Do you believe in Magic?

04-21-12: Chadeffect
Sometimes speedily expressing ones self in these little boxes can lead to points that with a little closer inspection could have been worded better.

Much as I enjoy these online communities there is nothing like talking to someone in the flesh. I am sure all the above comments over a beer or tea would result in much less abrasion.

I agree, Chad, that a certain amount of conflict is attributable to unfortunate wording that leads to false impressions. Sometimes people who appear contrary, or even belligerent, don't really mean that much by what they say.

As I mentioned in my last post, I believe that getting along with people is more about a person's intentions than it is their expressions. But inferring intentions from expressions isn't always easy, as this thread has illustrated several times. So I completely agree with you that written conversations sometimes CONCEAL people's real thoughts and feelings.

Having said that, it's worth pointing out that written conversations can also REVEAL people's real thoughts and feelings. An obvious reason is that the safety provided by "virtual" conversations emboldens people to act in ways they might not otherwise. Virtual conversations are like drunk conversations... inhibitions are lowered and the truth comes out, and sometimes the truth is ugly.

Another reason why written conversations can reveal people's real thoughts and feelings is that, unlike spoken conversations, there is a LATENCY and a RECORD. So when something doesn't feel quite right, you can take your time to really think about what a person has said, which is difficult to do in real time during a spoken conversation.

My wife is a clinical psychologist. This conversation is reminding me of conversations with her (in a good way). Maybe in addition to Amps, Speakers, Tech Talk, etc., Audiogon should have a category for Group Therapy. We could all use it from time to time.

bc

Csmgolf, Chad, and Learsfool - Thanks for your kind words. And thanks for contributing to the effort to "try to have a civilization."

04-22-12: Learsfool
I was quite surprised to therefore read that you don't actually enjoy argument. I assume you mean the combative aspect, and not the argument for argument's sake? Surely you must derive some pleasure from constructing such logical premises and conclusions as you have frequently on this site?

Yes, Learsfool, it's the combative aspect of arguing that I don't enjoy much anymore, though I admit that sometimes my writing suggests otherwise. Since I'm in a strangely confessional mood, I will tell you that, as a younger man, I was a habitual arguer. When I disagreed with you, I was vocal about it, to put it politely. Six years in graduate school learning to analyze, criticize, and construct arguments from some of the world's most argumentative people was exactly what I DIDN'T need. I was turning into a real a**hole.

So I decided to try to develop ways of relating to people that are more cooperative and prosocial. I've been lucky enough to have three good role models. One of them was my dissertation director, who in spite of being a very successful academic philosopher, was one of the most cooperative and prosocial people I've ever met. The second was my first psychotherapist (yes, there have been others), who helped me develop some empathy, both for myself and for others. And the third is my wife, who is a psychologist/psychotherapist herself. She's like the calm dog at the dog park who "corrects" aggressive dogs with nothing more than her body language. Needless to say, I am the aggressive dog.

Some of my aggressive behavior can be seen on this thread. Obviously I'm talking about my argument with Geoff, which I regret for a variety of reasons. I still believe the substantive things I said to Geoff, but I wish I'd adopted a more civil tone at points. That continues to be a struggle for me, especially with certain types of personalities.

And that brings me back to your question, Learsfool. Yes, I enjoy constructing arguments. It may sound odd, but the great majority of the time, I don't intend those arguments to be argumentative. Non-argumentative arguments are an effective way to explore an idea in depth, and I very much enjoy exploring ideas in depth, even when I turn out to be wrong. I'm aware that arguments, argumentative or not, put some people off, so I usually try to soften them with a dose of humility or humor. I haven't displayed a lot of that on this thread, so I will add that to the list of things I regret.

The process of growing up never ends. Or at least it shouldn't.

Bryon

I had another difficult-to-explain experience. Whether it is Magic is an open question.

My system is computer based. I recently replaced the hard disk drive in my computer with a solid state drive. Formerly, I used HDD's both for the OS and for music storage (as aiff's). Now, I'm using the SSD for both.

It's definitely different. Here's what I heard...

1. More resolution
2. Better dynamics
3. Better PRaT

...and oddly...

4. It's louder.

#1 through #3 can probably be attributed to the reduction of jitter, or possibly the reduction of RFI. But #4 is a mystery.

I have an audiophile friend who also just swapped out his HDD with a SSD. Totally different system and guess what... He heard the exact same thing. Weird.

Bryon

08-05-12: Tbg
Audiophile rectal inserts, you need some.

Wow. What a comment. Where do I start? How about...

It seems like you're harboring some hostility toward me since our argument on the fuse thread. Maybe you should talk with someone about it. Help is available.

Might I also suggest that you look around for someone else to pick on. The last two times you tried to bully me, you looked foolish, to put it politely. I gather that, at some level, you're aware of that, which is why you just came out swinging for no reason whatsoever.

And "rectal inserts"? What the...? I don't even know what joke you're ATTEMPTING to make. It's not just unfunny, it's creepy.

Bryon

08-05-12: Almarg
Did you implement the software installation to the new internal SSD by installing everything from scratch, or by using an imaging program to restore a recently generated image file containing the entire contents of the original HDD, or by using a cloning program?

Hi Al - I cloned the old HDD to the new SSD using a cloning program. But in addition to the new hardware, the new SSD has an updated OS, which of course contains a variety of new software.

Did the volume increase seem like it might perhaps have amounted to 6 db?

Yes, that seems about right.

A 6 db increase would correspond to the bits in each digital sample being shifted up by one bit location. In other words, if at some point in the data path through the computer a 32 or 64 bit word length were being used, and the audio data comprises 16 or 24 bits, if the 16 or 24 bits were shifted up by l bit location toward the most significant of the 32 or 64 bits, that would result in a 6 db volume increase, corresponding to twice the voltage at any given instant.

Very interesting. That's a good theory. There's a fair amount of discussion of 32 vs 64 bit Mac's on the web, but I'm not sure how to make sense of it. My machine is an iMac 2011. I will do some reading and see if I can find anything that confirms your theory.

As always, Al, you are a great detective!

Bryon

Nice post, Bill. I agree with your generally open attitude about tweaks. For the vast majority of tweaks, I'm neither a Believer nor a Skeptic until I've tried them myself. Even then, I'm sometimes unable to say whether I'm a Believer or a Skeptic. But some tweaks definitely work, and I've found it's very hard to predict which ones do and which ones don't.

Bryon

Question, Geoff, and I'm asking it sincerely... Are you a Dualist?

Bryon

08-07-12: Mapman
I do not recall the details of how your computer is connected to your audio system, but assuming it is via wires, then I would most likely attribute the difference to a change in the computer generated noise domain resulting from a configuration change to the computer.

Hi Mapman - Yes, the computer is connected to the audio system by an ethernet cable. I agree that there is probably less noise with the SSD.

I'd be very interested to know if a difference was heard changing drives if the computer is isolated from the stereo using a wireless connection. I would predict not...

That a very good question. And I suspect your prediction is correct.

I do not believe in magic when it comes to home audio. Though it may often seem that way, there is always a reason why.

My use of the word "magic" isn't meant to imply that the audible effects we've been discussing have no basis in physical laws. It's simply meant to refer to audible effects that are difficult to explain.

Bryon