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Do equipment stands have an impact on electronics?

Mechanical grounding or isolation from vibration has been a hot topic as of late.  Many know from experience that footers, stands and other vibration technologies impact things that vibrate a lot like speakers, subs or even listening rooms (my recent experience with an "Energy room").  The question is does it have merit when it comes to electronics and if so why?  Are there plausible explanations for their effect on electronics or suggested measurement paradigms to document such an effect?
agear
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,966 posts
 

There is a select group of professional recording engineers now working who are considered the best in the business, responsible for some of the best sounding recordings ever made---lifelike instrumental timbre, high resolution and transparency, who can record on any equipment they choose. They have no allegiance to any system, just to getting the best sound possible. One such engineer is Kavi Alexander of Water Lily Records, located in Santa Barbara California.

Kavi not only continues to prefer analog tape to digital (though higher bit rates and sampling frequencies---24/192, are narrowing the gap), but he uses a very customized recorder that employs tubes! He does so NOT because of any "musical distortion" the recorder adds to the direct mic feed, but for the exact opposite reason---it is the most transparent, least distortion-adding method of recording he has found.

Kavi’s has produced some of the most astonishingly lifelike recordings ever made, including the Grammy Award-winning "A Meeting By The River", on which master slide guitarist Ry Cooder plays. Ry is VERY serious about the sound of his guitars (both live and recorded), which led him to make the first digitally recorded Pop (non-Classical) album, Bop Til You Drop. He HATED it! When he heard a Water Lily label recording he asked "Why don’t my records sound this good?". He sought out Mr. Alexander, and plans were undertaken to make the AMBTR album. It is World Music, and one of the handful of best recordings I’ve ever heard..

The Water Lily recorder’s tube circuits were designed by Tim Paravicini, who has also done work for the David Gilmore/Pink Floyd Studio in London, considered one of the best in the world. Tim also designs consumer Hi-Fi products for EAR-Yoshino, including tube pre-amps, power amps, and digital products. EAR-Yoshino has one phono pre-amp that is all solid state, which Tim preferred in that application. He, like Kavi, generally prefers tubes to solid state, not for their "musical distortion", but for their sonic superiority. One may disagree with that preference, but one can not truthfully claim that their preference is based on a desire for "musical distortion".

ethan_winer
57 posts
 
^^^ I’m sorry but that’s just wrong. The very definition of high fidelity is a flat response and low distortion. Yes, many fabulous recordings have been made on old school analog equipment. But that equipment has lower fidelity than even consumer-grade modern digital converters. So again, the perception that analog recordings are more "lifelike" than digital is a psychoacoustics effect caused by the addition of distortion. Honest, this stuff has been tested repeatedly and known for a very long time! I’m sorry if you’re not aware of the years of research, and the history of this!
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,966 posts
 
You just don’t get it Ethan. Kavi listens to the direct mic feed, then to his recording of that mic feed. He listens for any difference between the two, for any degradation caused by the recorder. He has concluded that his recorder is the most accurate, lowest-distortion, transparent recorder available at this time (when he finds something more transparent, he will use it.). You claim he’s wrong? Gee, I just don’t know who has more credibility here---a Grammy Award-winning professional recording engineer, or you. Who are you again?
ethan_winer
57 posts
 
Well, he’s wrong. And you (and he) are the ones who don’t get it. And Argument From Authority never impresses me. But you don’t have to believe me. Honest, I don’t care who you believe. But if you're serious about understanding audio, you’d do well to cancel your subscription to the audiophile magazines and join the AES instead.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,478 posts
 


My two cents as a 40 year technology professional who only dabbles in audio as a hobby these days is that its always all about how noise and distortion is effectively kept to a minimum and more ways than ever to tackle that beast cost effectively these days.  No individual or entity has exclusive rights to a secret sauce.

The rest is mostly personal preferences which differs for each but has nothing to do with science and technology solving a problem better for the most part.

Also I will cast some lots in Ethans camp though its a bit narrow-minded and say that room acoustics are perhaps the first and primary thing to consider before during and after buying any home audio solution. If you get the acoustic fit into the room right to meet your needs its pretty clear sailing these days from there.


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