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  #401   Report Post  
Michael McKelvy
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"Harry Lavo" wrote in message
...
"Michael McKelvy" wrote in message
...
"Harry Lavo" wrote in message
news:t6YKc.120975$%_6.14466@attbi_s01...
"t.hoehler" wrote in message
news:9mXKc.120706$%_6.77017@attbi_s01...


Ditto the above, especially if he switched from open-reel to DAT and
didn't
notice a difference (other than, arguably, convenience). I record

using
both, and the DAT's (Panasonic 3700's) definitely "lean out" and
"sharpen"
the sound compared to tape and live feed (albeit this is subtle).

DAT and CD-R are wonderful archiving tools. They are not the last

word
in
sound reproduction media.

But Harry, they _are_ the last word, for when all the vinyl is too
worn

to
play back, then our archived CD's or digital what have you's _will_
be
the
de facto standard. I realize that to this day, we are finding better

and
better ways to play back the 78 rpm format, and that is heartening.
BUT,
there is a fidelity limit with 78's and when you hit that wall,
brother,
you
have hit that wall. Same way with LP's. There is a limit to their
fidelity,
especially if that rare vinyl has some play on it, and the previous
playback
was done with equipment not kind to vinyl. Once the damage to the

grooves
is
done, it's done. All the hand wringing, all the super duper arms,
carts,
stable tables, magic moon rocks etc etc are NOT going to bring back
the
limited fidelity that was there in the first place. Sorry, but that's

the
plain truth, and no hoping and wishing will make it any different. So

get
cracking and transfer that vinyl before it's too late! This ain't

the
fifties anymore, can't just run down to Tower Records and pick up a
pristine
copy of that old LP.
Regards,
Tom


Can't argue with you in theory, but the records and original tapes I
have
recorded to DAT lose enough that I have stopped and am exploring other
options...going directly to HD at 96k or perhaps to a Masterlink and
then

to
96k 24 bit disks. My beef isn't digital per se although it is only at
the
very highest level that it can compete with analog; it is the 44.1 /
16bit
CD standard per se as exemplified by the 3700 which I object to as

"perfect
sound forever".

Utter nonsense, be brave do a double blind comparison of 44.1 compared
to
any other digital format and see if you can tell any difference.

As to Vinyl vs CD think of the difference between VHS and DVD, that's
the
difference between LP and CD. Everything on the CD is cleaner sharper
and
more real.


With all due respect, that is your opinion but one I do not share.

But you're basing your opinion on the least reliable way to form it.

As to double blind, it is very difficult to do with LP because there is
always some noise artifact to give it away.


That's only one of it's may problems, it should however be possible to find
passages where the surface noise is masked by the signal.

But I have done a lot of
level-matched comparisons, and done them for friends / fellow audiophiles
who were predisposed to CD (some of whom didn't even own vinyl...then..but
do now). Flawed as the comparison may have been in your eyes, it made
believers out of them.


If the were competently done and that's their preference, so be it. The
problem I have is most such preferences are based on none or incompetently
done comparisons.

  #402   Report Post  
chung
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

B&D wrote:

On 7/24/04 1:10 PM, in article 5KwMc.178294$XM6.4228@attbi_s53, "Stewart
Pinkerton" wrote:

This "no compression"pattern
thankfully is being restored via SACD and DVD-A recordings.


Hooey. There are no *master* tapes which even approach the dymaic
range of CD, so there's no advantage in 24 bits over 16 in a world
where the master tape has only 14 bits of range (at the very most).


The advantage is usually in the mastering and cleanup process. It will
usually be audible since the engineer won't have to "eat" into the effective
audible dynamic range.


You may want to read the Lip****z article on a comparsion done between
the output of a 16-bit digital recorder and that of a high-end vinyl
rig. Do a Google search on "Lip****z" article on this ng.

  #403   Report Post  
Nousaine
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

chung wrote:

Harry Lavo wrote:
"chung" wrote in message


.....snip......
And are you suggesting that all those vinyl lovers who believe in the
accuracy of vinyl all have very neutral and fine phone systems that
sound the same?


I have no way of knowing that, for sure. But I do know that most MC
cartridges can be made to be reasonable "flat" with proper loading, and
their manufacturers are not loath to give out the proper information. I
also know that nowadays, there are many good (read "neutral") turntables

and
arms out there compared to the past, and a de facto standardization on
medium mass arms for MC's. So it wouldn't surprise me if many of them
weren't in the ballpark.


If I understand you correctly, by your focus on MC cartridges, you have
eliminated the MM cartridges as contenders for accuracy? There goes a
significant precentage of vinyl rigs, right there. I guess the Shure V15
family of cartridges, which used to be very highly rated via
measurements and subjective reviews, just don't cut it (pun unintended)
anymore. And by the time you eliminate certain turntables and tonearms,
and then various preamps and amps, what is the chance of another
vinylist having the same sounding vinyl rig as yours? And we have not
even got to the careful set-up, or the conditions of the LP's yet.


About 3 years ago PSACS had a former Shure design engineer give a talk about
his experience with cartridge design. He said that in the 70s Shure hand-built
a one-off prototype moving coil that had exactly the same performance as the
then-current V15.

Interestingly he said that in bias-controlled listening tests nobody could tell
one from the other; which was one of the reasons Shure never bothered with
producing a Moving Coil cartridge.

  #404   Report Post  
S888Wheel
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

Absolute Sound
From: chung
Date: 7/24/2004 7:27 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

S888Wheel wrote:

From: chung

Date: 7/22/2004 3:35 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

S888Wheel wrote:

From:
(Nousaine)
Date: 7/19/2004 3:38 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

(S888Wheel) wrote:



From: "Bob Marcus"

Date: 7/14/2004 8:30 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: 1kcJc.76426$MB3.32199@attbi_s04

B&D wrote:

On 7/13/04 6:45 PM, in article
, "John
Atkinson" wrote:

Please note that I am not defending this amplifier's performance.
I am only pointing out that those on this forum who condemn its
sound without actually having heard it are shooting in the dark.

And herein lies the problem - people on this group are quick to

condemn
based upon a data sheet rather than trying it out.

Some of us have heard highly distorting systems with massive bass humps


before. We don't need to listen to another one to know we won't like

it.

bob


Let me get this straight, you can look at the the measurements of the
WAVAC
and
from those measurements you can determine with a reasonable level of
certainty
that you have heard a *system* that sounded so similar to the *system*

MF
reported on in his review that you wouldn't require an audition to form

an
opinion on it's sonic merits?

Absolutely.

Seems like a pretty outrageous claim to me. Feel free to prove it.

I wish you would demand the same degree of "rigor" from those making
fantastic claims like cables requiring break-in.


Why? Do you feel objectivists claims require less rigor?


I guess not, but that is neither here nor there. Note that I said the
"same degree"...


It was still a targeted wish.



You seem to be taking
Tom at his word that he can tell what MF's system sounds like without

hearing
it.


I take Tom's word that he knows the sonic merits, or lack thereof, of
the Wavav amp.


I guess some people can be taken for their word while others need to provide
results from DBTs to be trusted.



I take Tom's word that he could tell what distortion and bass bumps
sound like.

Now do you not believe Tom's ability to tell what those errors sound like?


I do not believe he knows what MF's system in MF's listening room sounds like
with the WAVACs in that system. Of course if someone wishes to arrange a test
I'll happily place a wager on my opinion.





Anyone who has any understanding of amplifiers will appreciate the
significance of the following:

1. Huge bass bump at around 80 Hz.

2. High output impedance.

3. 10% distortion at 20 Hz (8 ohm tap, 8 ohm load).

4. 5% distortion at 15W output, 1KHz. 2.2% at 2W. (8 ohm tap, 8 ohm

load.)

5. Huge intermodulation distortion at 2.5W output.

6. Significant AC spurious components.

Most of us would say that you do not need an audition to form an opinion
of the sonic merits of that amp,


I am aware of that. Most of you have said it.


Do you believe it?


No.




and that's why you read those really
negative remarks (e.g. POS) about this amp from posters in this
newsgroup.


Yes I read POS from the folks who haven't listened to the amp and gee I

liked
it form at least one person who actually listened to it.


So tell us what you think about the amp.


It is very big, runs hot and cost more than I am willing to spend on an amp.

You think you may like it?

I don't know. I haven't heard this one.



After all, there is no possibility of anything else in a
system that will undo those errors.


