totoro;693725 Wrote: > The programs we are talking about are rippers. If two rippers (of the > standard sort that the TAS people are talking about, that used standard > library functions to write data to disc) write out bit-identical files, > if there are any differences at all due to the location on disc, etc, > etc, then those differences BY DEFINITION have nothing to do with the > behavior of the rippers. The TAS people even admitted that the files > were bit identical. Note that we could change the locations by simply > moving the files: would these differences still exist? Would they then > be due to the move? They clearly wouldn't be because of different > behavior by the rippers.
You have to, in this case, play the thing to hear any difference. I would posit that any possible difference that might be there is due to the way the player reads and plays the file. I don't buy there is any hidden information in the file. You might note I indicated extreme fragmentation of the file I wrote and tested against a contiguous file. When I say extreme I mean to a degree that is utterly unlikely to occur in normal operation. Also, I sent the file to a locally attached DAC, not over the network, which would, I suspect, have eliminated any difference. Still, it is a reproducible and easily duplicated test that will show up differences in the sound of the playback of two bit for bit identical files. As I indicated, I am highly skeptical of the TAS article and it's authors. But, there are people who are reporting similar phenomena, and some of these folks have a lot more credibility. Not only that, but it is not just one or two peoe "alone in the dark"- but a dozen or so. I am not ready to dismiss the possibility as swamp gas. Yet. > I might or might not, depends what the conclusions I made were. I've > certainly been wrong about things before, and had people tell me so: > not sure why I would be so quick to reject someone telling me such a > thing if it was about an effect I was already dubious of. Perhaps. However, in this thread, just by saying I can hear a difference in two USB cables between a particular machine and a particular DAC, I have been told I have been brainwashed by a cult. :) To but that in perspective, I was irritated when I found I could hear a difference, and enlisted my wife to help disprove what I thought I heard. With suitable blind testing, I was able to identify each cable 19 out of 20 times. In the process, my wife decided she could hear a difference, and when we switched places, she identified the correct cable 20 out of 20 times, blindly. More, over the next few weeks, I switched the cables randomly, and almost very time, she noticed the switch with no prompting or cues from me. Got to the point it pissed her off each time I switched them around, in fact. :D Note please, that was enough to convince me to trust my own ears, at least when judging USB cables in this particular situation! > Not sure that either people are capable in general of detecting > bullshit, or that it's strictly relevant here.[/] > > I am, but you are welcome to your point of view and own opinion here. > That is the point of what I am arguing anyway! > > > > > > Honestly, I don't even care all that much about this sort of anecdotal > > evidence. It just isn't relevant in any engineering related field. If > > it's reproducible in a controlled manner, then it can be discussed. > > Otherwise, we may as well be talking about pixie dust.> > > > That's what I said about learning to weld, but I still had to do that > to be able to "Software Engineer" behind my name. Don't know if they > still make the kids do that, but I hope so. Anomalous events lead to > great discoveries, both in theory as well as in practical terms. > Sometimes. > > > > > They THINK they hear a difference. They may or may not actually hear a > > difference. There is a literature on this stuff. Confirmation bias is > > often the most likely explanation, and unless it's ruled out, there > > isn't a lot of point even bothering. > > > > Here we fundamentally differ. If someone thinks they hear a > difference, then they do hear a difference. It is just asinine to say > the don't, and serves no purpose. > > Unless that 'someone' is a company or trying to sell you something, > or trying to come off as an authority, or tell you what to do, or > something along those lines. Then it is just good sense. > > As for USB cables, try some. if you personally do or do not hear a > difference, I will believe you. :) I do not actually find you > abrasive. I am a little amused that some would equate me with Xinu or > whatever, over a USB cable. > > Have you tried listening to different cables to see if you hear a > difference? > > Paul -- paul.raulerson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ paul.raulerson's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=50346 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
