TheLastMan;573634 Wrote: > The fact that he does not understand that makes me completely lose faith > in Malcolm Steward as a reviewer as he clearly does not understand > hi-fi, let alone computers! > > I think a lot of hi-fi journalists are technically incompetent and very > "suggestible". Sound quality is so subjective and open to psychological > bias that a clear understanding of the technical aspects of sound > reproduction is essential in order to be aware of what is likely, and > unlikely, to affect sound quality - and to what extent. > > ...
I have to agree - I'm losing faith in pretty much all of them when they turn to Digital Audio and NMP's in particular. Even those who are quite cogent when talking about analogue gear and even fairly scientific in their approach completely fall to pieces and start rambling inanely when faced with NMP's or anything with a computer anywhere near it. If I was really cynical, I'd suspect a conspiracy to spread NMP FUD through the community. I just find it bizarre that NONE of them can get to grips with the rudiments of the technology involved - let alone communicate accurately with their audience. I'm not picking any individuals out here because they ALL do it!. I can just about tolerate their endless - and seemingly boundless - praise for vinyl, despite them all knowing that all these super new pressings they are spending a fortune on have all been cut from digital masters (ADC'd from the masters or remixed from the multi-tracks - they've all been digitized en route). I can tolerate it because cutting/pressing the vinyl can create a sound that many people like. Accurate - no. Nice sounding - yes. But when they get on to the sound of Sata cables... on an TCP/IP based interface... oh dear. What next? Disk Drives, m-boards, routers, ethernet cable...? And as for the pearl of wisdom that goes "All digital signals are intrinsically analogue..." so must be subject to all the paranoia that goes with looking after the analogue signal (cables etc). Well "no sh*t, Sherlock" - You've just missed the entire point. In the TRUE digital domain of computer interfaces (ie NOT the nightmare that is s/pdif) it doesn't matter, because as with most things to do with computers, they either work reliably or they don't. There isn't a middle ground where they can be made to deliver "better information". There is NO subjectivity here. Computers are 100% deterministic. They either work or they don't. Period. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal... Touch(wired/XP) - TACT 2.2X (Linear PSU) + Good Vibrations S/W - MF Triplethreat(Audiocom full mods) - Linn 5103 - Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Pekin Tuner, Townsend Supertweeters, Blue Jeans Digital,Kimber Speaker & Chord Interconnect cables Kitchen Boom, Outdoors: SB Radio, Harmony One remote for everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=81499 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