I do think blind comparisons on MFs system between these amps and

"competent"
amps would be most interesting.


Why need blinding if there is a huge bass bump? Or 5% distortion at 2W?
Are those subtle effects?


As a control for the obvious bias the measurements have created about this amp.
A lot of people are saying they don't like the sound of it without ever hearing
it in the system used for the positive review.



  #405   Report Post  
Michael McKelvy
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"S888Wheel" wrote in message
...

Based on the measurements the only merit this amp would have is as

a
really
expensive door stop. It would not have been considered a hi-fi amp

since
the 1940's. Look at the graph of any decent SS amp and you will

see
the
distortion as a nearly flat line until full rated power is reached.

With
the WAVAC it continues to get worse as you increase the volume. At
around 2
watts it's at 1% which is where THD becomes audible. If this amp

were
$12.00 it would still be overpriced to anyone looking for a 150

watt
amp.







Are you suggesting that those people who like what they hear from

this
amp
and
believe that what they hear through this amp sounds more like live

music
should
revise their subjective impressions to fit the measurements?

No, I'm suggesting that buying an amp with this kind of distortion,

cannot
by definition sound more like live music


By definition? Let's not forget that no one listens to amplifiers.


If you listen to music amplified by a WAVAC or any SET for that matter,

you
are definitely listening to the amplifier.


No, you are still listening to a recording played back through a system

that
includes an amplifier and speakers.


When an amp puts out the kind of distortion the WAVAC does, you are hearing
the amplification plus the distortion. In a decent SS amp the distortion
would be inaudible and like most SS amps you wouldn't be able to tell one
from the other. Played at anythiong over 2 watts the distortion would be
audible from the WAVAC.

We listen to
recordings played back through amplifier speaker systems. I don't

believe
your
assertion is always true.

With CD and Solid State electronics, you'd be correct.


With any working playback system I am correct.


If the amp adds something that wasn't in the source, it's distortion and has
no place in anyhing calling it self Hi-Fi or high end.


and that basing one's buying
decisions on their faulty memory of such events can only lead to

inferior
sound.

When hifi retailer sets up a demp room with a live band we will be

able
to
circumvent the potential problems we face with aural memory. Till then

it
is
what we will have to rely on. I don't think it is quite so bad as some

would
have us believe anytime a unit measures one way and is subjectively

percieved
in another way.


That's a wonderful anecdote,


It wasn't even an anecdote much less a wonderful one.

the science of audio shows that fidelity
transfers to better listening.


I think it has been established that science and the hobby of audio rarely
cross paths.

I think that statement is onbly true for the tiny minority of people who
think they can remember what a live performance should sound like.

It's not personal, nobody has reliable memory when it comes to audio.


This doesn't seem to become an issue when people talk about their

impressions
of speakers or recordings. Why is that?


In the case of speakers they have much more distortion than the rest of

the
audio chain, as I'm reasonably sure you are aware of.


What does that have to do with my point that people don't seem to start

raising
the issue of aural memory when someone expresses an opinion about the

sound of
speakers?

Because teh differences can be so gross and because no speaker is perfect,
amps, preamps, CD players are generally perfect insofar as they don't impart
any sound of their own.


Recordings are subject to the bias of the recording engineer and the

artist
involved, then they are played back through God knows what speakers in

God
knows what rooms. The fact is you may not like the choices made by the
artist and the engineer, but if you listen through good equipment and in

a
well set up room, to a CD recording, you'll be hearing what they intended
you hear, not some compromise made for LP or some colorized version

provided
via the distortion induced from something like the WAVAC.



Rarely true unfortunately.



According to what standard?


  #406   Report Post  
Nousaine
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"Harry Lavo" wrote:



"Nousaine" wrote in message
news:zGaMc.168737$Oq2.24685@attbi_s52...
(Bruce J. Richman) wrote:

That is simply wrong. Any number of outstanding LPs have been recorded

and
mastered with no compression.

Weren't the old Shefield's direct to disk?


Yes, they were, as were such labels as Crystal Clear, Century, Direct

Disc.
to
name just a few. Also, in more recent times, Analogue Productions, the
record
label for Chad Kassem's Acoustic Sounds, has also produced direct to disc
reecordings. And several former direct-to-disc recordings have won

Grammy
awards for engineering excellence (e.g. the LA Philharmonic's Wagner
recording).

For those unfortunate or prejudiced enough to not have vinyl playback
equipment, many of the Sheffield titles are also available on CD. I

would
recommend a sampler called "Drive" on the Sheffield label for a nice
assortment
of cuts from various famous Sheffield albums (e.g. Harry James, the

Moscow
Sessions, etc.). This CD was originally designed to serve as a test CD

of
sorts for automotive stereo systems, and the notes accompanying each cut

in
the
CD booklet are very interesting.


.
Bruce J. Richman


Oh Sure; and the Thelma Huston "Pressure Cooker" lps I bought with the
assurance that once the masters were used up there would never be

availability
again; was forever askanst by the release of the same material on cd; in a
couple years by the "discovery" of analog back-up copies that were made at

the
time.

What a crock; then and now.


Sorry Sheffield announced from the beginning that they were making analog
recordings as backups, and that they might be released after the direct to
disks were gone. The only think promised was that the direct-to-disks were
limited in number and once sold, were gone forever.

The crock is your mistaken assertion.


Well gee-whiz; I had high-end salesmen in Detroit and Chiacgo swear otherwise.
But you are right. I wasn't surprised to see a re-issue.

I was never all that hot for the Mayorga releases but I really enjoyed Pressure
Cooker.
  #407   Report Post  
S888Wheel
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

From: Steven Sullivan
Date: 7/24/2004 7:25 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

S888Wheel wrote:

Compression isn't inherently evil. It's been used
during tracking,
mixing and mastering for decades, and you wouldn't want to remove
*all* of it from your favorite recordings.


Perhaps not. I'd probably prefer not to have any added after the
final mix
though.


And how many of your LPs fit that bill?


Hard to say. I have never thought to research this question. Sounds
like a big
project.



Clearly, adding *some* compression (along with the otehr stuff added
by LP
mastering and playback) is OK with LPphiles...


Clearly? How so?

it's jsut adding *too much*
that bothers some...same as CD fans. And of course, 'too much' is
purely
subjective, too.


It all becomes far more subjective when we talk about studio albums.



The 'loudness wars'
simply manifest an extreme example of use during mastering.
And compression is only one of many 'adjustments' that can be made
during mastering.


Yeah, it has been a very unfortunate trend.


So were fake stereo and recycled vinyl during the LP era.


Yep that was really awful as well.



Besides, 'loudness war' reissues cater to a market that wants a
certain
kind of euphonic distortion. So do vinyl reissues.


Balony. They are very different in character and serve a different
purpose.


All that means is: you find one euphonic and the other, not so
euphonic.


No it means they are very different in character and they serve a
different
purpose.



Btw, if you're suddently so worried abotu the consumer, where's the
anxiety
about expensive high-end stuff that makes dubious-at-best claims
for
performance?

I am not as worried about the consumer at large as I am focused on

myself
as
"the consumer." I am not worried about claims of manufacturers
since I

do
not
buy equipment based on claims.

Surely Grover interconnects must be tempting.


Where did that come from? Were we talking about interconnects?


You know exactly what hte reference means.


I know what you are refereing to. Where did your seemingly arbitrary
choice to
bring it up come from?




OTOH when it comes to music and the various
issues available auditions are not as easy to come by. So message
boards
such
as Stevehoffman.tv do come in handy for some guidence. It is still
hit

and
miss
but thankfully the investment is not on the same level as equipment.

When
it
comes to music reviews I am more aware of which reviewers'
preferences

tend
to
mirror my own and use that in some purchasing decisions. I also pay
attention
to my experience with various labels and my expereince with the
various
engineers behind the releases of these labels.

I read lots of audiophile forums. On the ones where viunylphiles
feel
comfortable
letting it all hang out, I've seen a significant amount of bitching
and disagreement about various vinyl reissues -- this one is noisy,
that

one
used
a digital master,etc.


Yeah, so? Is that a bad thing? People freely expressing their honest

opinions
about what is available on the market? The horror!


But it does go to your point about CD buyers being faced with tough
choices if they only want the 'best sounding' version. It's an issue
for
LPphiles too.

Then again, maybe it simply that often you likes the sound that vinyl
mastering and playback adds to the master tape.


