Decadent_Spectre
Well-Known Member
Anyways, do take care
Thank you, you too.
Anyways, do take care
(i didn't go 'there' at all, whatever that means. now that out of the way...)If you want to go there, QM has no theory to explain the mass of the neutrino. QM has no way to reconcile with GR. So is QM bogus or GR?
Absolutely! And let’s not forget other significant variables like synergy between components in the audio chain, the quality of the recording used to evaluate, room acoustics, our hearing ability and listening capabilities all of which are difficult to define, standardise and measure.so wrt. audio, the measurements are not everything and there is more we haven't yet figured out, but we will, with the help of experimental & theoritical scientists, just like the ESS Sabre Dac guy rightly said. until then, measurements like THD, IMD, damping factor, feedback gain, etc. shouldn't be confused with ultimate audio fiedelity (when all else is equal). they are the right steps towards that goal but probably we haven't nailed down ALL the variables that contribute to it. cheers
its not that incredible. If you use Z weighted measurement and have speakers that can produce substantial output in excess of 110db below 20hz in room, measurements will easily come in excess of 110db primarily due to the bass response without being too excessive on the ears.How long have you been listening at this loudness level?
If this figure is measured using a decibel meter, then you may be knowing the warning about losing ear sensitivity. In which case it become all the more surprising that you can hear all the "difference in details" between lossless and mp3
Since you asked an open ended question (perhaps rhetorical but i choose to believe it to be the former), I do care! Whether you care about me caring is another matterSo, is it the DAC that’s the X factor here, or is it that bits don’t matter? Well, here’s a better question - who cares?!? As long as you’re listening to the music, and not your system, all will be well with the world![]()
Yes, I did look at the Zen Stream, albeit briefly. To be honest, I’m a simpleton when it comes to digital audio; terms like Roon and DLNA fill me with dreadI'm curious to know whether you also considered the Ifi Zen Stream since you were looking at a digital source?
100% agree. even then, synergy is still not objective enough for the measurements to capture correct? we still need to understand what these 'objective' variables are which define a perfect synergy (counting the room acoustics out) correct? i feel we are not even there yet. IMHO of course, happy to be corrected.Absolutely! And let’s not forget other significant variables like synergy between components in the audio chain, the quality of the recording used to evaluate, room acoustics, our hearing ability and listening capabilities all of which are difficult to define, standardise and measure.
Objective measurement are a useful starting point for selecting components (eg: For Amp power output and speaker impedance curves and sensitivity matching) But beyond this it’s unfair to expect current measurement indices to predict if we will like the sound or not.
probably there is a reason why AI is coming at arts/craft/snobbery before anything else. low hanging fruits i suppose (speaking as a snob/self proclaimed artist myself)aah once we do that we could also measure objectively as to which RasMalai is tastier and which mango is better !!
( of course its the Mallika !)
Lots of surprises there. When our assumptions are challenged (Hires always sounds better than MP3, Wired streams are always better sounding the BT and so on, it’s a perplexing revelation. I guess after pondering over these a while and getting no satisfactory answers we come to the “who cares as long as I am enjoying my music”I usually don’t get into these ‘x > y’ debates; life is too short to get stuck with a single music format. 85% of my music listening is via original CDs, 5% is via 320 kbps mp3s downloaded from mp3million and burned to CD-R, the rest is via Apple Music. The latter allows me to check out albums I might want to buy, or create playlists for tracks that I won’t. (Yo Yo Honey Singh is reserved for parties where I’d be stoned for playing jazz!)
Till recently, I was hooking up an iPad to the internal DAC in my Cayin tube amp via USB cable and streaming lossless. Since it was a wired connection, this created two problems:
Which is why I decided to pick up an iFi Zen Blue v2 Bluetooth streamer. Sure, I’d be giving up ‘HiRez’ audio for a paltry 256 kbps file, but I really didn’t care. As long as I was discovering new music, the audio quality didn’t matter.
- Changing tracks involved a long trek to the console from my couch potato location.
