Do you believe in Magic?


Audio Magic, that is.

Let's say that Magic is any effect not explainable by known physical laws. Every audiophile is familiar with debates about Audio Magic, as evidenced by endless threads about power cables.

I recently had an experience that made me question my long held skepticism about Magic. On a whim, I bought some Stillpoints ERS Fabric. I installed it in my preamp (which is filled with noisy digital circuitry) and a reclocker (also noisy) and...

Something happened. I don't know what exactly, but something. Two things in particular seemed to change... the decay of notes, and instrument timbres. Both changed for the better. But where did this change occur? In my listening room? Or in my mind?

If the change was in my listening room, then Magic exists. If the change was in my mind, then Magic does not exist.

One of the great Ideological Divides in audio is the divide between Believers and Skeptics. I honestly don't know if I'm a Believer or a Skeptic.

Do you believe in Magic?

Bryon
bryoncunningham
Captainkaitt to enterprise, "beam me up Scotty, mission not accomplished. The earthlings are too smart for me. Let's try Uranus".
Captain out.
I had another difficult-to-explain experience. Whether it is Magic is an open question.

My system is computer based. I recently replaced the hard disk drive in my computer with a solid state drive. Formerly, I used HDD's both for the OS and for music storage (as aiff's). Now, I'm using the SSD for both.

It's definitely different. Here's what I heard...

1. More resolution
2. Better dynamics
3. Better PRaT

...and oddly...

4. It's louder.

#1 through #3 can probably be attributed to the reduction of jitter, or possibly the reduction of RFI. But #4 is a mystery.

I have an audiophile friend who also just swapped out his HDD with a SSD. Totally different system and guess what... He heard the exact same thing. Weird.

Bryon