Maybe, maybe not. Does it matter why I like what I like?


You do seem rather reflexively defensive about it.


Perhaps becuase there is an over all tone that implies inferiority in
my likes
and dislikes.



One would think you shoudl be pushing for reel-to-reel -- another
format
that could beat vinyl technically in its day.


I have no problem with people who want to pursue that medium.


So, why favor vinyl? Availability?


That certainly is an issue for me.




them
still displaying the inherent flaws of vinyl,

The inherent limitations of vinyl I think is hardly much of an
issue.

Well, not for you, of course.


Not for me and others who have managed to overcome their anti-vinyl

paranoia.

No one's *afraid* of vinyl, Scott.


Straw man. I never said anyone was "affraid" of vinyl.

Am I 'paranoid' for preferring DVD to
VHS?


Were we talking about DVD and VHS? Did I say anyone who prefers CDs to
vinyl
are paranoid? No.

(And what to make of CDphiles who still own and use turntables? Are
they schizophrenic?))


I'd say they made a better choice than those who abandoned the format.
But why
are you asking about clinically diagnosed mental illnesses and
preferences? It
has nothing to do with anything I have said.




If one
can get past their anti-vinyl biases I think just about everyone
would

be
quite
impressed with vinyl at it's very best. Most of the battle is in the
recordings
and masterings once you have a good high end rig.

I'm always impressed that such a primitive technology could produce
such
pleasant results. But it's not pleasant enough to be worth it, to
me.


That is a matter of personal values. Most people don't think quality

playback
of music is worth much money or effort at all.


I think it's worth pursuing. Alas, LP doesn't constitute high enough
'quality playback' for me. I want something better.


Unfortunately your choice underminds you own goals. One can see
evidence of
this with a passion we share. Yes music. If you are looking for better
it will
likely be found on their LPs.



and, according to
vinylphiles themselves, requiring expensive rigs and extensive
'optimization' to extract the benefits.

That is true. But it is also true of speakers and rooms. No one
promised
the
hobby will be cheap or easy.

But nowadays it doesn't have to be *quite that* difficult, is the
point.


I wish it were true. And I think that seems to be a driving point of
many
"objectivists." Some people are simply not comfortable if they don't
have

all
the answers and easy solutions to their needs.


Some people create 'solutions' for themselves needlessly, perhaps
enjoying
the rituals of tweakery for their own sake.


Or enjoy the belief that it all comes down to a few simple measurements
and
they have everything under their thumb.



material,

No.

I dunno, are there any recordings of the '1812 overture',
a fairly popular piece, that are on uncompressed vinyl?


1812 Overture (CSO / Reiner ) (4 discs; 45 RPM)
Artist: Tchaikovsky
Label: Classic Records
Format: LP


LOL. 4 discs, 45 RPM. I should have guessed.


I'm sorry if I disapointed you by finding something you may have
thought didn't
exist.



The legendary Reiner 1812 that was only available as a "1S" pressing
having
been deleted soon after the Mercury 1812 featuring live cannon shots
was
released making for a very rare original to find. T...


So, if they put *that* one on uncompressed vinyl, would one of the four
45s be devoted entirely to the cannon shots?

And that's leaving aside rock albums.


Non-answer noted.


Non-question noted.



And how many vinyl recordingd don't sum bass to mono?


Can you tell the difference?


I dunno; but I'd rather not have to question it at all. Such bass
summing
is done specifically because of the *limitations of the medium*.


And because you can't tell the difference. There. You don't have to
worry about
the question any more. It is answered.


So, how many vinyl masterings don't sum bass to mono?


and requiring an expensive rig to play without the danger of
damage to
the record or rig.

No. One can get a rig that will not endanger the vinyl in any
unusual
manner
that is not particularly expensive.

Like, how expensive? Comparatively speaking, to play a recording
with
a full dynamic and frequency range, asuming such a beast even existed
on LP, how much would it cost for a TT rig that could do it justice

without
sending
the tonearm skidding across the vinyl?


http://www.hcmaudio.com/comp.asp?compID=514

Great, now play some full-frequency, full-dynamic range cannon shots on
that one and get back to me. (I'll assume you have the poor thing well
vibration-proofed too).


Why don't you play it back and rell us what happened? Do you have any
evidence
that this table with a Shure V-15 would have any problems tracking any
records
you know of?



Compared to a CD of same?


A portable player at $25-30 -- 1/10 the cost...assumign your listed TT
really does what I'm asking it to do.


I suppose if I were only interested in canon shots I might not be as
enthusiastic about LPs.




*This* is what you consider a viable
choice comapred to CDs

It is better to have the choice than not to have the choice IMO.

Again, where's the call for a return to reel-to-reel?


Why would I make such a call? I think I'd rather take a stab at SACD
or DVD
audio. At least the few titles that exist are easily found.


Stab away.


Not yet.




(most of the pop music canon has now been
remastered
at least once, btw;

Yes it has and all too often quite poorly.

Then again, all too often it was crap on vinyl first...


Yeah it was. Most pop recordings are simply bad. I still think
finding the

best
version for me is worth while.


Too often the crappyness was compounded by the vulnerabilities and
weaknesses of the vinyl medium.


What do you mean?



you could always seek out the 'used'
supposedly 'flat transfers' that Hoffmanites worship)

I have. I don't always like them. I don't think it is fair to say
that
Hoffman
"worships" these transfers. He often considers them to be the best
CD
versions
available ofr a given title. That is all. Good to know don't you
think?

*Hoffmanites*

You sort of were one once weren't you?


Nope. *Hoffmanites* comprise a subset of participants on the Hoffman
board.

Before they suspended you for not
following the rules. You certainly were a regular on those message
boards.


I certainly was. But I certainly was never a *Hoffmanite*.

OK I'll bite, what is a Hoffmanite?
  #408   Report Post  
Nousaine
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

(John Atkinson) wrote:



chung wrote in message
...
S888Wheel wrote:
Good thing some one came up with dither to help digital with
this problem. Funny thing though, CDs were already proclaimed
champion by the measurement folks before they were being dithered.
Now an undithered digital recording is considered defective.


Can you provide an example of a CD recording with no dithering applied?


There were many released in the 1980s, Ry Cooder's "Bop Till You Drop,"
for example.

I'm afraid, once again, you have shown your anti-digital prejudice.
Dithering is always a part of digital audio.


I wish that had been true Most of the pro audio digital hardware
available in the early 1980s did not use dither, unless it was
inadvertently done by a fortuitous noisefloor. The original Sony
digital editor, for example, did not not dither its mathematical
operations, merely truncating the longer word lengths. Worse,
even when set to unity gain, it had a gain very slightly different
from unity, meaning that it still operated on the data, reintroducing
quantizing distortion as it did so.

It was only at the end of that decade that pro audio digital
components routinely incorporated dither, thanks to the
proseltyzing of academics like Stanley Lip****z, who had been
beating the drum on the behalf of dither since before the CD launch.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile


"Bop 'Til You Drop" was originally issued as an lp and the date printed on the
cd-reissue is 1979. The liner notes say it was recorded on "3-M multi-track
digital equipment...This recording is essentially an exact copy of the
master-tape and wasnot treated with any equaling or limiting during final
transfer to disc." It seems as though the "disc" is referent to the lp because
there is an additional note about compact disc in different size type included
on the cd liner notes.


  #409   Report Post  
Nousaine
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

(S888Wheel) wrote:



From:
(Nousaine)
Date: 7/23/2004 12:07 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Stewart Pinkerton
wrote:



On 22 Jul 2004 00:14:53 GMT,
(S888Wheel) wrote:

Subject: Steely Dan The Absolute Sound
From: "Ban"

Date: 7/21/2004 10:09 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: nrxLc.156323$Oq2.88089@attbi_s52

Michael McKelvy wrote:

Unfortunately, the hobby hasn't been called "high-fi" in many
years...high-end audio has replaced that terminology.

That should make you think. Why was the term Hi-Fi abandoned?

Could it be true that some of the higher priced gear didn't fulfill
the
"HiFi" requirements, which were coined down in international
standards, and
for that reason another term had to be invented?

No, the history of the terminology is well known amoung some
audiophiles and
this was not what happened.

Quite right. Harry Pearson simply had to find some labels on which to
hang his tweaky notions of why ultra-exotic and weirdly-designed
equipment could be sold at exorbitent prices to an unsuspecting
public. He and his accomplices at rags such as TAS have probably done
irreparable harm to the high-fidelity sound reproduction field by
encouraging nonsenses such as 'audiophile' cable and single-ended tube
amps.

