Ridicule Audiophiles - Find the cat shit's resonant frequency

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Ridicule Audiophiles - Find the cat shit's resonant frequency

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Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

lol if you don't also have a $350k scope to debug those cables

# ? Apr 16, 2017 15:03

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 23:56

Combat Pretzel: Jun 23, 2004; No, seriously... what kurds?!

What the gently caress is going on in this thread?!

# ? Apr 17, 2017 00:50

metallicaeg: Nov 28, 2005; Evil Red Wings Owner Wario Lemieux Steals Stanley Cup

Combat Pretzel posted:

What the gently caress is going on in this thread?!

It's come full, oxygen free, solid core silver circle over USB.

# ? Apr 17, 2017 02:46

Palladium: May 8, 2012; Very Good
✔️✔️✔️✔️

Combat Pretzel posted:

What the gently caress is going on in this thread?!

"What do you mean I'm trolling? I'm just only asking sincere questions!"

# ? Apr 17, 2017 06:09

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Panty Saluter posted:

if it makes you happy it's not a waste of money

TCC is thataway -->

# ? Apr 18, 2017 09:29

KillHour: Oct 28, 2007

Wait, so my understanding is you're not allowed to have speakers at work so you're trying to find a pair of speakers your boss won't notice. But not to use them as speakers; just to stick it to your boss without him knowing.

# ? Apr 18, 2017 12:46

pgroce: Oct 24, 2002

KillHour posted:

Wait, so my understanding is you're not allowed to have speakers at work so you're trying to find a pair of speakers your boss won't notice. But not to use them as speakers; just to stick it to your boss without him knowing.

"I want speakers for work, but they'll never play anything at work, they're just for me to show off. But my boss can't know they're there, so they have to be invisible."

You can stop now, you already have your perfect speakers.

If you want to get the full audiophile experience, you may wish to throw $1500 in a shredder.

# ? Apr 18, 2017 17:25

Theris: Oct 9, 2007

Courtesy of the YOSPOS secfuck thread:

OSI bean dip posted:

brace yourselves

https://twitter.com/tumult/status/855082563395768321

# ? Apr 20, 2017 21:51

metallicaeg: Nov 28, 2005; Evil Red Wings Owner Wario Lemieux Steals Stanley Cup

How many times do they listen to the same smooth jazz track recorded live in a barn for that authentic soundstage experience to determine which of their identical digital sound playback methods are best?

# ? Apr 20, 2017 22:00

Combat Pretzel: Jun 23, 2004; No, seriously... what kurds?!

Theris posted:

Courtesy of the YOSPOS secfuck thread:

Errr...

THE.

gently caress.

# ? Apr 20, 2017 23:49

Collateral Damage: Jun 13, 2009

Theris posted:

Courtesy of the YOSPOS secfuck thread:

That physically hurts my brain to read.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 00:04

well why not: Feb 10, 2009

just get a pair of $50 logitech speakers and post me the remaining $1450, I'll try and smooth it over with your boss for you.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 10:31

KozmoNaut: Apr 23, 2008; Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle

We haven't talked about audiophile power outlets in a while.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/75093/studies-on-residential-power-line-noise-part-5-ps-audio-power-port-premier

Some guy on r/audiophile posted that link as proof that expensive power outlets make a difference.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 13:05

evobatman: Jul 30, 2006; it means nothing, but says everything!; Pillbug

KozmoNaut posted:

We haven't talked about audiophile power outlets in a while.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/75093/studies-on-residential-power-line-noise-part-5-ps-audio-power-port-premier

Some guy on r/audiophile posted that link as proof that expensive power outlets make a difference.

300 hour break in.

That's genius, just say that you won't notice any difference (or it will sound bad) for so long that whoever bought it will forget they even have it or what it's supposed to do before it's supposed to be ready.

Just like you have to leave your Playstation turned on for 3-4 days before playing a CD on it so that it will REALLY warm up.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 14:59

metallicaeg: Nov 28, 2005; Evil Red Wings Owner Wario Lemieux Steals Stanley Cup

"Even though I have a fairly good theoretical grasp of what's going on, part of my mind intuitively wants to use the AC receptacles that came with my house and the power cords that came with my audio equipment and the dirty, filthy, yet very expensive, power that I get from the utility company."

