Any audiophile skeptics here?

EvilBiker said:


btw, has anybody yet worked out a stable conversion from PMPO to RMS, or is that still up to marketing?
:mad: :mad:
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RMS power is a misnomer, but it means "average continuous power".

It's meaningful.

That, a power bandwidth wider than the audio range, unconditional phase stability on output load, good frequency respose, good distortion characteristics, and the like are useful measures.

You notice I have said nothing whatsoever about PMPO?
 
jj said:

Yup.
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I don't disagree with anything you point out. I was addressing the simple / short answers that I give when a neighbor is trying to buy AV equipment.

I assume that the cable and satellite TV people have about the best real time compressors that money can buy but their digital channels are awful, at least from the viewpoint of someone trying to build a TiVo like unit. I needed to compare input vrs output and over all quality and starting with a digital cable and satellite TV signal was impossible. Of course we did real quality testing with signal generators; however we also had to do demonstrations with live video and the over-the-air analog was the best “live” we could get (analog cable was not available).

I should have been more accurate when I refered to "lossy compressed data", data rate makes a hugh difference. The right format and enough processing power are also important. If you are missing any part of that formula and the output will suffer.

BTW, it was intersting to see just how much easier it is to trick the eyes than the ears.
 
Years ago, I knew a guy who managed a Radio Shack. This was back when they sold a lot of proprietary electronics and do-it-yourself gear; both the manager and his assistant had electronics degrees.

Anyway, while I was talking with the guy one day, a customer brought in a stereo reciever he'd bought a couple of weeks ago. He just wasnt happy with the sound.

Paul hooked it all up, and we all listened carefully to some recorded music. (sounded fine to me...) The guy kept saying "see, see...right there..." that sort of thing.

Paul just nodded, and told him he'd send the set into the shop for some adjustment. The guy left, satisfied.
I asked him about it, as I couldn't hear anything odd. Paul said, "I'll just put it back on the shelf for a week or so, then give the guy a call. He'll be happy as a clam."
 
Rocky said:

BTW, it was intersting to see just how much easier it is to trick the eyes than the ears.
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Actually, it's just as easy to trick the ears, it's just that it works differently, and in a domain that people get a headache trying to think in (i.e. a combined time/frequency domain, not one or the other)
 
jj said:
I don't know yet of a microphone preamp or ADC that really gives you 24 bits, btw
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It's been my understanding that this is because of the headroom in the recording, and as you get closer to 0 the ADC uses more bits?

I've been using the Lunatec V3 mic preamp for the last few months, been happy w/ it.
 
WildCat said:

It's been my understanding that this is because of the headroom in the recording, and as you get closer to 0 the ADC uses more bits?

I've been using the Lunatec V3 mic preamp for the last few months, been happy w/ it.
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More to the point, the noise floor of the preamp and mic is usually not low enough to give 24 bits between that and overload.

Consider, ifyou will, how many electrons you need flowing in the microphone circuit just to get that SNR, you need 2^48/second.

Now, figure that out in ma... Some microphone!
 
Has anyone had any experience with the new MPEG4? The encoding/decoding process is frequency dependant with the hi AF being handled diferently then the lo which is coded utilising the MP3 prosses. Supposed to be faster and less lossy , at least thats the press.

P.S. I forgot about my Advent 2's Remember them? Injection molded HDMW plastic with a god awful metal grill! haha but they sounded great!
 
A funny story.

Many years ago a friend and I started a stereo shop. You can make a pile of money selling multi thousand dollar car stereo systems to put in $500 cars. Anyway, one of the most annoying customers are the spec guys. These geeks would always come in and the conversation was the same. "Spec, spec, spec, baa, baa, baa."

I would always interrupt them and say "Well do you want to know what the most important spec is?" I could sense their anticipation that they were about to be enlightened or have something else to argue about.

Then I would point to the price tag and say "The price is the most important spec. If you can't afford it who cares how good it is."

We were of course very aware of the advantages of products like Monster Cable. Customers drooled over it. You didn't have to sell it, the customers wanted (demanded) it. It was very profitable $$$.
 
Bikewer said:

Paul just nodded, and told him he'd send the set into the shop for some adjustment. The guy left, satisfied.
I asked him about it, as I couldn't hear anything odd. Paul said, "I'll just put it back on the shelf for a week or so, then give the guy a call. He'll be happy as a clam."
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Precisely why I never buy anything from Radio Shack. They hire people who couldn't get a job as security guards and they just stare at you with a slack jaw if you have any sort of technical question or issue. Then they assume everyone is as clueless as they are. This story surprises me not one bit.
 
Sundog said:


Precisely why I never buy anything from Radio Shack. They hire people who couldn't get a job as security guards and they just stare at you with a slack jaw if you have any sort of technical question or issue. Then they assume everyone is as clueless as they are. This story surprises me not one bit.
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Aw, I don't think they're that bad. I've been impressed with the technical expertise of some of these guys when it comes to fuses and wires and such, but not the typical ones who work in the mall stores.

I just used to hate how they asked for your phone number everytime you bought something, even when you were paying cash. Kramer had the best line out of nowhere when Jerry once asked a why question about something unrelated. "I don't know. Why does Radio Shack ask for your phone number when you buy batteries?"

Supposedly, they don't do that anymore.

AS
 
TillEulenspiegel said:
Has anyone had any experience with the new MPEG4? The encoding/decoding process is frequency dependant with the hi AF being handled diferently then the lo which is coded utilising the MP3 prosses. Supposed to be faster and less lossy , at least thats the press.
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No, that's not what MPEG 4 is. MPEG-4 Audio has a great bloody lot of tools for compression, transmission, scening, etc. It looks like your mom's purse, basically.

ONE of the tools in MPEG-4 is "spectral band replication". It is used, usually in conjunction with MPEG2/4 AAC, in order to provide better quality in LOW RATE APPLICATIONS.

Tthis is sometimes referred to as AAC+. There is a version of SBR that works with MP3 (which is MPEG1/2 Audio Layer 3, low sampling rate profile) called MP3-PRO.

There are other tools like this, too.
 
XRCD

Hi all,

If nobody minds getting back to CD formats for a bit, I was just wondering if anyone here has listened to an XRCD recording? And if so, how does it compare to SACD?

A friend of mine brought over an XRCD a while back, and I was blown away by how good (good being defined as "close to live music") it sounded. I have not heard anything on SACD though, so I just wanted to know if anybody here has done a direct comparison of the two. Pricewise, XRCD's are almost twice as expensive as SACD's...but of course I would have to buy an SACD player as well.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the XRCD format, you can check it out here.

http://www.xrcd.com/

Cheers.

E
 
Sundog said:
They hire people who couldn't get a job as security guards and they just stare at you with a slack jaw if you have any sort of technical question or issue.
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"Radio Shack: You've got questions, we've got blank stares"
 
Certainly the case now..."If it isn't on the shelf I don't know about it."

But this was back in the 70's, and both Guys had degrees in electrical engineering. They'd pull parts off the shelf and build stuff for people.
 
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