So you couldn't nail down
the company and return the crappy gear. At least with the Wavac that
seems
to indicate this lengthly practiced habit.

Really? Do you have any evidence that WAVAC owners have been trying to
return
their amps but WAVAC refuses because audiophiles commonly use the term
"high
end" instead of "hifi?"

Do you have any evidence that anyone actually *does* own one of these
ludicrous toys?
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering


Isn't that an interesting question. If it sounds so good why doesn't JA
own
one? And if he does ....... what was the purchase price?







Maybe because he is not so wealthy that 350,000 bucks isn't an issue, even
with
a discount. Maybe he likes other amps better. Maybe they are too big and too
hot. People can like things and not wish to buy them or even wish to own
them.


But IF it sounds MORE like live music wouldn't he almost be required to use it
as a reference? Otherwise why would we accept his personal word about the
quality of any other device? Or any other reviewer that doesn't use one.

How about ALL the other reviews conducted prior? It seems likely that they
don't sound AS MUCH like live music as this amplifier. So does this 'slide'
everything down a category on the RCL? And how about the rest of the other
review staff? Have they acquired this new MORE like live music reference?

It seems most likely to me that this product is just another not-so-good
ampliifer that gets on the RCL like all the other amplifiers that this
magazine evaluates.
  #410   Report Post  
B&D
 
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On 7/26/04 8:45 AM, in article X17Nc.165245$IQ4.135599@attbi_s02, "Nousaine"
wrote:

If I understand you correctly, by your focus on MC cartridges, you have
eliminated the MM cartridges as contenders for accuracy? There goes a
significant precentage of vinyl rigs, right there. I guess the Shure V15
family of cartridges, which used to be very highly rated via
measurements and subjective reviews, just don't cut it (pun unintended)
anymore. And by the time you eliminate certain turntables and tonearms,
and then various preamps and amps, what is the chance of another
vinylist having the same sounding vinyl rig as yours? And we have not
even got to the careful set-up, or the conditions of the LP's yet.


About 3 years ago PSACS had a former Shure design engineer give a talk about
his experience with cartridge design. He said that in the 70s Shure hand-built
a one-off prototype moving coil that had exactly the same performance as the
then-current V15.

Interestingly he said that in bias-controlled listening tests nobody could
tell
one from the other; which was one of the reasons Shure never bothered with
producing a Moving Coil cartridge.


IIRC, Grado held a number of patents on moving coil cartridges, yet never
made anything but MM. I wondered if they felt the same way - plus servicing
the MM vs MC is a lot different.


  #411   Report Post  
B&D
 
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On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article 721Nc.187393$XM6.133782@attbi_s53, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

No, I think the phrase "high-end" was coined by Harry Pearson in the early
days of TAS, to define companies that were primarily listening-oriented

vs.
measurement-oriented, because everything was called "hi-fi" in those days,
including stuff that measured well but sounded like dreck...mostly mid-fi
stuff that was positioned as "hi-fi".


IIRC there was a standard for what was considered Hi-Fi, it had to perform
within certain limits. None of the measured well/sounded like dreck stuff
was ever compared via ABX to see if the sounded like dreck part was really
true, so in essence, it's just a blank assertion.


One common mistake in amplifiers is the use of feedback in order to make an
amplifier absolutely flat - since the time constant of the loop can be
exceeding during transients, letting the open loop amplifier response
(complete with distortion and so on) for a small amount of time.

I don't think an ABX test would need to be done in this particular case as
it is easily measured on a bench, and calculated by math.

The way the very best amplifiers are designed (RF ones anyway that require
linearization) is that the basic amplifier is made as flat and linear as
possible and feedback or other linearization technique is used to make it
better. I think audio amplifiers would need this as well.

Overall I agree - but AB or ABX or other controlled subjective listening
tests is not always required provided you know what measurements to make.
  #412   Report Post  
goFab.com
 
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On 22 Jul 2004 00:08:29 GMT, in article ,
S888Wheel stated:


This is a very good point. It makes me wonder what those who choose to abandon
the LP format altogether are thinking?



Gee, we ask a lot of our audiophiles, don't we? Not only are they expected to
hold down jobs of sufficient importance and responsibility to enable the
purchase of $20K speakers and $20K amplifiers, but they are expected to do so
while still simultaneously having the free time required to affirmatively search
out relatively scarce vinyl releases, optimize their analog rigs, clean the
playback medium every time they interact with it, get up every 15-20 minutes to
flip the record over and spend enough of that free time sitting in a room at
home to listen in the first place.

I have a reasonably decent system and I respect what it can do and the folks who
designed the components, but at the end of the day most of my musical enjoyment
comes through an iPod while I'm on the go (the iPod having freed us from the
last great mobile music impediment, having to carry the software around and
change it). Listening at the computer through an inexpensive sat/sub system
comes a distant second. In terms of time spent, my home rig is not even on the
chart, and I can't imagine how any person who doesn't have the good fortune to
be a person of extreme leisure can spend enough time with the Walkers and
Nordosts and Lyras of this world to make it all worth it.
  #413   Report Post  
Buster Mudd
 
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Stewart Pinkerton wrote in message news:oQaMc.148059$%_6.59039@attbi_s01...

No, gain riding *is* compression


in professional audio engineering circles, "compression" is *by
definition* an automated process, whereas the term "gain riding" is
almost exlusively used to describe a manual activity.

  #414   Report Post  
Harry Lavo
 
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"Nousaine" wrote in message
news:X17Nc.165245$IQ4.135599@attbi_s02...
chung wrote:

Harry Lavo wrote:
"chung" wrote in message


....snip......
And are you suggesting that all those vinyl lovers who believe in the
accuracy of vinyl all have very neutral and fine phone systems that
sound the same?


I have no way of knowing that, for sure. But I do know that most MC
cartridges can be made to be reasonable "flat" with proper loading, and
their manufacturers are not loath to give out the proper information.

I
also know that nowadays, there are many good (read "neutral")

turntables
and
arms out there compared to the past, and a de facto standardization on
medium mass arms for MC's. So it wouldn't surprise me if many of them
weren't in the ballpark.


If I understand you correctly, by your focus on MC cartridges, you have
eliminated the MM cartridges as contenders for accuracy? There goes a
significant precentage of vinyl rigs, right there. I guess the Shure V15
family of cartridges, which used to be very highly rated via
measurements and subjective reviews, just don't cut it (pun unintended)
anymore. And by the time you eliminate certain turntables and tonearms,
and then various preamps and amps, what is the chance of another
vinylist having the same sounding vinyl rig as yours? And we have not
even got to the careful set-up, or the conditions of the LP's yet.


About 3 years ago PSACS had a former Shure design engineer give a talk

about
his experience with cartridge design. He said that in the 70s Shure

hand-built
a one-off prototype moving coil that had exactly the same performance as

the
then-current V15.

Interestingly he said that in bias-controlled listening tests nobody could

tell
one from the other; which was one of the reasons Shure never bothered with
producing a Moving Coil cartridge.


Interesting antecdote, which flies in the face of a lot of empirical
observation by others. So it may or may not be true. Or it may say
something about the possible deficiencies of bias-controlled listening tests
in certain regards.

  #415   Report Post  
Michael McKelvy
 
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"S888Wheel" wrote in message
...
Absolute Sound
From: "Michael McKelvy"
Date: 7/20/2004 3:04 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: XFgLc.129726$JR4.107265@attbi_s54



What titles are you talking about?


Every album I replaced with a CD that I owned as an LP. From Pink Floyd

to
Bach.


That is far too vague an answer to be of any use.


Which LP issues did you compare them to?

See above.


Above does not begin to answer the question. You do realize that with many
titles there have been several different issues on LP and often on CD many

of
which have been mastered quite differently to varying degree in

excellence?


I
am always on the look out for better masterings. And I am quite a jazz
enthusiast.


John Handy Excursion in Blue is excellent on CD.

Anything from GRP.

What does it matter, you don't like CD sound so you'll claim your LP's

out
perform the CD.


Thta's complete nonsense. I go title by title. I have never said I don't

like
all CDs. You are just burning a straw man here. You OTOH seem to have

dismissed
LP out of hand by claiming *every* title you replaced with a CD was

superior.

Because in my case that is true.

