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What do we hear when we change the direction of a wire?

Douglas Self wrote a devastating article about audio anomalies back in 1988. With all the necessary knowledge and measuring tools, he did not detect any supposedly audible changes in the electrical signal. Self and his colleagues were sure that they had proved the absence of anomalies in audio, but over the past 30 years, audio anomalies have not disappeared anywhere, at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned. It's hard to believe, but science still cannot clearly answer the question of what electricity is and what sound is! (see article by A.J.Essien).

For your information: to make sure that no potentially audible changes in the electrical signal occur when we apply any "audio magic" to our gear, no super equipment is needed. The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected by ear is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB'". This is about a 10% change. (Harris J.D.). At medium volume, the voltage amplitude at the output of the amplifier is approximately 10 volts, which means that the smallest audible difference in sound will be noticeable when the output voltage changes to 1 volt. Such an error is impossible not to notice even using a conventional voltmeter, but Self and his colleagues performed much more accurate measurements, including ones made directly on the music signal using Baxandall subtraction technique - they found no error even at this highest level.

As a result, we are faced with an apparently unsolvable problem: those of us who do not hear the sound of wires, relying on the authority of scientists, claim that audio anomalies are BS. However, people who confidently perceive this component of sound are forced to make another, the only possible conclusion in this situation: the electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If there are no electrical changes in the signal, then there are no acoustic changes, respectively, hearing does not participate in the perception of anomalies. What other options can there be?

Regards.
anton_stepichev
asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,721 posts
 
I've learned how to get my wires directional.

I hook them up to a 20Kv neon transformer and teach them to Obey.

...one of these daze I've Got to stop huffing contact cleaner....move on to something more 'socially acceptable'.....mabbe bath salts....salvia divinorum ....

Anything that will either make me accept that some sensitive souls can hear the alignment of molecules in wires...

....or to go hunting Nessie in Scotland armed with an ice pick.....

Better, and easier...buy one (or 3! whatta deal!) of this:

 https://www.ototodesign.com/products/nessie-standing-ladle

"You are what you expect to be....but really, not." {old saying}

I'm old....and said it.  So there. ;)
anton_stepichev OP
150 posts
 
@millercarbon
I do not however think this means there has to be some additional unaccounted for signal there waiting to be discovered. I find it much more likely we simply have vastly underestimated the human sensory potential.

I think this hypothesis has problems.

1 - the characteristic sound of the wire is perceived almost independently of the sound volume of the system, even at the minimum volume, when the speaker cone practically does not move. This point in particular excludes the influence of vibrations, as the only cause that affects perception, which occurs in parallel with hearing. Apparently, there is something else besides the vibrations.

2 - the characteristic sound of the wire is perceived regardless of the level of noise and interference of the signal source, for example, on old shellac records, the level of interference often becomes equal to the level of the useful signal already at 4-5 kHz, everything above this threshold is one continuous interference. The question arises, where in this case can micro-information hide?

anton_stepichev OP
150 posts
 

@djones
Why is it too far fetched?
You make a claim saying there is only one conclusion, I give an alternate conclusion you say is to far fetched. I fail to see how humans have bias is more far fetched than unknown signals hidden in wire unknown to science?? Let's not assume bias is to far fetched since we know it's a common human condition. You make an extraordinary claim concerning hidden signals, do you have any extraordinary evidence?

The problem is that we both can't prove our point using standard tests. They don't take too much into account, I wrote about it in my last answer to you.

Besides, my question was about something else. If, after all, we agree that there are people who distinguish the sound of one wire from another, what exactly can they hear or feel?

ps - this is from Essien's article:

"Many observers wonder at the listeners' ability to extract recognizable temporal and intonational patterns from the seemingly chaotic acoustic signal... “Richly structured perception on the one hand vs various imperfections in production including a wide range of deviations from target norms as well as large scale intra and inter individual variation on the other.” For Wode, it is a paradox; for Bloothooft (1995) it is a mystery"



anton_stepichev OP
150 posts
 
@millercarbon
It seems to me it is all down to propagating a field.

This hypothesis also has drawbacks. The wire is heard equally well both as an acoustic cable and as an IC, especially the difference is clearly noticeable in tube amps. A tube is controlled by grid voltage, there is no current in the circuit of tube grid, which means there is no field.

Also, this hypothesis does not explain the audibility of power cables that emit nothing but 60 hertz harmonics.

I believe, we may feel the electromagnetic field of the conductors in some situations, but there must be something else besides that. Otherwise, the puzzle doesn't add up.
clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 
Hi ted_denney and tablejockey.
Were the tests in which differences were perceived run on a blind ABX basis?  Were they repeated with multiple subjects?  Were there independent witnesses present?

If not, the experiences have zero relevance or value.


Have you ever been listening to your rig and think 'Damn. This sounds really good, much better than yesterday?'  Course you have, we all have.
Most of us just say 'Zeek, I must be in a good mood'. Or 'shouldn't have had that extra glass of wine'.  And just enjoy the temporary experience.

But some say 'My hearing and my recollection of previous auditory experiences is so 100% perfect that the only cause of the change must be that something has changed in the rig.  But nothing has changed.  So these guys invent stuff to explain their subjective perception.  Oh, that speaker cable is hanging a half-inch lower.  Perhaps someone came in at night and turned a fuse around.  The temperature is a degree warmer: must listen at 66.5 degrees.  Must be because I vacuumed the carpet this morning.  etc etc.

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