newton_john

Responses from newton_john

Article: "Do Blind Listening Tests Work? My Sessions with the Colorado Audio Society"
@hilde45 you said In this hobby, there is a "better" and a "worse," though no single objective "better" or "worse." The nearest thing to a single objective better or worse is if we find the music easier to follow. There’s no mistaking when you h... 
Article: "Do Blind Listening Tests Work? My Sessions with the Colorado Audio Society"
@ghdprentice  i agree it’s good Linn amps are getting better. Unfortunately, they are also getting more expensive too. Maybe in time there’ll be a knock on effect for more affordable ones.   
The Sacred Ritual of Vinyl: A Return to Mindful Listening
And my turntable is now back in its rightful position. Balance is restored. I can fully enjoy listening to vinyl again. Have I stumbled upon a whole new Feng Shui approach to hifi? https://pmamagazine.org/feng-shui-hi-fis-sound-revolution-harmon... 
How much do I need to spend to make vinyl sound better than digital?
There's no getting away from the harsh reality that vinyl is expensive. To acquire a second hand turntable that matched my streaming set up, cost the equivalent of $11,000 last year. Then I spent $4,000 more on upgrading it. No doubt, there'll be ... 
Article: "Do Blind Listening Tests Work? My Sessions with the Colorado Audio Society"
@sns It may well that some equipment designers use live acoustic music as their reference. However, recreating the sound of live acoustic music is not the primary function of equipment. That is to accurately reproduce the sound that was captured ... 
Article: "Do Blind Listening Tests Work? My Sessions with the Colorado Audio Society"
@ghdprentice  Two days ago,  I witnessed a demonstration of the new version of the Linn Klimax Solo 500 power amplifiers against the original model using exactly the same ancillary components both a digital source and a top spec LP12. To the fi... 
Article: "Do Blind Listening Tests Work? My Sessions with the Colorado Audio Society"
Bias is more general than that. It’s not just about the person involved and could be due to any number of factors. Here is a definition from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme website.   “Bias in research refers to a systematic error that ca... 
Article: "Do Blind Listening Tests Work? My Sessions with the Colorado Audio Society"
When the self proclaimed experts maintained that an ethernet switch couldn’t possibly affect sound quality, I arranged a blind test to satisfy myself it can. It was something I only needed to do once to give me confidence in my own judgement. If ... 
The Sacred Ritual of Vinyl: A Return to Mindful Listening
Call me neurotic if you wish, but I have found that a small change to the layout of my system has disrupted the ritual of listening to vinyl. Previously my turntable was located on a side wall to the right of the listening position. For sound pra... 
Critical listening and altered states
@hilde45  Did you get that copy of Everyday Music Listening from the library? How are you getting on with it? I am finding it quite academic in writing style but interesting. I think it’s going to need repeated reading of some chapters to get the... 
The Sacred Ritual of Vinyl: A Return to Mindful Listening
@unreceivedogma Thank you for starting this thought provoking thread. I did say that I'd come back to it after I given the topic further thought. That turned out to be quite a trip, but here I am again with my response. This is going to be specu... 
Critical listening and altered states
@mahgister  @stuartk  @hilde45 is correct in what he says. Even just listening to music for some people is sufficient to induce altered states of consciousness. No stimulants are needed. This is well documented in the scientific literature. He... 
Critical listening and altered states
If you can achieve this readily, the system has done its job well. Do we need any further evaluation than that? I’d say possibly not. We got there because the mastering was good and the system can correctly reproduce a tune, image well, play deep... 
Critical listening and altered states
@stuartk  Musical absorption is being in altered states of consciousness. As I posted above in the words of AI. "In essence, musical absorption is a fascinating phenomenon where music can profoundly alter an individual’s state of consciousness, ... 
Critical listening and altered states
I just asked Generative AI for more information on Musical Absorption. This is what it came up with. Musical absorption refers to a state of heightened attention and altered consciousness where individuals become deeply immersed in music, experie...