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While I do love mocking audiophiles, I also really like buying second hand audioquest interconnects from them when they invariably feel the need to upgrade. The low end ones are just really aesthetically pleasing and come in nice short lengths and minimize clutter (they sound IDENTICAL to the nanometer thin rca cables that come bundled with things). Also, the type of person to spend 80 dollars on a 2 foot long RCA cable doesn't usually value their money and are really susceptible to haggling.
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May 20, 2018 14:43
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DoesNotCompute posted:(they sound IDENTICAL to the nanometer thin rca cables that come bundled with things).
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May 20, 2018 14:48
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Zereth posted:Didn't somebody do some proper double-blind testing and people couldn't tell the difference between some high end cables and a loving metal coathanger? That is definitely a thing that happened, don't have the link handy but it's well documented. I feel bad second-hand supporting an industry full of lies entirely because I just really like how nice cables look. I'm just a different kind of idiot.
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May 20, 2018 14:55
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Bargearse posted:I gotta admit I rip everything to FLAC because, why the hell not, storage is cheap these days. same I mean, why risk having that one audible artifact 
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May 20, 2018 15:09
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I think buying something because you think it looks nice is perfectly valid.
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May 20, 2018 15:21
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Panty Saluter posted:same Same, because it lets me transcode to whichever new lossy format comes along, with no generational loss.
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May 20, 2018 18:28
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KozmoNaut posted:Same, because it lets me transcode to whichever new lossy format comes along, with no generational loss. Still waiting for widespread Opus support.
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May 20, 2018 18:31
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ntan1 posted:I did not start to worry about FLAC vs 320 mp3 until I started spending quite a bit on headphone audio equipment, and were talking about the thousands. Post your horrible carpet so I can think even less of you.
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May 20, 2018 18:32
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Zereth posted:Didn't somebody do some proper double-blind testing and people couldn't tell the difference between some high end cables and a loving metal coathanger? It's in the thread title. Page 11-12
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May 20, 2018 18:42
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Lowness 72 posted:It's in the thread title. Page 11-12
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May 20, 2018 18:50
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a busted-up mailbox posted:Still waiting for widespread Opus support. You and me both. It's so much better than any other lossy codec in widespread use, except in hardware support.
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May 20, 2018 20:13
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So what should I do with this Ponyo thing? I tried giving it to my half-alien friend, but he likes his Zune.
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May 20, 2018 20:44
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Zereth posted:Didn't somebody do some proper double-blind testing and people couldn't tell the difference between some high end cables and a loving metal coathanger? Here. Dr. Bob Dean posted:We gathered up a 5 of our audio buddies. We took my "old" Martin Logan SL-3 (not a bad speaker for accurate noise making) and hooked them up with Monster 1000 speaker cables (decent cables according to the audio press). We also rigged up 14 gauge, oxygen free Belden stranded copper wire with a simple PVC jacket. Both were 2 meters long. They were connected to an ABX switch box allowing blind fold testing. Volume levels were set at 75 Db at 1000K Hz. A high quality recording of smooth, trio, easy listening jazz was played (Piano, drums, bass). None of us had heard this group or CD before, therefore eliminating biases. The music was played. Of the 5 blind folded, only 2 guessed correctly which was the monster cable. (I was not one of them). This was done 7 times in a row! Keeping us blind folded, my brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnectd them and twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occured, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use. Needless to say, after the blind folds came off and we saw what my brother did, we learned he was right...most of what manufactures have to say about their products is pure hype. It seems the more they charge, the more hyped it is.
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May 20, 2018 21:13
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well they tested at 1000 kHz, no wonder they couldn't hear differences
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May 20, 2018 21:35
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Most wine aficionados can't tell the difference between red and white wine when blindfolded and if you tell them the same wine is from different regions they will swear blind that the glasses taste different. Play the same music clips on the same system but make a big song and dance changing amps between expensive and cheap amps and people will swear blind that they can tell a difference between the sound. The human brain is fantastic at lying to itself.
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May 20, 2018 22:00
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Pfft. Probably didn't even connect the cables in the right direction. Also, what cable risers did he use? That makes a big difference.
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May 21, 2018 02:51
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Also no brilliant pebbles, so the whole thing is bunk
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May 21, 2018 02:55
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TomR posted:I think buying something because you think it looks nice is perfectly valid. It is valid to buy something simply because of aesthetics. Howeverrrrrrrrr these products also claim to be basically magic and if you're buying them because you believe in magic then you're an idiot.
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May 21, 2018 17:42
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Yeah I know, I was mostly thinking of the guy buying used cables knowing full well they are bunk, but that they look cool.
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May 21, 2018 20:45
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Doing something for the sake of convenience, aesthetics, or novelty is completely valid. Insisting against all evidence to the contrary that your choices have affected the performance of your system is fair game for ridicule.
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May 23, 2018 19:33
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Bullshit. Airbrushing a bitchin' flame and putting spinning rims on my speakers absolutely improved the airiness and grip.
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May 23, 2018 21:29
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grack posted:Bullshit. Vacuuming a bitchin' flame into my rug absolutely improved the airiness and grip.
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May 24, 2018 00:52
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Good news if you're looking to buy a Range Rover in the future, they're putting in hi res audio capabilities into their cars! Y'know cars, those perfect listening environments that are super quiet so you can really make use of that extra dynamic range afforded by 24bit audio! Friend just told me they've had a demo and it sounds good. Of course there's nothing to AB test it with and the car's static. What is the point?
