«Always face your wife if asking a question»-Groucho Marx
@mahgister....I've done that...it's almost as dangerous as not...*L*
@mahgister....I've done that...it's almost as dangerous as not...*L*
Please Educate Me
If I can’t find the answer here, I won’t find it anywhere.
Something I’ve wondered about for a long time: The whole world is digital. Some huge percentage of our lives consists of ones and zeros.
And with the exception of hi-fi, I don’t know of a single instance in which all of this digitalia isn’t yes/no, black/white, it works or it doesn’t. No one says, “Man, Microsoft Word works great on this machine,” or “The reds in that copy of Grand Theft Auto are a tad bright.” The very nature of digital information precludes such questions.
Not so when it comes to hi-fi. I’m extremely skeptical about much that goes on in high end audio but I’ve obviously heard the difference among digital sources. Just because something is on CD or 92/156 FLAC doesn’t mean that it’s going to sound the same on different players or streamers.
Conceptually, logically, I don’t know why it doesn’t. I know about audiophile-type concerns like timing and flutter. But those don’t get to the underlying science of my question.
I feel like I’m asking about ABCs but I was held back in kindergarten and the computerized world isn’t doing me any favors. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do. I’ll be using Photoshop and I’ve got it dialed in just right.
Something I’ve wondered about for a long time: The whole world is digital. Some huge percentage of our lives consists of ones and zeros.
And with the exception of hi-fi, I don’t know of a single instance in which all of this digitalia isn’t yes/no, black/white, it works or it doesn’t. No one says, “Man, Microsoft Word works great on this machine,” or “The reds in that copy of Grand Theft Auto are a tad bright.” The very nature of digital information precludes such questions.
Not so when it comes to hi-fi. I’m extremely skeptical about much that goes on in high end audio but I’ve obviously heard the difference among digital sources. Just because something is on CD or 92/156 FLAC doesn’t mean that it’s going to sound the same on different players or streamers.
Conceptually, logically, I don’t know why it doesn’t. I know about audiophile-type concerns like timing and flutter. But those don’t get to the underlying science of my question.
I feel like I’m asking about ABCs but I was held back in kindergarten and the computerized world isn’t doing me any favors. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do. I’ll be using Photoshop and I’ve got it dialed in just right.
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- 106 posts total
I'm not even sure if there was a question here. One of the biggest sources of variance over time have been: - Clock quality - Type of DAC - Upsampling or oversampling and algorithms - DAC output stage - Noise sources, like power supply and digital ground loops The quality of the clocks and jitter elimination circuits has vastly improved since about 2010. For the most part it's almost a moot point. DAC's and how they are configured matters quite a bit. For instance, some DAC's use multiple parallel DAC's simultaneously per channel to achieve the lowest noise, distortion and highest output current capabilities. Next, how about those output filters? Up or oversampling can affect the response through the top octave. Upsampling or asynchronous sample rate conversion rely on lots of math to interpolate between the original samples. They don't come out with the same results. Older upsampling could clip the signal in the interpolated samples. Hopefully everyone is now aware of this. Lastly is the output buffer. A preamp stage, even if it has no volume control, which ensures uniform output regardless of the downstream device. And... none of this matters if you can't hear it. Buy the cheapest device which looks good and you can't hear better from. |
«Always face your wife if asking a question»-Groucho MarxFacing your wife was not recommended in this aphorism to give a better lie, it was recommend because she will spot you with a bad lie on the spot and it will be easier for her to forgive you..... 😉 I never lied to my wife more than 5 seconds.... All wives are also mothers and they will forget about your " bad" lies like they forgive children... But if you think you are a "good" liar, and dont even need to face her, you are already dead before the first lie... 😁 «Any lie must contain truth»- the serpent after the closing of Eden |
@paul6001 Could be that some of us are put off by you requesting us to educate you (do the work for you) rather than you investigating for yourself like most of us have done. High level: sound/music is an analog continuous waveform while digital is 1 and zeros. The analog is converted into digital (1 and zeros) then back to analog before playback. The amount of digital file resolution can be hi (like SACD) which contains more information than a lower resolution file (MP3) and sounds significantly better on a good resolving audio system. Also, the digital stream may be affected by outside influences which can be heard audibly. Jitter is the time distortions of recording/playback of a digital audio signal - try Googling. Also, there are several technologies for DACs (Digital to Analog Converter). Finally, our audio acuity is much more complex than the current science can define. Bottom line: it’s not just ones and zeros aka yes/no, it’s how well executed the analog to digital back to analog is accomplished. |
@paul6001 https://www.youtube.com/c/TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel/videos search within his videos for several seminal discussions of analog vs digital music production and fidelity, and how to make digital sound right |
- 106 posts total