How Science Got Sound Wrong

I'm not even going to try to settle the argument but I can tell you as a the husband of a woman with a PhD who studies brains and neurophysiology for a living, each of us perceive sound differently. It was mentioned earlier that the re-creation of music is a mechanical process. That is true up to the point that that process is converted to an electrical signal and de-coded by our brain's neural pathways. That perception is what makes us all uniquely different AND why we will never agree on the best sounding format.
Here is something to consider. What sounds "better", live music where some bozo is coughing in the background while another couple are chatting during the music or the same piece recorded in a high end music studio and replayed on high quality equipment? It's all about perception. You decide.

Thanks for chiming in geoffkait. So would that CD edge shaver be of value?

falconquest,

I would like to think that no one is suggesting we don’t all perceive sound differently. I think that is a given. This is not even a discussion of whether 44.1/16bits is enough bandwidth/resolution. It is about whether audio sampled at 44.1 khz has sub-sample timing resolution. Well really it is not even a discussion, no more than 1+1 = 2, or whether the earth is round or flat. No one who understands sampling theory and digitized systems thinks that audio timing resolution, monaural or binaural, or any bandwidth limited system is limited to the sampling rate. The author of the paper flat out states that timing resolution is limited to sample rate. That is just not true. Unfortunately, things like this pop up every few years, then get smacked down, but people have short memories and don’t do the required due diligence.

If the author had just stuck with 20KHz is not enough bandwidth, then he would have had a fairly supportable position (no matter how many scream Redbook is enough). There is a pretty strong case to be made that 20KHz is not enough. There appears to be no case for beyond 96ksps (40KHz).

Unfortunately, people from both sides of the argument are more interested in emotional positions than ones based purely on facts.

Yes, beveling the outer edge of the CD to make the disc perfectly round is a good idea since it reduces the CD flutter and vibration. The disc still needs to be stiffened, I have a solution but it’s secret, it’s the Mystery Tweak.

I think it is a Mystery Freak.