item_audio;691675 Wrote: > 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.
"tiny fluctuations", "chaotic feedback loops" - yes, if we're talking about the analogue domain (see my previous post). But please don't apply this to the digital domain, especially in the context of the Squeezebox, which removes the real-time streaming requirement from the server. "Anything that IS different... may sound different" - it is not really possible to argue with this statement, as (with the greatest respect) it is saying nothing at all. All manner of things "may" sound different, but we could easily waste the rest of our lives chasing up blind alleys unless we apply basic scientific reasoning to prioritise our lines of enquiry. On your final paragraph above: I completely disagree. Apparently "hearing" a difference is just about the least solid reason there is for believing there is actually a difference. The arguments have been rehearsed comprehensively in various recent threads, I won't elaborate now. -- darrell ------------------------------------------------------------------------ darrell's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13460 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
