Archimago;689989 Wrote: > Hi Phil, > I certainly appreciate the photography analogy since I'm heavily > involved in that world as well. > > Upgrading to better audio gear for playback is like buying a better > monitor to show off one's pictures in full resolution, better color > depth, improved contrast... There are obviously good monitors and bad > ones that cannot be properly calibrated or have deficient specs. > > When we take photos, we never hear photographers say that the same shot > will somehow look different if the file is on an SD/CF/memory stick, or > 8x CF is better than 32x. Likewise, nobody is concerned if I have a > crappy slow USB1 card reader or super-duper USB3 reader... God forbid > archiving your precious wedding/baby/family/vacation photos to CD! > > However, they believe that copying a WAV file off a CD drive 1x vs. 16x > makes a difference when they KNOW it's an exact bit-perfect copy. > Imagine the hilarity at a photo club if I announced that one > should/must use only slow Lexar CF cards, USB1 cards readers, and a > computer that is underclocked to 1GHz, otherwise the pictures cannot be > transferred safely with "full resolution"! "I swear, even though the > files are exactly the same, this one looks better my friends because it > was saved with a Lexar card!" > > Yet, this is the kind of GITB (Ghost In The Bit) delusion being > perpetuated in mainstream audio? > > I think it would be fascinating to survey how many 'audiophiles' > believe this nonsense. I wonder if reputable manufacturers ever > complain to the magazines (or better yet withdraw ads so as not to be > associated with these psychotic articles)?
I must admit, I can't imagine a mechanism by which identical stored data can materially be different from the same data stored elsewhere. We're in safely trodden 'internet would break' territory here. Surely, moving files from A to B, bits are bits. Moving on... Equally inescapably, though, when you chain together a bunch of boards and power supplies and thousands of noise-producing components, they are creating a very complex electrical environment, in which tiny fluctuations and amplified and broadcast, creating chaotic feedback loops. Anything that IS different in that environment may sound different. So, FLAC v WAV? Same data, of course. But a different realtime playback environment because of on-the-fly decompression and different file handling. ITunes v JPlay? Again, same data, modified playback environment. Mac v Windows? Same data, dissimilar playback environment. Clean linear v noisy stock Squeezebox power supply? Same data, not the same stuff happening during music reproduction at all. Logically, inevitably, if it IS different, it IS different. Whether those differences are audible, measurable, important, or expensive are all separate or even unrelated questions. Saying that you hear these differences rests on the most solid foundation, even if you're overestimating your acuity or simply kidding yourself. -- item_audio ------------------------------------------------------------------------ item_audio's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=51315 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=93549 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
