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Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug

Sagacity posted:

$8800 seems like a reasonable price point for a networked media player.

http://www.ayonaudio.com/products/cd-player-dac/network-player/ayon-s-3.html

So gaudy.

What is going on with their CD players?

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Lazlo Nibble
Jan 9, 2004

It was Weasleby, by God! At last I had the miserable blighter precisely where I wanted him!

Sagacity posted:

$8800 seems like a reasonable price point for a networked media player.

http://www.ayonaudio.com/products/cd-player-dac/network-player/ayon-s-3.html

Hey, they had to look through a lot of old Radio Shack catalogs to find the CB radio that inspired its design!

Khablam
Mar 29, 2012
RIGHT OR WRONG, I CAN’T HELP BUT EXPRESS MYSELF LIKE A BRATTY CHILD. DON’T LISTEN TO ME.
Literally looks like something from my cousin would make in his woodshop. He's 14.

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

Somehow I got on the physical mailing like for Mapleshade. The only thing I figure is that Headfi sold my name and address, which is extra strange since they don't have my address. But nevertheless I received a catalog, addressed to me, at my correct address. :tinfoil:

Come, gather round and let's go on a little trip, since said catalog is *gasp* in handy internet form for our mocking and horror.

The catalog starts of well enough, with things like 'CDs that sound better than SACD' (all by artists you have never heard of, and then gets into CD and LP cleaners, and Deoxit stuff for cleaning contacts, and then all of the specialty tube cleaners.

Then things go straight for the audiophile wacky.

Fifty kinds of brass feet to put under your poo poo.

$70 cyrogenically treated wall socket (may or may not burn down your house) check

$700+ 'Time Corrected' wood speaker stand WTF

Power strips that I swear were from the dollar store with the cable cut off and replaced with cellophane. Talk about profit margin. I hope you have good fire insurance. Wait, if you have a home theater you have to get one of the power strips glued down to a wood cutting board.

Cable lifters? Sure, but what about cable spreaders? Yes, they want you to uwrap your power cords and separate the individual wires with motherfucking chopsticks.



Okay, I'm done. I used fourteen gauge goddamned lamp cord to wire my first speakers. Maybe I still have some laying around.

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

Page for the wall outlet posted:

A good-sounding AC wall outlet can be one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck upgrades in audio. Our meticulous listening experiments proved that to make a really good sounding outlet you need to incorporate:

• the thinnest, shortest possible brass contact strips to minimize skin effect

I know it's audiophilia, and thus, loving insane, but I laughed out loud at this part because this is the exact opposite thing you want to do to avoid the "skin effect".

Wikipedia about the skin effect posted:

Because the interior of a large conductor carries so little of the current, tubular conductors such as pipe can be used to save weight and cost.

I'm thinking now I need to make a smear campaign on this guy, and start reselling copper audiophile tubing as wiring. Gon' be rich.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Wasabi the J posted:

I know it's audiophilia, and thus, loving insane, but I laughed out loud at this part because this is the exact opposite thing you want to do to avoid the "skin effect".


I'm thinking now I need to make a smear campaign on this guy, and start reselling copper audiophile tubing as wiring. Gon' be rich.

Not to mention that "skin effect" is only measurable in the multi-GHz range.

Khablam
Mar 29, 2012
RIGHT OR WRONG, I CAN’T HELP BUT EXPRESS MYSELF LIKE A BRATTY CHILD. DON’T LISTEN TO ME.

AlexDeGruven posted:

Not to mention that "skin effect" is only measurable in the multi-GHz range.

Yes, but we know from reading what Audiophiles write, that even sounds you're physically unable to hear can influence the emotional resonance of the music.

Combat Pretzel
Jun 23, 2004

No, seriously... what kurds?!

Wasabi the J posted:

I'm thinking now I need to make a smear campaign on this guy, and start reselling copper audiophile tubing as wiring. Gon' be rich.
We tried extruding insulation on copper tubes for a customer. Unless your extrusion line is completely geometrically serial* for whatever impractical reason, have fun with that. Because it ended up in a comically bad catastrophe over here. Also, audiophiles dig our power cords for whatever reason. Knowing and actually seeing with what little care they're manufactured, I'm rather bewildered about that.

