2. tech-talk
  3. 180326-17492

Audio Science Review = Rebuttal and Further Thoughts

@crymeanaudioriver @amir_asr You are sitting there worrying if this or that other useless tweak like a cable makes a sonic difference.

I don’t worry about my equipment unless it fails. I never worry about tweaks or cables. The last time I had to choose a cable was after I purchased my first DAC and transport in 2019.  I auditioned six and chose one, the Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Euphoria. Why would someone with as fulfilling a life as me worry about cables or tweaks and it is in YOUR mind that they are USELESS.

@prof "would it be safe to say you are not an electrical designer or electrical engineer? If so, under what authority do you make the following comment" - concerning creating a high end DAC out of a mediocre DAC.

Well, I have such a DAC, built by a manufacturer of equipment and cables for his and my use. It beat out a $9,000 COS Engineering D1v and $5,000 D2v by a longshot. It is comparable to an $23,000 Meridian Ultradac. Because I tried all the latter three in comparison I say this with some authority, the authority of a recording engineer (me), a manufacturer (friend) and many audiophiles who have heard the same and came to the same conclusion.

Another DAC with excellent design engineer and inferior execution is the Emotiva XDA-2. No new audio board but 7! audiophile quality regulators instead of the computer grade junk inside, similar high end power and filter caps, resistors, etc. to make this into a high end DAC on the very cheap ($400 new plus about the same in added parts).

@russ69 We must be neighbors. I frequented Woodland Hills Audio Center back in the 70s and 80s. I heard several of Arnie’s speakers including a the large Infinity speakers in a home.

fleschler

Showing 3 responses by clustrocasual

clustrocasual
88 posts
 

This is a non sequitur, but I listened to the top measured products on ASR compared to some which measured worse, and I was shocked at how bad the top ones sounded by comparison. Because of course, they are not measuring everything you can hear. Like a good magician setting up a card trick, Amir will narrow your lens of perception before the trick begins.

Never thought about that forum again after that.

 

clustrocasual
88 posts
 

ASR fits a religion to the T. Doesn’t matter if its science or astrology, the religious aspects have nothing to do with the topic but the social aspect - like someone said, you just need a self proclaimed guru and authority figure and many highly recruitable people.

All religions and especially cults have in common the removal of the individual or personal experiences and are replaced by symbols that a leader "channels" and "interprets" for the followers. Any dissonance from people who experience something different are stamped out by foot soldiers, who then re-emphasize the Leader's authority and unique interpretation abilities. 

Carl Jung said that despite all the science progress of the last century, all human beings still yearn for religion on a primal level, and that modern science progress has forced this desire into our unconscious where we can become unaware of new ways we participate. He suggested that rather follow leaders and popular symbols, we learn to read our own personal, empirical experiences that our body and soul tell us, in conjunction with science. In that sense, hi-fi for me is a spiritual, but not religious, experience.

clustrocasual
88 posts
 

Isn't it funny that there's no Food Science Review, filled with devotees who claim that coffee and wine notes are imaginary, that herbs must be measured by % points of acidity, and using your own feelings to create and taste dishes is foolish?

But food and audio are very similar - many things which can and cannot be measured, but ultimately being decided by our senses as the ultimate measurement tools. 

Imagine the engineers behind stoves and microwaves tearing down professional chefs for cooking based on their feelings. Yet that what ASR is to audio.

More to discover