Given the history of mastering of various titles on LP and CD I suyspect

that
you are listening through a very biased POV or are using sub par LP

playback
equipment and/or poor pressings of the LPs in question.

Why in the world would I wish to spend the kind of money it takes for "par"
when for $100.00, (less than my cd player cost) I can get a better medium.


The problem is they don't but you like LP sound better,
even though you're missing out on the increased transient response, lower
noise and no possibility of tracking error.


I'm not missing out on anything. I have both LPs and CDs I am quite happy

when
I find a better copy of any title whether it be on CD or LP, I'm afraid

you are
the one who is missing out by disnmissing an entire format.

I still have LP's, some sound very nice, none sound as good as any CD I've
ever heard.


You like what you like, but it's still inferior to CD.



That doesn't even make sense. Some times with some titles I like the CD

better.

According to you most of the time.









  #416   Report Post  
chung
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

B&D wrote:

On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article 721Nc.187393$XM6.133782@attbi_s53, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

No, I think the phrase "high-end" was coined by Harry Pearson in the early
days of TAS, to define companies that were primarily listening-oriented

vs.
measurement-oriented, because everything was called "hi-fi" in those days,
including stuff that measured well but sounded like dreck...mostly mid-fi
stuff that was positioned as "hi-fi".


IIRC there was a standard for what was considered Hi-Fi, it had to perform
within certain limits. None of the measured well/sounded like dreck stuff
was ever compared via ABX to see if the sounded like dreck part was really
true, so in essence, it's just a blank assertion.


One common mistake in amplifiers is the use of feedback in order to make an
amplifier absolutely flat - since the time constant of the loop can be
exceeding during transients, letting the open loop amplifier response
(complete with distortion and so on) for a small amount of time.


Time constant of the loop can be exceeding? What exactly are you talking
about?

BTW, it is trivial to test for large signal distortion effects.


I don't think an ABX test would need to be done in this particular case as
it is easily measured on a bench, and calculated by math.

The way the very best amplifiers are designed (RF ones anyway that require
linearization) is that the basic amplifier is made as flat and linear as
possible and feedback or other linearization technique is used to make it
better. I think audio amplifiers would need this as well.


There are plenty of solid state amps designed with the open-loop
response optimized for linearity and bandwidth. Read the Doug Self
website for examples.

Overall I agree - but AB or ABX or other controlled subjective listening
tests is not always required provided you know what measurements to make.


I am glad that now you believe in the power of measurements. That's a
new position for you. What happened?

  #417   Report Post  
Nousaine
 
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"goFab.com" wrote:


On 22 Jul 2004 00:08:29 GMT, in article ,
S888Wheel stated:


This is a very good point. It makes me wonder what those who choose to

abandon
the LP format altogether are thinking?



Gee, we ask a lot of our audiophiles, don't we? Not only are they expected
to
hold down jobs of sufficient importance and responsibility to enable the
purchase of $20K speakers and $20K amplifiers, but they are expected to do so
while still simultaneously having the free time required to affirmatively
search
out relatively scarce vinyl releases, optimize their analog rigs, clean the
playback medium every time they interact with it, get up every 15-20 minutes
to
flip the record over and spend enough of that free time sitting in a room at
home to listen in the first place.

I have a reasonably decent system and I respect what it can do and the folks
who
designed the components, but at the end of the day most of my musical
enjoyment
comes through an iPod while I'm on the go (the iPod having freed us from the
last great mobile music impediment, having to carry the software around and
change it). Listening at the computer through an inexpensive sat/sub system
comes a distant second. In terms of time spent, my home rig is not even on
the
chart, and I can't imagine how any person who doesn't have the good fortune
to
be a person of extreme leisure can spend enough time with the Walkers and
Nordosts and Lyras of this world to make it all worth it.


You make a great point. In the early 80s I strongly poo-poo'd car audio systems
making a point of devoting all my energy to optimizing my home system. Until
that fatefull day when a good friend said to me; "Tom you really should start
taking car audio more seriously, after all you spend more time listening to
music in your car than anywhere else..." And he was right; I spent roughly 2.5
hours everyday driving to and from work and at that time I had small children
and I certainly didn't spend 2.5 hours every evening listening (partially
because some of my "listening" time was used 'caring for' my vinyl.)

The best part of modern listening is that anybody can have a 2 or greater
channel system that blows the doors off the best 1970s could offer no matter
how rich you were.

  #418   Report Post  
B&D
 
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On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article g21Nc.169722$JR4.10497@attbi_s54, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

level-matched comparisons, and done them for friends / fellow audiophiles
who were predisposed to CD (some of whom didn't even own vinyl...then..but
do now). Flawed as the comparison may have been in your eyes, it made
believers out of them.


If the were competently done and that's their preference, so be it. The
problem I have is most such preferences are based on none or incompetently
done comparisons.


Depends upon what kind of conclusions you want to draw from a 'faulty'
comparison. If it is a "I like it" then by most measures - the only
criteria that needs to be satisfied has been satisfied it (the purchasing
decision). If someone were to conclude "YOU like it" (deciding for others)
then it becomes more complex and you may be right.

After all, I believe there are 3 groups:

1. A large minority of "audiophiles" are truly and earnestly interested in
absolute perfect recording reproduction

2. and equally large minority is interested in allowing some "euphonic
distortion" if it makes the music sound like a live performance,

3. and a third group is only interested in replicating the emotional
response of live music.

The MEANS of this is what creates the "Objectivist/Subjectivist" split.

  #419   Report Post  
Stewart Pinkerton
 
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On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 05:56:19 GMT, "Michael McKelvy"
wrote:

"Harry Lavo" wrote in message
...


Harry, from the beginning, made a
point of noting that he was talking about where (how high, or how exalted)
they set their company's "mission", not their price. So a lot of not very
expensive gear was reviewed as well as some very expensive stuff.


And a lot of it by people who had very little idea what they were doing, if
one is to believe the Audio Critic.


We've all seen the evidence right here in r.a.h-e, haven't we? :-)

For
example, NAD was considered high end. Yamaha was not. And that distinction
was deserved based on the sound of the day.


By what objective verifiable standard?


Remembering of course that Steve Zipser and two other experienced
audiophiles couldn't tell the difference between a pair of $12,000
Pass Aleph 1.2 monobloc power amps and an old Yamaha AX-700 integrated
amplifier - in Steve's own reference system.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

  #420   Report Post  
John Atkinson
 
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"Ban" wrote in message
...
John Atkinson wrote:
Most of the pro audio digital hardware available in the early 1980s
did not use dither, unless it was inadvertently done by a fortuitous
noisefloor. The original Sony digital editor, for example, did not
dither its mathematical operations, merely truncating the longer
word lengths. Worse, even when set to unity gain, it had a gain
very slightly different from unity, meaning that it still operated
on the data, reintroducing quantizing distortion as it did so.

It was only at the end of that decade that pro audio digital
components routinely incorporated dither, thanks to the
proseltyzing of academics like Stanley Lip****z, who had been
beating the drum on the behalf of dither since before the CD launch.


Are you really sure John?


Yes. It was not until the second-generation Sony editor, introduced in
1988, if I remember correctly, that dither was correctly used. While
some products (as you mention) did use dither, many did not.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile



  #421   Report Post  
Stewart Pinkerton
 
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On 25 Jul 2004 19:05:01 GMT, "Harry Lavo" wrote:

"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jul 2004 19:09:10 GMT, "Harry Lavo" wrote:

"Nousaine" wrote in message
news:zGaMc.168737$Oq2.24685@attbi_s52...


Oh Sure; and the Thelma Huston "Pressure Cooker" lps I bought with
the
assurance that once the masters were used up there would never be
availability
again; was forever askanst by the release of the same material on cd;
in a
couple years by the "discovery" of analog back-up copies that were
made at the
time.

What a crock; then and now.

Sorry Sheffield announced from the beginning that they were making analog
recordings as backups, and that they might be released after the direct to
disks were gone. The only think promised was that the direct-to-disks were
limited in number and once sold, were gone forever.


That is simply not true. I collected many Sheffields in the '70s,
right from Lab 1 (the third in the series.....), and no mention was
*ever* made of the existence of any backup tapes, until *after* all
the DD discs were safely in music stores.

The fact that they didn't tell you personally doesn't mean it wasn't in
their press releases and interviews.


So quote one single source of such a statement from *before* the
Treasury series magically appeared.