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May 30, 2018 13:50
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Olympic Mathlete posted:Good news if you're looking to buy a Range Rover in the future, they're putting in hi res audio capabilities into their cars! Y'know cars, those perfect listening environments that are super quiet so you can really make use of that extra dynamic range afforded by 24bit audio!
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May 30, 2018 13:58
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Oh of course but in practice you'd never be able to tell. It's the old 'fleece the idiot public' thing again.
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May 30, 2018 14:10
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Olympic Mathlete posted:Good news if you're looking to buy a Range Rover in the future, they're putting in hi res audio capabilities into their cars! Y'know cars, those perfect listening environments that are super quiet so you can really make use of that extra dynamic range afforded by 24bit audio! You have to remember most hardcore audiophiles are people with loads of money*. Range Rovers are expensive as gently caress SUVs. There's good crossover here. *Usually.
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May 30, 2018 14:25
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Olympic Mathlete posted:Good news if you're looking to buy a Range Rover in the future, they're putting in hi res audio capabilities into their cars! Y'know cars, those perfect listening environments that are super quiet so you can really make use of that extra dynamic range afforded by 24bit audio! This will be great for listening to my church on AM radio
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May 30, 2018 15:00
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You know what I realized would actually be a legit use for those Bose neck speaker things? Bicycles. As they are classified as vehicles in most jurisdictions, you are not allowed to wear headphones while riding them (though that law is never realistically enforced). Boom, solution! (I'm still not buying them)
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May 31, 2018 15:34
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iospace posted:You know what I realized would actually be a legit use for those Bose neck speaker things? I got some cheapo Amazon bone conduction phones for that purpose. The quality isn't great but its kind of neat to have the sound of inside your head.
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May 31, 2018 17:02
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Why do I need a $350 DAC? https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-airist-audio-r-2r-dac quote:R-2R is known to produce rich, warm, natural sound and can have benefits in spatial awareness and staging. But because this type of design requires expensive high-precision matched resistors (and a lot of them), for a long time, well-implemented R-2R DACs could only be found in $5,000-plus products. More than 2 years in the making, this sign-magnitude DAC has two independent 24-bit ladders with 48 resistors apiece per each of the two channels, which cancel out errors and distortion for purer processing. drat those unnatural numbers in my speakers!
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Jun 8, 2018 18:28
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R-2R is the most easy DAC to make, ever. Takes a bit of space if you're breadboarding it, but it's so freaking simple. So of course someone figured out they could bilk idiots with it.
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Jun 8, 2018 18:56
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DAC chips are like $4 each in bulk for really good ones that go in pro-level audio interfaces, if you must spend a lot of money on one just push the boat out and get a Benchmark, they at least measure better even if they don't sound better.
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Jun 8, 2018 19:20
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Olympic Mathlete posted:Good news if you're looking to buy a Range Rover in the future, they're putting in hi res audio capabilities into their cars! Y'know cars, those perfect listening environments that are super quiet so you can really make use of that extra dynamic range afforded by 24bit audio! Arguably, a car at rest could be a better listening environment than a living room. The speaker locations relative to the seat are precisely known, there's plenty of soft materials on the walls, and the degree of soundproofing that keeps out road noise also blocks background. Of course that's compared to a typical home setup and not someone who cares about Hi Res Audio in the first place.
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Jun 9, 2018 17:07
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Speleothing posted:Arguably, a car at rest could be a better listening environment than a living room. The speaker locations relative to the seat are precisely known, there's plenty of soft materials on the walls, and the degree of soundproofing that keeps out road noise also blocks background. My new company is taking old car chases and installing them into rich peoples houses as listening stations.
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Jun 9, 2018 17:27
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Speleothing posted:Arguably, a car at rest could be a better listening environment than a living room. The speaker locations relative to the seat are precisely known, there's plenty of soft materials on the walls, and the degree of soundproofing that keeps out road noise also blocks background. If you forget the glass sure, glass is pretty terrible acoustically speaking and your head is just surrounded with it.
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Jun 9, 2018 17:38
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Cars are compromised listening environments at best even sat still. I've been in a lot of genuinely great sounding cars but even a relatively budget stereo in a decent room will sound better if only because you can have the speakers in the proper places. ...you get a wicked amount of cabin gain in cars though so you can get some decent sub action on the go.
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Jun 9, 2018 23:56
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DoesNotCompute posted:If you forget the glass sure, glass is pretty terrible acoustically speaking and your head is just surrounded with it. Have you seen the beltlines on cars lately?  Give it 10 years, and there won't be any glass at all - just cameras to see out with.
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Jun 10, 2018 03:55
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To be fair that is one of the more obnoxious examples you could have found. Plus everyone gets SUVs or pickup trucks still.
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Jun 10, 2018 05:44
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I want to see the technology from the flagship Beolab speakers in cars. The speakers have builtin microphones so they constantly listen to themselves and adjust for the environment.
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Jun 11, 2018 11:05
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That already exists (or existed until a few years ago), as the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System, which was an option on the Audi A8 and a handful of other high-end cars. It sounded absolutely astoundingly good, but they just couldn't compete with the brand recognition of Burmester on the high end, and Bose, Infinity and so on, in the mid-range segment.
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Jun 11, 2018 11:38
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