- At parties, I’d often experience a cardiac arrest as inebriated friends would hover over my setup, refreshing beverage in one hand, stabbing at the ipad with the other as they searched for their favourite tracks.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered that the Bluetooth stream sounded better than the iPad directly connected via USB! In the new setup, the iPad is streaming via BT to the iFi, which in turn is connected to a Denafrips Pontus via coaxial. (For some reason, the iPad to Pontus via USB never worked)
So, is it the DAC that’s the X factor here, or is it that bits don’t matter? Well, here’s a better question - who cares?!? As long as you’re listening to the music, and not your system, all will be well with the world![]()
Quite understandable. It took me the better part of a decade trying to wrap my head around the concept of a digital streamer in an era where Intel NUC PC's existed. And it'll probably take me another or two to understand the function/advantage of Roon.Yes, I did look at the Zen Stream, albeit briefly. To be honest, I’m a simpleton when it comes to digital audio; terms like Roon and DLNA fill me with dreadI felt the streamer would be overkill since I only needed a way to play Apple Music wirelessly. In that respect, the Zen Blue is ridiculously simple to operate; switch on Bluetooth on the iPad, open the Music app and hit play. And, at nearly half the cost of the streamer, the Blue was clearly the Lifebuoy option - sastha, sundar, tikau
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In my limited experience with Roon - 5-6 months odd. There are certain advantages to Roon - for digital media/streaming consumers, specially with a large library of local files. The ability to put it all in one place & not having to run about with multiple softwares/apps etc.Quite understandable. It took me the better part of a decade trying to wrap my head around the concept of a digital streamer in an era where Intel NUC PC's existed. And it'll probably take me another or two to understand the function/advantage of Roon.![]()
I see. That makes sense. On a basic level, i understand that it orqanises the library of local files etc. and provides a single interface to control all roon ready hardware. I used a 3 month trial version of Roon in 2018 which was bundled along with the Chord Mojo. Back then, I found it a bit inconvenient/complicated (can't remember which one) over playing files directly from Apple Music and Spotify. For local files, i was using Windows Media Player in which I had been compiling playlists since 2005 and didn't feel the need an additional interface which had another learning curve. However, as i write this response and try to reason it out, its starting to make more senseIn my limited experience with Roon - 5-6 months odd. There are certain advantages to Roon - for digital media/streaming consumers, specially with a large library of local files. The ability to put it all in one place & not having to run about with multiple softwares/apps etc.
Not commenting on the sound quality - that can be acquired taste, but it does simplify your life to an "extent", it has it's own limitations & requirements & like everything it is not perfect. But anyone with a large local library & Qobuz & Tidal subscriptions - should give it a try once.
The UI makes Qobuz bearable & the way it organises your local music (subjective opinion) can be amazing.
If there are any ZUNE users here - you will remember the ZUNE desktop software UI (even on the device actually), it is very similar to that (lets say inspired), I was always a big fan of that UI.
***I do not use Roon anymore, as I lost almost my entire local collection (barring a 100 or so songs).
***If you are ok with the cost + adding one more device as roon core - give it a try - will be fun.
still, compiler error, missing closing paranthesisLots of surprises there. When our assumptions are challenged (Hires always sounds better than MP3, Wired streams are always better sounding the BT and so on, it’s a perplexing revelation. I guess after pondering over these a while and getting no satisfactory answers we come to the “who cares as long as I am enjoying my music”![]()
BTW aac kills anything above 16khz as far as i know (need to google tomorrow). so if you're not sensitive to that you may not hear a differenceI have had Tidal Subscription for 2 years and I have not yet heard a difference between Hi Res and 256 kbps AAC on Windows Desktop from Apple Music.
Both MP3 and AAC starts killing frequencies above 16 kHz gradually. This can be seen in any spectogram of the music file.BTW aac kills anything above 16khz as far as i know (need to google tomorrow). so if you're not sensitive to that you may not hear a difference
I thought I was the only one who looks into missing brackets, parenthesis, etc. I think people who write programs notice this more often. In fact I must have read that post 2 or 3 times to try locate the closing round brace before giving up.still, compiler error, missing closing paranthesis![]()
yes, but i think aac first does an HPF (correction, LPF) on 16khz on the analog signal and then looks for the compression optimizations, whilst mp3 puts lower weightage on the higher frequencies during encoding. could be wrong thoughBoth MP3 and AAC starts killing frequencies above 16 kHz gradually. This can be seen in any spectogram of the music file.
Bob Carver didn't just stop because he didn't hear any difference between the two systems, he wanted his audience satisfied as well. he created his own contraption to make it happen, worthy goal in my mind:Melody khao khud jaan jaao
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How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?
A hi-def test for your ears (and your audio equipment): Listen to these songs and see if you can tell the difference between an MP3 and an uncompressed audio file.www.npr.org
You’re on the wrong forumI think most people don't notice, because most don't listen intently long enough.
Try to do meditation, how long is it before our mind wanders off ? may be a minute or two .. after training hard for a few weeks one may reach at the most 10 minutes of unbroken concentration ..
I doubt if even hard core audiophiles listen to their music long enough attentively , though low bit rate music is instantly noticeable and irritable.
There is a increasingly lower rate of improvement as bit rate increases, so there is big jump in perceived quality from 128 to 256 , lower jump from 256 to 384, and beyond that most don't care. Is there is an improvement ? Yes, do we care ? No.
To me convenience/better recommendations of Youtube music wins over the lossless streaming services like Apple and Tidal.