The crock is your mistaken assertion.


No, the crock is Sheffield telling porkies to keep up prices.


--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

  #422   Report Post  
Stewart Pinkerton
 
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On 25 Jul 2004 14:58:59 GMT, B&D wrote:

On 7/24/04 1:10 PM, in article 5KwMc.178294$XM6.4228@attbi_s53, "Stewart
Pinkerton" wrote:

This "no compression"pattern
thankfully is being restored via SACD and DVD-A recordings.


Hooey. There are no *master* tapes which even approach the dymaic
range of CD, so there's no advantage in 24 bits over 16 in a world
where the master tape has only 14 bits of range (at the very most).


The advantage is usually in the mastering and cleanup process. It will
usually be audible since the engineer won't have to "eat" into the effective
audible dynamic range.


He doesn't anyway. I repeat, there are no *master* tapes with more
than 14 bits dynamic range. Now, if you're actually *recording* on
digital tape, then you might find an extra few bits useful to avoid
accidental mic overloads, but for *mastering*, no such headroom is
required.

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

  #423   Report Post  
Stewart Pinkerton
 
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On 25 Jul 2004 14:57:54 GMT, "Harry Lavo" wrote:

"chung" wrote in message
...
Harry Lavo wrote:
An amp that dynamically compresses and alters the frequency
response of the system will not show any problems when measured using
conventional measurements. And it may not show up with many kinds of music.
But a trained ear, listening to the right material, and with experience with
live music in a similar acoustic environment, will most likely pick it up
with some extended listening. And without dbt.


Harry, you have to be a bit more technical savvy. Any amp that
dynamically compresses will show distortion that is easily measureable.
Yes, with conventional measurements.

I am honestly shocked to see this from one who has been in this hobby
for as long as you have...


I didn't say it couldn't be measured. I said it wouldn't show up as
frequency deviation (which is the compression I am talking about) in a
conventional frequency response plot.


Unfortunately, out here in the real world (as opposed to TAS World),
there is no such thing as an amp which dynamically compresses and
alters the frequency response. That is sheer technobabble.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

  #424   Report Post  
Nousaine
 
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Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"Harry Lavo" wrote:


"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jul 2004 19:09:10 GMT, "Harry Lavo" wrote:

"Nousaine" wrote in message
news:zGaMc.168737$Oq2.24685@attbi_s52...


Oh Sure; and the Thelma Huston "Pressure Cooker" lps I bought with
the
assurance that once the masters were used up there would never be
availability
again; was forever askanst by the release of the same material on cd;
in a
couple years by the "discovery" of analog back-up copies that were
made at the
time.

What a crock; then and now.


Sorry Sheffield announced from the beginning that they were making
analog
recordings as backups, and that they might be released after the
direct to
disks were gone. The only think promised was that the direct-to-disks
were
limited in number and once sold, were gone forever.


That is simply not true. I collected many Sheffields in the '70s,
right from Lab 1 (the third in the series.....), and no mention was
*ever* made of the existence of any backup tapes, until *after* all
the DD discs were safely in music stores.


The fact that they didn't tell you personally doesn't mean it wasn't in
their press releases and interviews.


Press releases? Interviews? Why not on the liner notes? Just because Bill Gates
doesn't send me a personal note about program bugs he isn't 'responsible?' And
exactly how did audio-salon personnel 'know' to tell people otherwise?

The crock is your mistaken assertion.


No, the crock is Sheffield telling porkies to keep up prices.

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering


"Porkies" New term to me. What does it mean :-)

  #427   Report Post  
S888Wheel
 
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From: "goFab.com"
Date: 7/26/2004 4:35 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

On 22 Jul 2004 00:08:29 GMT, in article ,
S888Wheel stated:


This is a very good point. It makes me wonder what those who choose to

abandon
the LP format altogether are thinking?



Gee, we ask a lot of our audiophiles, don't we?


No, I don't ask anything of audiophiles.

Not only are they expected
to
hold down jobs of sufficient importance and responsibility to enable the
purchase of $20K speakers and $20K amplifiers, but they are expected to do so
while still simultaneously having the free time required to affirmatively
search
out relatively scarce vinyl releases, optimize their analog rigs, clean the
playback medium every time they interact with it, get up every 15-20 minutes
to
flip the record over and spend enough of that free time sitting in a room at
home to listen in the first place.


Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to do that. I don't "expect" it from
anyone else. Audiophiles are free to do as they please. But I am amazed at the
hostility towards those of us who do hold down jobs "of significant importance
and responsibility" (whatever that is supposed to mean) to enable us to
purchase expensive gear and simultaniously have the time required to search out
"reletively scarce" vinyl releases (many of my favorites are not scarce and
take little effort to "search out") optimize our analog rigs, clean the records
and equipment effectively (your desciption of this is way off base with
reality) and have the energy left over to flip the record at the end of each
side. Why such hostility?



I have a reasonably decent system and I respect what it can do and the folks
who
designed the components, but at the end of the day most of my musical
enjoyment
comes through an iPod while I'm on the go (the iPod having freed us from the
last great mobile music impediment, having to carry the software around and
change it).


That's nice. What is your point though?

Listening at the computer through an inexpensive sat/sub system
comes a distant second. In terms of time spent, my home rig is not even on
the
chart, and I can't imagine how any person who doesn't have the good fortune
to
be a person of extreme leisure can spend enough time with the Walkers and
Nordosts and Lyras of this world to make it all worth it.



The confines of your imagination are, fortunately for me and other enthusiasts,
not a real world boundary.







  #428   Report Post  
Michael McKelvy
 
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"B&D" wrote in message
news:QLkNc.195354$XM6.151677@attbi_s53...
On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article g21Nc.169722$JR4.10497@attbi_s54, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

level-matched comparisons, and done them for friends / fellow

audiophiles
who were predisposed to CD (some of whom didn't even own

vinyl...then..but
do now). Flawed as the comparison may have been in your eyes, it made
believers out of them.


If the were competently done and that's their preference, so be it. The
problem I have is most such preferences are based on none or

incompetently
done comparisons.


Depends upon what kind of conclusions you want to draw from a 'faulty'
comparison.


First I want to establish there is a difference. I have read people here
claim that some LP's are indistinguishable fro a CD of the same music.


If it is a "I like it" then by most measures - the only
criteria that needs to be satisfied has been satisfied it (the purchasing
decision).


And I, nor anyone else that would fall into the so called "objectivist" camp
has ever claimed otherwise.

If someone were to conclude "YOU like it" (deciding for others)
then it becomes more complex and you may be right.

After all, I believe there are 3 groups:

1. A large minority of "audiophiles" are truly and earnestly interested

in
absolute perfect recording reproduction

2. and equally large minority is interested in allowing some "euphonic
distortion" if it makes the music sound like a live performance,

3. and a third group is only interested in replicating the emotional
response of live music.

The MEANS of this is what creates the "Objectivist/Subjectivist" split.

The split, it seems arises from so many of the subjectivists claiming, or
trying to claim that there is some sort of scientific reason why their
preferences are better. They also seem to put words in the mouths of the
objectivists, claiming they think all equipment sounds the same. No matter
how many times it's pointed out that this is not what is being said and that
nobody gives a rat's patute about one's preferences.

There's also a lot of animosity about the people from the subjectivist side
making the claims and their lack of credentials.
  #429   Report Post  
John Atkinson
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

Stewart Pinkerton wrote in message
news:YVkNc.177459$JR4.111272@attbi_s54...
I repeat, there are no *master* tapes with more than 14 bits dynamic
range.


This is a bit too sweeping a generalization, Stewart, IMO. It is
certainly true at low frequencies, where room noise restricts dynamic
range. But even on my own recordings, which are almost all distantly,
miked, the background noise in the treble can be lower than the
16-bit noise floor.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
  #430   Report Post  
Harry Lavo
 
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"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
news:QVkNc.194890$Oq2.82218@attbi_s52...
On 25 Jul 2004 19:05:01 GMT, "Harry Lavo" wrote:

"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jul 2004 19:09:10 GMT, "Harry Lavo" wrote:

"Nousaine" wrote in message
news:zGaMc.168737$Oq2.24685@attbi_s52...

Oh Sure; and the Thelma Huston "Pressure Cooker" lps I bought with
the
assurance that once the masters were used up there would never be
availability
again; was forever askanst by the release of the same material on

cd;
in a
couple years by the "discovery" of analog back-up copies that were
made at the
time.

