing an AP unit.

- Streaming services sound quality (and stability)
- ...

What kind of measurements is relevant for those? That's what I'm interested in.

Relevant is the keyword: what's the use of measuring THD <0.0001% for a microphone if noise floor in studio is 35dB SPL anyway?

What about you?

 

[Rja4000]

Thanks for your answer.
I feel less alone

My question was not especially about what we'd like to measure HERE, nor, even, to measure those exhaustively.
And less even what we'd like Amir to test himself. (There are hard limits to what one man may do alone).

But measuring just one part of the chain of audio reproduction without having a clue of what's happening with the other components seems unsatisfactory, although it's exciting.

For 'sources', especially, way too often, I have the feeling something is broken without being able to prove (/measure) it. Bit perfectness can be checked, for sure. But how stable is it over time?

This website has 2 strengths, in my opinion:
Amir's strong background and 'fanatism' (I mean it positively), which drives him to spend crazy money and time on all those tests.
And the community that is growing around him.

What's most important is not, in my opinion, to test all those devices here, and especially that he, himself, is doing it all, but rather to learn from the others that we COULD perform relevant measurements on what we use in the audio chain. And, under his guidance, to share advices on what's worth measuring and how.

And I also have the feeling that the whole discussion about the measurements relevance is just started.
The tests Amir is performing evolve as experience grows, which is, for me, the clue of a true scientific behaviour.
The objectivation of listening experience is also difficult to achieve...

The last thread about THD and the various inputs on loudspeaker and microphone measurements were enlightening to me.
I realized I didn't even have a clue how much a microphone is impacting the whole chain.
That's why I raise this question.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Bit perfectness usually stays in place until you or your software changes something. I measured it over hours testing USB interfaces for errors.

Except when makers cheap out and hope to not get caught (like AVRs) the most important things to sound are the transducers. Microphones and speakers/headphones. They are also the least convenient to measure well.

You can do various measurements to a useful level if not to a lab quality level. How close inexpensive consumer gear is to lab level is kind of amazing these days.

 

[pozz]

Speakers of course.

I'd second pro gear. Stuff like consoles, DI boxes, mic preamps, monitor controllers/switches, compressors, limiters, other signal processors. More pro ADCs/DACs too. Be nice to see it eventually.

 

[oldsysop]

I would like Amir to make measurements of Japanese amplifiers of the 70's

 

[Julf]

I would like Amir to make measurements of Japanese amplifiers of the 70's

Just to finally kill off the "vintage gear is better" folklore?

 

[Absolute]

I'm mainly interested in speaker measurements because we're almost completely in the dark regarding the most important component in any audio system.

 

[JeffS7444]

I'd like to know how a device behaves when powered on or off: Does it emit a rude belch of DC? What if it's powered on or off via a power strip?

In the case of digital electronics and class D amplifiers, do they cause noticeable radio interference?

Does the device consume power even when seemingly powered down, and if so, how much.

 

[oldsysop]

[QUOTE = "Julf, publicación: 234496, miembro: 17"] ¿Solo para acabar con el folklore "vintage gear is better"? [/ QUOTE]

 

[direstraitsfan98]

More pro audio dacs. I’d like to see measurements for Antelope and Solaris. I’d also like to see measurements from dacs from dCS, MSB, Rockna, and Esoteric.

 

[RayDunzl]

The discussion in another thread has made me curious about audio signal transformers.

Jensen has apparently gained reputation for bestness (or thereabouts).

Somebody reputedly "cheaped out" and used something else, to the assumed detriment of the resulting signal.

@amirm - How about a test of a handful of similarly specified signal transformers vs a Jensen?

 

[Blumlein 88]

The discussion in another thread has made me curious about audio signal transformers.

Jensen has apparently gained reputation for bestness (or thereabouts).

Somebody reputedly "cheaped out" and used something else, to the assumed detriment of the resulting signal.

@amirm - How about a test of a handful of similarly specified signal transformers vs a Jensen?

Certainly want to include a Cinemag xfmr.

 

[SIY]

Jensen, Cinemag, Sowter, Lundahl... there a lot of decent transformers out there, but you have to be willing to spend a few dollars.

 

[Rja4000]

More pro audio dacs. I’d like to see measurements for Antelope and Solaris. I’d also like to see measurements from dacs from dCS, MSB, Rockna, and Esoteric.

Pro DAC or ADC?
I've tested my Yamaha stuffs (DM1000, AD8HR), Focusrite Liquid 4 Pre, a good old Mackie VLZ (not pro), DIs from Radial and Apex, KT and Apex Eq, ...
Isn't Antelope based on PCM4222 for ADC?
I have the evaluation board for this one.

 

[Rja4000]

Jensen, Cinemag, Sowter, Lundahl... there a lot of decent transformers out there, but you have to be willing to spend a few dollars.

I've posted some measurements done with a Radial JDI direct box, which is said to use Jensen transformers.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ave-directstream-dac.9100/page-16#post-233856

 

[georgeT]

More PS Audio stuff, the collective chimp out on their forum is glorious.

 

[Blumlein 88]

More pro audio dacs. I’d like to see measurements for Antelope and Solaris. I’d also like to see measurements from dacs from dCS, MSB, Rockna, and Esoteric.

Oh yeah, I'd like to see a Cranesong Solaris or HEDD tested.

I have one of the Antelope recording interfaces. The DAC is pretty good, but the ADC is much better.

 

[Julf]

[QUOTE = "Julf, publicación: 234496, miembro: 17"] ¿Solo para acabar con el folklore "vintage gear is better"? [/ QUOTE]

Feel free to disagree, but preferably with facts, evidence and rational arguments.

 

[oldsysop]

Feel free to disagree, but preferably with facts, evidence and rational arguments.

I don't have any, that's why I would like Amir's measurements