What do we hear when we change the direction of a wire?


Douglas Self wrote a devastating article about audio anomalies back in 1988. With all the necessary knowledge and measuring tools, he did not detect any supposedly audible changes in the electrical signal. Self and his colleagues were sure that they had proved the absence of anomalies in audio, but over the past 30 years, audio anomalies have not disappeared anywhere, at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned. It's hard to believe, but science still cannot clearly answer the question of what electricity is and what sound is! (see article by A.J.Essien).

For your information: to make sure that no potentially audible changes in the electrical signal occur when we apply any "audio magic" to our gear, no super equipment is needed. The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected by ear is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB'". This is about a 10% change. (Harris J.D.). At medium volume, the voltage amplitude at the output of the amplifier is approximately 10 volts, which means that the smallest audible difference in sound will be noticeable when the output voltage changes to 1 volt. Such an error is impossible not to notice even using a conventional voltmeter, but Self and his colleagues performed much more accurate measurements, including ones made directly on the music signal using Baxandall subtraction technique - they found no error even at this highest level.

As a result, we are faced with an apparently unsolvable problem: those of us who do not hear the sound of wires, relying on the authority of scientists, claim that audio anomalies are BS. However, people who confidently perceive this component of sound are forced to make another, the only possible conclusion in this situation: the electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If there are no electrical changes in the signal, then there are no acoustic changes, respectively, hearing does not participate in the perception of anomalies. What other options can there be?

Regards.
anton_stepichev

Showing 7 responses by alexberger

Hi @dletch2 ,

What kind of knowledge do you have?
Are you psychoacoustics specialist?
Have you read any book about psychoacoustics?
Do you have any knowledge of electronics or acoustics or the human brain science?
The difference between science and some audiophile that in science the experiment is over the theory. If in the experiment theory falls - science throw out the old theory and looking for a new explanations and theories. And in the audio the listening test it is a final experiment. We use audio for listening and not for measurements.
For example, when we take a more complex equipment like wire but amplifiers. Does anybody can predict an amplifier sound used measurements? The modern measurement tools and theory don't give us answers. There are not enough correlation between measurements and sound.

Regards,
Alex
I understand that different kinds of listening test have drawback. But we don’t have other tools right now.
When I tweak my system I noticed AB test are not the best thing to make any conclusions. After each tweak of upgrade I preferer to listen the system for a relatively long period of time with a different kind of music. This methodology helps me against placebo effect.
For example, when I do a tweak / upgrade I’m sure it has to work! And in the AB test in the particular piece of music with a self-hypnosis it can sound better. But after a longer period of listening I start to feel the sound of the system goes to the wrong direction. And it worked many times. I have a simple measherment equipment that sometimes I use. But it can’t help me in the most cases to make a decision (as well as professional measurement made by Sterephile or other audio editions).
The linearity of DAC doesn’t depend from output buffer tube of solid state.
It depends from chip used in the DAC or digital to analogue conversion method.
Triode tubes are much more linear vs any type of transistors as amplification element.
All good number achieved by transistor equipment are done used deep feedback that cause other even worse problems.

https://evanuik.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/the-cool-sound-of-tubes.pdf
Ohm's laws, Maxwell's equations, Quantum mechanics are just models created by man to describe natural phenomena.
But none of these models can be considered the final true. Maybe someday there will be new models that will help reveal the secret of the sound and direction of the wires.
@djones51 ,

My experience is based on what I can or can't hear.
It doesn't based of religious believe in science.
I talk about the model that have more correlation to what we hear than current models. 
Most of the audio religious apostles of science do not have any technical education and can't think out of box.
If these dropouts design audio then it sounds disgusting so they are very bad engineers and don't like and know classical and jazz music.

Regards,
Alex.