(*: As in no significant diversion-wheels. Just as an example, the extrusion line I work on has around 600 meters of copper in-flight at any given moment.)

Zorak of Michigan
Jun 10, 2006

I got that same catalog. I like the cd player with "...a new version of our proprietary Double Virtual Earth Balanced filter topology with Bessel Coefficients resulting in even greater musicality."

It's been a long time since I studied the physics of music but I'm pretty sure any sound that can be measured can be analyzed and transformed to have Bessel coefficients.

VictualSquid
Feb 29, 2012

Gently enveloping the target with indiscriminate love.

Zorak of Michigan posted:

I got that same catalog. I like the cd player with "...a new version of our proprietary Double Virtual Earth Balanced filter topology with Bessel Coefficients resulting in even greater musicality."

It's been a long time since I studied the physics of music but I'm pretty sure any sound that can be measured can be analyzed and transformed to have Bessel coefficients.
I suppose he means this kind of Bessel coefficients : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessel_filter
It is is something measureable and something that actually makes sense to do. In fact it makes so much sense, that this part is about as informative as saying this thing uses electricity.

longview
Dec 25, 2006

heh.
Except "Virtual Earth" is code word for lovely cheap power transformer with no centre tap so we used an opamp to make our ground reference.

It actually reduces all aspects of the performance since the ground return is actively driven it inherits all the non-linearities of whatever opamp is making the ground. In fact I'm pretty sure using a single supply topology and using capactively coupled outputs actually improves performance compared to a virtual ground.

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

At least they stuck it in the freezer to "cryogenically" treat the CD player.
Maybe I should put all my electronics in the freezer?

What's with the power cables with the blocks of wood with connectors on them? This stuff just makes me :psypop:

longview
Dec 25, 2006

heh.

Ultimate Mango posted:

At least they stuck it in the freezer to "cryogenically" treat the CD player.
Maybe I should put all my electronics in the freezer?

What's with the power cables with the blocks of wood with connectors on them? This stuff just makes me :psypop:

Even my most audiophililiac friends will admit that the only time cable risers make sense is if you have electrically heated floors.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


longview posted:

Even my most audiophililiac friends will admit that the only time cable risers make sense is if you have electrically heated floors.

Nonsense, I'm going to make a fortune creating wires that are held in the air with magnets.

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

Combat Pretzel posted:

We tried extruding insulation on copper tubes for a customer. Unless your extrusion line is completely geometrically serial* for whatever impractical reason, have fun with that. Because it ended up in a comically bad catastrophe over here. Also, audiophiles dig our power cords for whatever reason. Knowing and actually seeing with what little care they're manufactured, I'm rather bewildered about that.

(*: As in no significant diversion-wheels. Just as an example, the extrusion line I work on has around 600 meters of copper in-flight at any given moment.)

I was just talking about regular copper piping, then plastidipping giving them a dielectric shielding treatment, after filling them with silica dioxide to control the low ends, as they "tend to travel deeper in the skin."

Wasabi the J fucked around with this message at 06:28 on May 30, 2013

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

Wasabi the J posted:

I was just talking about regular copper piping, then plastidipping giving them a dielectric shielding treatment, after filling them with silica dioxide to control the low ends, as they "tend to travel deeper in the skin."

This is brilliant. You could set a new high watermark in what can be charged for 'cables.'

Just make sure to use the thinnest possible copper pipe so it can kind of flex. That or offer a line of treated copper pipe junctions so people can plumb up their runs!

Skeleton Ape
Dec 21, 2008



Be sure to use audiophile-grade solder when sweating your speaker pipes.

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

Skeleton Ape posted:

Be sure to use audiophile-grade solder when sweating your speaker pipes.