"The P3's had current running through them continually since I leave my power amps on 24/7 and they draw 2 amps of idle current."

# ? Apr 21, 2017 16:00

Josh Lyman: May 24, 2009

Maximum audio quality isn't reached until you Power your entire audio system with DC power from lithium ion batteries charged by solar panels.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 16:54

taqueso: Mar 8, 2004

Josh Lyman posted:

Maximum audio quality isn't reached until you Power your entire audio system with DC power from lithium ion batteries charged by solar panels.

Lithium Ion?? WTF. Only carbon dry cells.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 16:58

Dr. Fishopolis: Aug 31, 2004; ROBOT

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

eh... it's more of a "this is really hard to hide, and if the boss sees it, questions will be asked" sort of deal.
I tried putting a pair of Beovox s80.2's on my desk for a few days and he blew a loving gasket. They weren't even connected to anything, they were just there while I made space to bring them home.

what the gently caress

why exactly are you buying new speakers specifically to antagonize your boss with?

# ? Apr 21, 2017 17:18

josh04: Oct 19, 2008; "THE FLASH IS THE REASON
TO RACE TO THE THEATRES"
_{This title contains sponsored content.}

KozmoNaut posted:

We haven't talked about audiophile power outlets in a while.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/75093/studies-on-residential-power-line-noise-part-5-ps-audio-power-port-premier

Some guy on r/audiophile posted that link as proof that expensive power outlets make a difference.

If you keep scrolling down they have the plug socket cryogenically frozen, compare this to cryogenic freezing of woodwind instruments, and report that it ruins the sound.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 17:27

Combat Pretzel: Jun 23, 2004; No, seriously... what kurds?!

quote:

Since the power signal is interacting with the P3 at the molecular and atomic level, we would need to take measurements at that level to fully understand what is going on.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

# ? Apr 21, 2017 21:25

GnarlyCharlie4u: Sep 23, 2007; I have an unhealthy obsession with motorcycles.

Proof

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

what the gently caress

why exactly are you buying new speakers specifically to antagonize your boss with?

NO I'm trying to NOT antagonize him this time.

Anywho I figured it out...
I'm buying a pair of Electrostatic panels and disguising them as part of my cubicle wall.

# ? Apr 21, 2017 22:45

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

.
I'm buying a pair of Electrostatic panels and disguising them as part of my cubicle wall.

I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around why you would get them if they aren't going to be used.

However, this:

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

.
I'm buying a pair of Electrostatic panels and disguising them as part of my cubicle wall.

You went a step too far. You have to be trolling.

# ? Apr 22, 2017 02:13

KozmoNaut: Apr 23, 2008; Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle

Pono is dead.

quote:

Neil Young (PonoMusic)

It�s time to talk about Pono and the initiative we all started. As you know, together we�ve been fighting a battle to bring high quality music back to the world that�s become used to mediocre, hollowed-out files. The cause seemed to be a win-win for everyone. The artists would allow their fans to hear what they hear in the studios, and the music lovers would hear the music the best it could be. This cause has been something I�ve written and talked about for over 20 years. I cared and I assumed that most of the world would care.

It�s been almost five years since we kicked off the campaign at SXSW to offer a player and download content that could fulfill my dream of bringing to you a music experience unlike any other for the cost. Thanks to our supporters on Kickstarter, the follow-on customers and some very good friends that supported the effort, we delivered on that promise. Our player won best digital portable product of the year from Stereophile Magazine, and we offered some of the best high resolution content to be found anywhere. We sold tens of thousands of players, every unit that we made. Thanks for that!

But, despite that success, I was not satisfied. I had to put up with lots of criticism for the high cost of music delivered in the way all music should be provided, at full resolution and not hollowed out. I had no control over the pricing, but I was the one that felt the criticism, because I was the face of it. And I pretty much agreed with the criticism. Music should not be priced this way.

Last year when Omnifone, our download store partner, was bought and shut down with no notice by Apple, we began work with another company to build the same download store. But the more we worked on it, the more we realized how difficult it would be to recreate what we had and how costly it was to run it: to deliver the Pono promise, meaning you�d never have to buy the same album again if was released at a higher quality; the ability to access just high res music, and not the same performances at lower quality, and the ability to do special sales. Each of these features was expensive to implement.