What a crock; then and now.

Sorry Sheffield announced from the beginning that they were making

analog
recordings as backups, and that they might be released after the

direct to
disks were gone. The only think promised was that the

direct-to-disks were
limited in number and once sold, were gone forever.

That is simply not true. I collected many Sheffields in the '70s,
right from Lab 1 (the third in the series.....), and no mention was
*ever* made of the existence of any backup tapes, until *after* all
the DD discs were safely in music stores.

The fact that they didn't tell you personally doesn't mean it wasn't in
their press releases and interviews.


So quote one single source of such a statement from *before* the
Treasury series magically appeared.


Sorry, I don't make a habit of collecting press releases, or indexing twenty
year old magazines. I remember it because it affected my decisions as to
what direct to disks to buy and what to save for later (even if they ran out
of D-D's and it had to be an analog-release version).


  #431   Report Post  
B&D
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

On 7/27/04 12:18 AM, in article HIkNc.177397$JR4.96037@attbi_s54, "chung"
wrote:

B&D wrote:

On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article 721Nc.187393$XM6.133782@attbi_s53, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

No, I think the phrase "high-end" was coined by Harry Pearson in the early
days of TAS, to define companies that were primarily listening-oriented
vs.
measurement-oriented, because everything was called "hi-fi" in those days,
including stuff that measured well but sounded like dreck...mostly mid-fi
stuff that was positioned as "hi-fi".

IIRC there was a standard for what was considered Hi-Fi, it had to perform
within certain limits. None of the measured well/sounded like dreck stuff
was ever compared via ABX to see if the sounded like dreck part was really
true, so in essence, it's just a blank assertion.


One common mistake in amplifiers is the use of feedback in order to make an
amplifier absolutely flat - since the time constant of the loop can be
exceeding during transients, letting the open loop amplifier response
(complete with distortion and so on) for a small amount of time.


Time constant of the loop can be exceeding? What exactly are you talking
about?


Exceeded, not exceeding - sorry meaning you can exceed the speed of the loop
with a transient. For every loop there is a finite loop constant - if you
are slower than it - the response is the closed loop response. If you are
faster - then it will approach the open loop response. If the open loop
response has distortion and ripple in the pass band - then until the loop
takes control - you will have distortion.

It is not uncommon for a class AB (RF) amp to have -40dB intermodulation
distortion and harmonic distgortion ~ -30dB or so. A loop would clean it up
really nicely, but would be audible open loop.


BTW, it is trivial to test for large signal distortion effects.


I don't think an ABX test would need to be done in this particular case as
it is easily measured on a bench, and calculated by math.

The way the very best amplifiers are designed (RF ones anyway that require
linearization) is that the basic amplifier is made as flat and linear as
possible and feedback or other linearization technique is used to make it
better. I think audio amplifiers would need this as well.


There are plenty of solid state amps designed with the open-loop
response optimized for linearity and bandwidth. Read the Doug Self
website for examples.


Yes, there are - now.


Overall I agree - but AB or ABX or other controlled subjective listening
tests is not always required provided you know what measurements to make.


I am glad that now you believe in the power of measurements. That's a
new position for you. What happened?


I use measurements every day. I don't have to believe in them - they are
100% valid in the context of what they measure.

It is *how* to measure and what it means that is the main issue and you and
I would (usually) disagree.
  #432   Report Post  
S888Wheel
 
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From: "Michael McKelvy"
Date: 7/26/2004 4:12 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

"S888Wheel" wrote in message
...

Based on the measurements the only merit this amp would have is
as

a
really
expensive door stop. It would not have been considered a hi-fi
amp
since
the 1940's. Look at the graph of any decent SS amp and you will

see
the
distortion as a nearly flat line until full rated power is
reached.
With
the WAVAC it continues to get worse as you increase the volume.
At
around 2
watts it's at 1% which is where THD becomes audible. If this amp

were
$12.00 it would still be overpriced to anyone looking for a 150

watt
amp.







Are you suggesting that those people who like what they hear from

this
amp
and
believe that what they hear through this amp sounds more like live
music
should
revise their subjective impressions to fit the measurements?

No, I'm suggesting that buying an amp with this kind of distortion,
cannot
by definition sound more like live music


By definition? Let's not forget that no one listens to amplifiers.

If you listen to music amplified by a WAVAC or any SET for that
matter,

you
are definitely listening to the amplifier.


No, you are still listening to a recording played back through a
system

that
includes an amplifier and speakers.


When an amp puts out the kind of distortion the WAVAC does, you are
hearing
the amplification plus the distortion. In a decent SS amp the
distortion
would be inaudible and like most SS amps you wouldn't be able to tell
one
from the other. Played at anythiong over 2 watts the distortion would
be
audible from the WAVAC.


That is your opinion. Of course you still haven't heard the amp in the
system
used to review it so you really have no idea what that sounded like.




We listen to
recordings played back through amplifier speaker systems. I don't

believe
your
assertion is always true.

With CD and Solid State electronics, you'd be correct.


With any working playback system I am correct.


If the amp adds something that wasn't in the source, it's distortion
and has
no place in anyhing calling it self Hi-Fi or high end.


That means there is no such thing as Hifi or high end. No
recording/playback
system is free of audible distortion. It would seem your personal
defenition of
high end or hifi is at odds with the existance of the hobby.




and that basing one's buying
decisions on their faulty memory of such events can only lead to

inferior
sound.

When hifi retailer sets up a demp room with a live band we will be

able
to
circumvent the potential problems we face with aural memory. Till
then

it
is
what we will have to rely on. I don't think it is quite so bad as
some
would
have us believe anytime a unit measures one way and is subjectively
percieved
in another way.


That's a wonderful anecdote,


It wasn't even an anecdote much less a wonderful one.

the science of audio shows that fidelity
transfers to better listening.


I think it has been established that science and the hobby of audio
rarely
cross paths.

I think that statement is onbly true for the tiny minority of people
who
think they can remember what a live performance should sound like.


You are mistaken. There is a profound lack of scientific research in
hifi.
Scientists seem to have better things to research.



It's not personal, nobody has reliable memory when it comes to
audio.


This doesn't seem to become an issue when people talk about their
impressions
of speakers or recordings. Why is that?


In the case of speakers they have much more distortion than the rest
of

the
audio chain, as I'm reasonably sure you are aware of.


What does that have to do with my point that people don't seem to
start

raising
the issue of aural memory when someone expresses an opinion about the

sound of
speakers?

Because teh differences can be so gross and because no speaker is
perfect,


That doesn't make the problem of aural memory go away.


amps, preamps, CD players are generally perfect insofar as they don't
impart
any sound of their own.


IYO.




Recordings are subject to the bias of the recording engineer and the

artist
involved, then they are played back through God knows what speakers
in

God
knows what rooms. The fact is you may not like the choices made by
the
artist and the engineer, but if you listen through good equipment
and in

a
well set up room, to a CD recording, you'll be hearing what they
intended
you hear, not some compromise made for LP or some colorized version

provided
via the distortion induced from something like the WAVAC.



Rarely true unfortunately.



According to what standard?


What do you mean?

  #434   Report Post  
S888Wheel
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

From: "Michael McKelvy"
Date: 7/26/2004 9:17 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: LHkNc.38215$eM2.16080@attbi_s51

"S888Wheel" wrote in message
...
Absolute Sound
From: "Michael McKelvy"

Date: 7/20/2004 3:04 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: XFgLc.129726$JR4.107265@attbi_s54



What titles are you talking about?

Every album I replaced with a CD that I owned as an LP. From Pink Floyd

to
Bach.


That is far too vague an answer to be of any use.


Which LP issues did you compare them to?

See above.


Above does not begin to answer the question. You do realize that with many
titles there have been several different issues on LP and often on CD many

of
which have been mastered quite differently to varying degree in

excellence?


I
am always on the look out for better masterings. And I am quite a jazz
enthusiast.


John Handy Excursion in Blue is excellent on CD.

Anything from GRP.

What does it matter, you don't like CD sound so you'll claim your LP's

out
perform the CD.


Thta's complete nonsense. I go title by title. I have never said I don't

like
all CDs. You are just burning a straw man here. You OTOH seem to have

dismissed
LP out of hand by claiming *every* title you replaced with a CD was

superior.

Because in my case that is true.


That doesn't leave your claims any less vague or reduce the odds that your own
biases were in play.


