A question about compression

[Schizoid Man]

I ambled into a local audio dealer here in San Francisco the other day and
received a fairly interesting, if ambiguous, lecture.

I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to speakers
to use them for watching TV or playing computer games, because both formats
use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.

Is this really true? I may not have majored in electrical engineering, but
how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?

[Eberhard Sengpiel]

Schizoid Man > wrote:
> I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to
speakers
> to use them for watching TV or playing computer games, because both
formats
> use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.
> Is this really true? I may not have majored in electrical engineering,
but
> how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?


How much will a water tap damage the water flow?
How much will ear plugs damage your ears?
A compressor prevents too much dynamic of the
sound and that cannot be harmful to speakers.

ebs

[kvarm]

Schizoid Man wrote:
> I ambled into a local audio dealer here in San Francisco the other
day and
> received a fairly interesting, if ambiguous, lecture.
>
> I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to
speakers
> to use them for watching TV or playing computer games, because both
formats
> use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.
>
> Is this really true? I may not have majored in electrical
engineering, but
> how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?

audio data compression cannot damage your speakers unless the d/a of
your amplifier is 1-bit and supplying a dc signal to your speakers.
audio level compression however could theoretically damage you speakers
if you listened to a quiet source with the volume turned up and then
switched to a loud source. However, you could play video games all day
every day for years and years without ever causing damage to your
speakers as long as the volume isn't too high!(it's not the compression
it's the amplifier)

[kvarm]

Schizoid Man wrote:
> I ambled into a local audio dealer here in San Francisco the other
day and
> received a fairly interesting, if ambiguous, lecture.
>
> I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to
speakers
> to use them for watching TV or playing computer games, because both
formats
> use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.
>
> Is this really true? I may not have majored in electrical
engineering, but
> how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?

audio data compression cannot damage your speakers unless the d/a of
your amplifier is 1-bit and supplying a dc signal to your speakers.
audio level compression however could theoretically damage you speakers
if you listened to a quiet source with the volume turned up and then
switched to a loud source. However, you could play video games all day
every day for years and years without ever causing damage to your
speakers as long as the volume isn't too high!(it's not the compression
it's the amplifier)

[Arny Krueger]

"kvarm" > wrote in message
oups.com
> Schizoid Man wrote:
>> I ambled into a local audio dealer here in San Francisco the other
> day and
>> received a fairly interesting, if ambiguous, lecture.
>>
>> I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to
>> speakers to use them for watching TV or playing computer games,
>> because both formats use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.
>>
>> Is this really true? I may not have majored in electrical
> engineering, but
>> how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?
>
> audio data compression cannot damage your speakers unless the d/a of
> your amplifier is 1-bit and supplying a dc signal to your speakers.

Do tell!

> audio level compression however could theoretically damage you
> speakers if you listened to a quiet source with the volume turned up
> and then switched to a loud source.

Actually, compression makes that less of a problem by moving the levels of
loud and quiet passages closer together.

> However, you could play video
> games all day every day for years and years without ever causing
> damage to your speakers as long as the volume isn't too high!(it's
> not the compression it's the amplifier)

Agreed, most speakers are damaged by simply being played too loud.

[Pooh Bear]

Schizoid Man wrote:

> I ambled into a local audio dealer here in San Francisco the other day and
> received a fairly interesting, if ambiguous, lecture.
>
> I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to speakers
> to use them for watching TV or playing computer games, because both formats
> use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.
>
> Is this really true?

No. It's utter ********.

> I may not have majored in electrical engineering, but
> how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?

It doesn't.

What clown told you that ?


Graham