Soldering heats the molecules too much, exciting them from their natural state, causing highs to become veiled. :colbert:

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Wasabi the J posted:

causing highs to become veiled. :colbert:

gently caress that. I can deal with slightly muddied highs as long as it broadens the soundstage as well, but no way will I deal with veiled highs. I'd rather deal with reduced warmth in the bass than veiled highs.

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

AlexDeGruven posted:

gently caress that. I can deal with slightly muddied highs as long as it broadens the soundstage as well, but no way will I deal with veiled highs. I'd rather deal with reduced warmth in the bass than veiled highs.

Wanna job at my cable company?

Ultimate Mango posted:

This is brilliant. You could set a new high watermark in what can be charged for 'cables.'

Just make sure to use the thinnest possible copper pipe so it can kind of flex. That or offer a line of treated copper pipe junctions so people can plumb up their runs!

I'm just gonna sell them precision wood gripped wiring flexors

Wasabi the J fucked around with this message at 18:55 on May 30, 2013

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Wasabi the J posted:

Wanna job at my cable company?

Sure. I've got some designs that will truly eliminate skin effect while dampening the internal inertia created by the EMR resulting from the bass notes attenuating through the core.

Blistex
Oct 30, 2003

Macho Business
Donkey Wrestler

Skeleton Ape posted:

Be sure to use audiophile-grade solder when sweating your speaker pipes.

Might as well not even try if you're going to spend all that money on Audiophile grade solder and wires, and skimp on ordinary propane! You need Audiophile grade propane! Don't use an electric soldering iron, lose electrons will get stuck in the wire and clog up the music in the cable. Then your cable insulation is going to burst and leak jumbled music all over your carpet.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


What does jumbled music even look like?

Wasabi the J
Jan 23, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

KillHour posted:

What does jumbled music even look like?

grack
Jan 10, 2012

COACH TOTORO SAY REFEREE CAN BANISH WHISTLE TO LAND OF WIND AND GHOSTS!

Ultimate Mango posted:

Somehow I got on the physical mailing like for Mapleshade. The only thing I figure is that Headfi sold my name and address, which is extra strange since they don't have my address. But nevertheless I received a catalog, addressed to me, at my correct address. :tinfoil:

WTF is going on here? : http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EDRIC

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug

quote:

• A further small improvement can be made by “fluffing” the sleeves so they do not lay flat against the whole length of the wire inside the sleeve. You can do this by blowing into one of the RCA plugs. The sleeve will puff up, then partially collapse. The idea here is to keep as much air as possible between the sleeve and the signal wire inside it.

This store rules.

Philthy fucked around with this message at 22:11 on May 30, 2013

longview
Dec 25, 2006

heh.
You would use common air as a dielectric? Feh, FEH I say!

AppleCobbler
Feb 8, 2003
remember that time I was just chilling out and definitely not having a massive meltdown? right guys? guys??? :laugh:

Sagacity posted:

$8800 seems like a reasonable price point for a networked media player.

http://www.ayonaudio.com/products/cd-player-dac/network-player/ayon-s-3.html

its got the same knob setup as my washer/dryer combo. Nice, nice

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

e: f; b but still worth it


Umm it, er, um , eliminates jitter. Somehow


It involves four hours of some kind of treatment with crystals. I think they like put them near special rocks that do stuff. And things.


Its like I understand each word on the page, but I don't understand what they mean together.

gently caress it heres the text:

quote:

Digital Interconnects can ruin or transform the sound of any DAC. Our radically different cable design greatly reduces the main cause of digital harshness, jitter-standard hi-end digital cables increase jitter. At $43, our Ultrathins routinely outperform famous audiophile brand digital wires and optical cables costing $1000 and up. The Double Helix Digital version offers better-defined and sweeter treble, more warmth and about a half octave deeper bass than the Ultrathin.

Design and Performance:

• Ultra-low skin effect due to ultra-thin, single strand conductors.

• High purity copper, drawn and tempered to our specification.

• Absolute minimum dielectric (insulation) losses due to a loose-fitting, thin dielectric sleeve, composed of polymer compounds selected by ear.