Given the history of mastering of various titles on LP and CD I suyspect

that
you are listening through a very biased POV or are using sub par LP

playback
equipment and/or poor pressings of the LPs in question.

Why in the world would I wish to spend the kind of money it takes for "par"
when for $100.00, (less than my cd player cost) I can get a better medium.


Your question is based on a faulty premise.



The problem is they don't but you like LP sound better,
even though you're missing out on the increased transient response, lower
noise and no possibility of tracking error.


I'm not missing out on anything. I have both LPs and CDs I am quite happy

when
I find a better copy of any title whether it be on CD or LP, I'm afraid

you are
the one who is missing out by disnmissing an entire format.

I still have LP's, some sound very nice, none sound as good as any CD I've
ever heard.


On your fig in your system in your opinion. Fine. But it hardly represents the
full potential of LP playback



You like what you like, but it's still inferior to CD.



That doesn't even make sense. Some times with some titles I like the CD

better.

According to you most of the time.


No. Most of the time I like an LP version of a given title best.

  #435   Report Post  
Michael McKelvy
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"B&D" wrote in message
...
On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article 721Nc.187393$XM6.133782@attbi_s53, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

No, I think the phrase "high-end" was coined by Harry Pearson in the

early
days of TAS, to define companies that were primarily listening-oriented

vs.
measurement-oriented, because everything was called "hi-fi" in those

days,
including stuff that measured well but sounded like dreck...mostly

mid-fi
stuff that was positioned as "hi-fi".


IIRC there was a standard for what was considered Hi-Fi, it had to

perform
within certain limits. None of the measured well/sounded like dreck

stuff
was ever compared via ABX to see if the sounded like dreck part was

really
true, so in essence, it's just a blank assertion.


One common mistake in amplifiers is the use of feedback in order to make

an
amplifier absolutely flat - since the time constant of the loop can be
exceeding during transients, letting the open loop amplifier response
(complete with distortion and so on) for a small amount of time.

It's not a mistake, it's done in all solid state amplifiers, AFAIK. IIRC
this provides flat FR which is one of the things you want in an amp.

I don't think an ABX test would need to be done in this particular case as
it is easily measured on a bench, and calculated by math.

It would depend on what design flaws there were and how gross they were in
their effect on the sound.

If you have flat FR, yo probably have most of the other problems under
control, assuming it stay flat with inaudible distortion to the limit of its
rating.

The way the very best amplifiers are designed (RF ones anyway that require
linearization) is that the basic amplifier is made as flat and linear as
possible and feedback or other linearization technique is used to make it
better. I think audio amplifiers would need this as well.

Overall I agree - but AB or ABX or other controlled subjective listening
tests is not always required provided you know what measurements to make.


And I've said so, especially in the case of speakers.



  #438   Report Post  
B&D
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

On 7/27/04 12:17 AM, in article LHkNc.38215$eM2.16080@attbi_s51, "Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

Given the history of mastering of various titles on LP and CD I suyspect

that
you are listening through a very biased POV or are using sub par LP

playback
equipment and/or poor pressings of the LPs in question.

Why in the world would I wish to spend the kind of money it takes for "par"
when for $100.00, (less than my cd player cost) I can get a better medium.


Actually, I would one better you.

Assuming that the highest peaks of LP playback with the right records would
be better (I have heard it so) than CD, why would you spend the $10,000 for
that peak when for $1000 (CD Player) you can get something almost as good?

I have heard some truly stunning LP playback that beat my CD (NAD) - but I
am unwilling to invest that kind of money to get it.

  #439   Report Post  
Harry Lavo
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"S888Wheel" wrote in message
...
From: "goFab.com"
Date: 7/26/2004 4:35 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

On 22 Jul 2004 00:08:29 GMT, in article ,
S888Wheel stated:


This is a very good point. It makes me wonder what those who choose to

abandon
the LP format altogether are thinking?



Gee, we ask a lot of our audiophiles, don't we?


No, I don't ask anything of audiophiles.

Not only are they expected
to
hold down jobs of sufficient importance and responsibility to enable the
purchase of $20K speakers and $20K amplifiers, but they are expected to

do so
while still simultaneously having the free time required to affirmatively
search
out relatively scarce vinyl releases, optimize their analog rigs, clean

the
playback medium every time they interact with it, get up every 15-20

minutes
to
flip the record over and spend enough of that free time sitting in a room

at
home to listen in the first place.


Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to do that. I don't "expect" it

from
anyone else. Audiophiles are free to do as they please. But I am amazed at

the
hostility towards those of us who do hold down jobs "of significant

importance
and responsibility" (whatever that is supposed to mean) to enable us to
purchase expensive gear and simultaniously have the time required to

search out
"reletively scarce" vinyl releases (many of my favorites are not scarce

and
take little effort to "search out") optimize our analog rigs, clean the

records
and equipment effectively (your desciption of this is way off base with
reality) and have the energy left over to flip the record at the end of

each
side. Why such hostility?



I have a reasonably decent system and I respect what it can do and the

folks
who
designed the components, but at the end of the day most of my musical
enjoyment
comes through an iPod while I'm on the go (the iPod having freed us from

the
last great mobile music impediment, having to carry the software around

and
change it).


That's nice. What is your point though?

Listening at the computer through an inexpensive sat/sub system
comes a distant second. In terms of time spent, my home rig is not even

on
the
chart, and I can't imagine how any person who doesn't have the good

fortune
to
be a person of extreme leisure can spend enough time with the Walkers and
Nordosts and Lyras of this world to make it all worth it.



The confines of your imagination are, fortunately for me and other

enthusiasts,
not a real world boundary.


My reaction goFab's post was: "then why are you hanging out here on
rec.audio.high-end? You've given up on high end and don't have time to
listen, you say. If that's true, you certainly don't have time to hang out
here and argue with those of us who still find listening to music on our
"big rigs" enjoyable."

  #440   Report Post  
Harry Lavo
 
Posts: n/a
Default Steely Dan The Absolute Sound

"Michael McKelvy" wrote in message
...
"B&D" wrote in message
news:QLkNc.195354$XM6.151677@attbi_s53...
On 7/26/04 1:56 AM, in article g21Nc.169722$JR4.10497@attbi_s54,

"Michael
McKelvy" wrote:

level-matched comparisons, and done them for friends / fellow

audiophiles
who were predisposed to CD (some of whom didn't even own

vinyl...then..but
do now). Flawed as the comparison may have been in your eyes, it

made
believers out of them.

If the were competently done and that's their preference, so be it.

The
problem I have is most such preferences are based on none or

incompetently
done comparisons.


Depends upon what kind of conclusions you want to draw from a 'faulty'
comparison.


First I want to establish there is a difference. I have read people here
claim that some LP's are indistinguishable fro a CD of the same music.


Then go establish it. I don't feel a need to.


If it is a "I like it" then by most measures - the only
criteria that needs to be satisfied has been satisfied it (the

purchasing
decision).


And I, nor anyone else that would fall into the so called "objectivist"

camp
has ever claimed otherwise.


Often with the dismissive "if you prefer distortion, so be it".

If someone were to conclude "YOU like it" (deciding for others)
then it becomes more complex and you may be right.

After all, I believe there are 3 groups:

1. A large minority of "audiophiles" are truly and earnestly interested

in
absolute perfect recording reproduction

2. and equally large minority is interested in allowing some "euphonic
distortion" if it makes the music sound like a live performance,

3. and a third group is only interested in replicating the emotional
response of live music.

The MEANS of this is what creates the "Objectivist/Subjectivist" split.

The split, it seems arises from so many of the subjectivists claiming, or
trying to claim that there is some sort of scientific reason why their
preferences are better. They also seem to put words in the mouths of the
objectivists, claiming they think all equipment sounds the same. No

matter
how many times it's pointed out that this is not what is being said and

that
nobody gives a rat's patute about one's preferences.


No, the subjectivists arguing here agree on only one thing...that the dbt
abx test that is considered the "gold standard" for the objectivists in
accepting that there is a difference *may be* a flawed test that has never
been verified for its use as an open-ended evaluation of audio gear (as
opposed to attempting to spot a known artifiact). We have challenged the
majority objectivists here on that point and engendered their hostility as a
result.

There's also a lot of animosity about the people from the subjectivist

side
making the claims and their lack of credentials.


I believe you mean "directed toward the people...." Sure is .... that's
the hostility so engendered.

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