I also realized that just bringing back the store was not enough. While there was a dedicated audience, I could not in good conscience continue to justify the higher costs. When it comes to high res, the record industry is still broken. The industry was such that even when I wanted to remaster some of the great performances from my artist friends at high res, Pono had to pay thousands of dollars for each recording, with little expectation of getting the money back. Record companies believe they should charge a premium for high res recordings and conversely, I believe all music should cost the same, regardless of the technology used.

As you might imagine, I found it difficult to raise more money for this model: delivering quality music at a premium price to a limited audience that felt they were being taken advantage of with the high costs.

So now, sadly with Pono offline, for more than eight months I�ve been working with our small team to look for alternatives. Finding a way to deliver the quality music without the expense and to bring it to a larger audience has been our goal.

That effort has led to a technology developed by Orastream, a small company in Singapore that we�ve been working with. Together we created Xstream, the next generation of streaming, an adaptive streaming service that changes with available bandwidth. It is absolutely amazing because it is capable of complete high resolution playback. Unlike all other streaming services that are limited to playing at a single low or moderate resolution, Xstream plays at the highest quality your network condition allows at that moment and adapts as the network conditions change. It�s a single high resolution bit-perfect file that essentially compresses as needed to never stop playing. As a result, it always sounds better than the other streaming services and it never stops or buffers like other higher res services. When you play it at home with WiFi it can play all established low and high resolutions, including the highest, and thousands more levels of resolution in between. When you are in your car with poor cellular it might play better than an existing low res service, but at a location where robust wifi is available Xstream supports high resolution listening. Xstream is one file, streaming for all with 15,000 seamlessly changing levels of playback quality.

So, this is what we�ve been working on. But one of my conditions is that it should not have a premium price. I�ve insisted that there be no premium price for this service. Pono tried that with downloads and it�s not a good model for customers. And I�ve told the labels it�s not a good model for them to charge a premium for music the way it was meant to be heard. I firmly believe that music is in trouble because you can�t hear it the way it is created unless you pay a premium. No one gets to hear the real deal, so the magic of music is compromised by limited technology.

Good sounding music is not a premium. All songs should cost the same, regardless of digital resolution. Let the people decide what they want to listen to without charging them more for true quality. That way quality is not an elitist thing. If high resolution costs more, listeners will just choose the cheaper option and never hear the quality. Record companies will ultimately lose more money by not exposing the true beauty of their music to the masses. Remember, all music is created to sound great and the record labels are the one�s deciding to not offer that at the normal price. The magic of music should be presented by the stewards of that music at a normal price. Let listeners decide on the quality they want to purchase without pricing constraints.

I�ve been meeting with and speaking with the labels, potential partners such as the carriers, and other potential investors. For many it�s a difficult sell. There are already streaming services, some doing well and others not. While there�s nothing as good as Xstream, or as flexible and adaptive, it�s still proven a difficult sell for companies to invest in.

So, in my experience, today�s broken music industry continues to make major mistakes, but we are still trying. Bringing back the magic of great sound matters to the music of the world.

Thank you all very much for supporting Pono and quality audio. Thanks to everyone who is or was associated with Pono, especially the customers who supported us. Thanks to Charlie Hansen and Ayre Acoustics for the great PonoPlayer. It has been a labor of love. I want you to know that I�m still trying to make the case for bringing you the best music possible, at a reasonable price, the same message we brought to you five years ago. I don�t know whether we will succeed, but it�s still as important to us as it ever was.

Thankfully, for those of my audience who care and want to hear all the music, every recording I have ever released will soon be available in Xstream high resolution quality at my complete online archive. Check it out. We will be announcing it very soon.

Neil Young

# ? Apr 23, 2017 13:49

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

That didn't last long.

# ? Apr 23, 2017 14:06

GonadTheBallbarian: Jul 23, 2007

Rest in piss

# ? Apr 23, 2017 14:40

Palladium: May 8, 2012; Very Good
✔️✔️✔️✔️

TomR posted:

That didn't last long.

What do you mean by the rich, delusional, one-foot-in-the-grave demographic ain't big enough to support a niche and pointless market?

You don't say.