• The Double Helix offers a proprietary double helix field-canceling configuration (with our unique grounding scheme) to minimize all signal interactions between the + and – signal conductors.

• The best-sounding RCA connectors available in high-end audio, significantly better sounding than Cardas or WBT and custom-produces to our specification.

• Four hours of our proprietary treatment to modify the crystallographic properties of the copper conductors.

• Chemical treatment of the dielectric sleeve to improve surface conductivity.


INSTALLATION TIPS FOR MAX PERFORMANCE

WARNING: DO NOT USE ANY BREAK-IN DEVICES OF ANY KIND ON OUR WIRES! They will seriously degrade the sound. Use only music to break in our cables.

• Install the interconnects with the double color band plugs toward the music source, provided the source component’s output is in correct absolute phase. If the source component puts out an inverted phase signal, then you need to reverse the interconnect. If not, you will suffer degraded sonic performance.

• Slightly unscrew (clockwise, seen from the rear) the RCA plug’s outer shell (while firmly gripping the base) to make plugging in easier. Then lock the plug by tightening the shell (counterclockwise) until the plug grips the jack firmly. You may have to turn the shell quite hard to lock, because we occasionally get some of our sleeve binding tape onto the shell threads.

• Keep the interconnects away from AC wires, and never running alongside the AC wires. If they need to cross AC wires, have them cross at right angles (approximately). Keep the interconnects away from any plastic; in particular, keep them at least 4 inches away from artificial fiber rugs and plastic wall moldings.

• A further small improvement can be made by “fluffing” the sleeves so they do not lay flat against the whole length of the wire inside the sleeve. You can do this by blowing into one of the RCA plugs. The sleeve will puff up, then partially collapse. The idea here is to keep as much air as possible between the sleeve and the signal wire inside it.


THE PLUS OPTION
Another Step Up

All Clearview wires are available in a PLUS version, using conductors with our new stress-relieved metallurgy. The PLUS Option yields two primary upgrades:

• Decreases brightness and grain in high frequencies, reducing edginess in the upper treble without sacrificing detail; this is particularly noticeable with music coming from a digital source (i.e. CD players, computers, and iPods). The breathiness of singers and flutes, the metallic ring of cymbals is better articulated and less abrasive. PLUS is especially beneficial for digital interconnects sources, significantly reducing listening fatigue.

• PLUS lowers the soundstage noise floor, resulting in a quieter, more blacker background. This makes the most difference in quiet passages: held guitar or piano chords sustain longer and resonate more clearly as they fade into silence. Newly discovered details and nuances emerge from the negative space of the music on good recordings.

For fans of well-recorded acoustic music, small group jazz, or chamber music, we recommend PLUS without hesitation. Listening to loud, compressed recordings, the improvements will be audible but much more subtle.

Gromit
Aug 15, 2000

I am an oppressed White Male, Asian women wont serve me! Save me Campbell Newman!!!!!!!

Page of idiocy posted:

Absolute minimum dielectric (insulation) losses due to a loose-fitting, thin dielectric sleeve, composed of polymer compounds selected by ear.

Are the compounds selected by ear, or the final product? I'm picturing them holding a beaker of molten plastic to their ear and listening to it.
"No mate, this stuff is too bubbly. Do you have anything wider, or perhaps oakey?"

grack
Jan 10, 2012

COACH TOTORO SAY REFEREE CAN BANISH WHISTLE TO LAND OF WIND AND GHOSTS!

Philthy posted:

"fluffing"

I didn't even read that part. Is it bad that I'm now imagining a bunch of audiophiles crawling around on the floor trying to give their AV cables blowjobs? 'Cause the more text you read, the worse it gets.

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

grack posted:

I didn't even read that part. Is it bad that I'm now imagining a bunch of audiophiles crawling around on the floor trying to give their AV cables blowjobs? 'Cause the more text you read, the worse it gets.

