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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
jerryg123's avatar
jerryg123
3,429 posts
 

Guess so @prof if junk from china is your thing. 

kota1
2,706 posts
 

When you look at the virtual systems of members here you typically see quality rooms that are treated, quality gear, and everyone seems to be looking to share.

The head panther over at ASR sticks a pair of expensive speakers in a room with nothing but dry wall, a hard floor, a microphone and a rug and to me, that is a monumental waste, of speakers, of the time spent listening, and sadly of the lost people following the pied piper over the cliff. 

td_dayton
320 posts
 

the funniest ASR guys are the ones who love vinyl but feel the need to qualify every statement about records or turntables with "look, i know it’s not as good as digital, yes i understand that objectively i deserve to be criticized for it, but..." because they’re scared of being cyberbullied by computer nerds. no self respect 

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

the funniest ASR guys are the ones who love vinyl but feel the need to qualify every statement about records or turntables with "look, i know it's not as good as digital, yes i understand that objectively i deserve to be criticized for it, but..." because they're scared of being cyberbullied by computer nerds. no self respect 😂

LPs make for a circular argument then.

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.

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