# ? Apr 23, 2017 14:45

Khablam: Mar 29, 2012

Love the passive aggressive sign off.
"I care but no one else does"

Hmm, I wonder if there was another reason a service charging massively inflated prices for audioformats no one has been able to ABX failed?

# ? Apr 23, 2017 15:28

D1E: Nov 25, 2001

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/basslet/the-basslet-a-wearable-subwoofer-for-your-body

The watch-size subwoofer. Delivers bass directly to your body � for a powerful music experience that headphones alone cannot provide.

# ? Apr 23, 2017 15:30

Theris: Oct 9, 2007

Given his age and career, how likely is it that Niel Young could even hear the difference between a CD and a 64kbps MP3 recorded from a third generation analog cassette that had been high speed dubbed on the cheapest deck you could buy in 1982?

# ? Apr 23, 2017 16:14

GonadTheBallbarian: Jul 23, 2007

Theris posted:

Given his age and career, how likely is it that Niel Young could even hear the difference between a CD and a 64kbps MP3 recorded from a third generation analog cassette?

# ? Apr 23, 2017 16:16

Khablam: Mar 29, 2012

Theris posted:

Given his age and career, how likely is it that Niel Young could even hear the difference between a CD and a 64kbps MP3 recorded from a third generation analog cassette?

Reasonable. Of course, hyperbole aside, if you know the person is old you can tweak the encode; run a lowpass filter at 13khz or so and just encode below that.
Anyone in their 70's is going to be fooled by lossy files by 160kbs every time.

# ? Apr 23, 2017 16:18

polyester concept: Mar 29, 2017

I don't understand his sudden hate for compressed digital audio, which is the highest quality it has ever been in history. Why wasn't he championing against cassettes when they were the #1 selling portable format? A format that's arguably the worst sounding mass produced format in history (besides maybe 8 track). Of course there's no point in trying to figure out his logic, you can't reason with crazy.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 02:53

qirex: Feb 15, 2001

A lot of crusty rock dudes hated cassettes, mostly because they'd have to re-order the tracks and tiny liner notes.

e: Also because home taping stole all the money their record label wasn't paying them anyway.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 05:44

well why not: Feb 10, 2009

I can understand why he hates the idea of a 'Premium' quality charge, but honestly Spotify et al sound pretty great even without the higher quality options. We're along way away from napster/kazaa/limewire mp3 rips.

Between that and the crashing prices of good quality headphones, music has probably never been better sounding.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 11:30

Palladium: May 8, 2012; Very Good
✔️✔️✔️✔️

well why not posted:

I can understand why he hates the idea of a 'Premium' quality charge, but honestly Spotify et al sound pretty great even without the higher quality options. We're along way away from napster/kazaa/limewire mp3 rips.

Between that and the crashing prices of good quality headphones, music has probably never been better sounding.

But-but-but lemme tell you how lovely lossy audio is because it doesn't perform perfectly in the most pathological test scenario ever imaginable, which will never be encountered in real-world usage.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 11:51

KozmoNaut: Apr 23, 2008; Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle

A lot of people are stuck in a mindset that MP3 (all lossy formats) = lovely Napster downloads. Back in the day, a lot of encoders did produce really lovely-sounding files.

But that was 15+ years ago, and the encoders have improved an incredible amount, but people still cling to the idea that MP3 = poo poo. Those same people often also glorify the LP, even though it has objectively worse sound quality than a high-bitrate MP3 file.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 11:56

Khablam: Mar 29, 2012

There was little to no financial benefit in making GBS threads on cassette quality, so he didn't.
There is a benefit to trying to create the definitive "audiophile music source", so he did.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 14:11

Josh Lyman: May 24, 2009

why stop at 24/192 when you could do 64/1024?

# ? Apr 24, 2017 14:16

D1E: Nov 25, 2001

Josh Lyman posted:

why stop at 24/192 when you could do 64/1024?

I take it you wageslave plebescrub common people are not familiar with DSD or DXD audio files then?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Stream_Digital

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_eXtreme_Definition

If you don't already have a DAC capable of natively playing these formats then I can only laugh at your poverty and ignorance.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 14:39

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 23:56

Endless Mike: Aug 13, 2003

I encode all my MP3s in 69/420.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 14:40

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Ridicule Audiophiles - Find the cat shit's resonant frequency

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