Wouldn't you want to fill the plastic bag with like Nitrogen or something? I mean, with all the audiophile stuff about oxygen free cables, exhaling air with both oxygen and moisture from your breath seems like the most anti-audiophile thing to do ever.

Spazzle
Jul 5, 2003

Ultimate Mango posted:

Wouldn't you want to fill the plastic bag with like Nitrogen or something? I mean, with all the audiophile stuff about oxygen free cables, exhaling air with both oxygen and moisture from your breath seems like the most anti-audiophile thing to do ever.

I find that radon212 works best.

grack
Jan 10, 2012

COACH TOTORO SAY REFEREE CAN BANISH WHISTLE TO LAND OF WIND AND GHOSTS!
I could swear that it's actually a Goon-run site.

A site that was founded on a dare to see how much absolute crap they could push and still get audiophiles to buy stuff.

I mean, come on - the "fluffing" bit has to be a dead giveaway, right?

Wild EEPROM
Jul 29, 2011


oh, my, god. Becky, look at her bitrate.
I wonder what happened to patrick82 and the insanity surrounding him (namely, ERS paper and the nordost valhalla cable)

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box



Single conductor for signal and shielding. All that's really needed for digital (digital has 3 states: Full signal, garbage signal, no signal).

The fluffed up insulators is loving hilarious, and with single-strand conductors, these things will be so loving delicate you'd better buy 10 sets because you'll break them if you breathe on your equipment the wrong way.

These guys are brilliant.

AppleCobbler
Feb 8, 2003
remember that time I was just chilling out and definitely not having a massive meltdown? right guys? guys??? :laugh:

grack posted:

I didn't even read that part. Is it bad that I'm now imagining a bunch of audiophiles crawling around on the floor trying to give their AV cables blowjobs? 'Cause the more text you read, the worse it gets.

:spergin: :"Listen to this here..." *stares at you while music plays*
:spergin: : *pauses music*
*gets on floor and starts blowing on tips of cables*
:spergin: : "Now, check this out..." *rewinds music*
:spergin: *stares at you intently waiting for a reaction*

Khablam
Mar 29, 2012
RIGHT OR WRONG, I CAN’T HELP BUT EXPRESS MYSELF LIKE A BRATTY CHILD. DON’T LISTEN TO ME.

grack posted:

I could swear that it's actually a Goon-run site.

A site that was founded on a dare to see how much absolute crap they could push and still get audiophiles to buy stuff.

I mean, come on - the "fluffing" bit has to be a dead giveaway, right?

Herein lies the problem with the audiophile community - you could literally write complete nonsense based on nothing but compounded nonsense linked to pseudoscience, and it would legitimately be the same as everything they claim works.

[audiophile]I mean, there's no evidence "fluffing" does anything .. but have you listened to Test disk #864 through it?
I have, over several days I can tell you there's more room for floating bass and crisper transitions in the highs. Overall the music resonates a deeper yet calmer emotional palette.
[/audiophile]

qirex
Feb 15, 2001

Khablam posted:

Herein lies the problem with the audiophile community - you could literally write complete nonsense based on nothing but compounded nonsense linked to pseudoscience, and it would legitimately be the same as everything they claim works.

[audiophile]I mean, there's no evidence "fluffing" does anything .. but have you listened to Test disk #864 through it?
I have, over several days I can tell you there's more room for floating bass and crisper transitions in the highs. Overall the music resonates a deeper yet calmer emotional palette.
[/audiophile]

I enjoy the fact that even though it's been around for a decade there's people who can't tell that Machina Dynamica is a piss take [a piss take who will send you a jar of air or a ziplock of pebbles if you are dumb enough to buy them].

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Blistex
Oct 30, 2003

Macho Business
Donkey Wrestler

AppleCobbler posted:

:spergin: :"Listen to this here..." *stares at you while music plays*
:spergin: : *pauses music*
*gets on floor and starts blowing on tips of cables*
:spergin: : "Now, check this out..." *rewinds music*
:spergin: *stares at you intently waiting for a reaction*

*gets a loving slap in his mouth and told he's a moron.
*never visits him again.

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