Did Amir Change Your Mind About Anything?

@amir_asr 

Amir, what of the fact that all along, you have only been measuring just the electrical half of electromagnetism. Can you explain the loss of logic in basing your entire belief system on that?

kevin

@amir_asr 

I hope you will take this to heart what I am going to write here, and why your approach is too dogmatic and hence stuck with no potential to move forward.

Last night you argued vehemently that reflections in a room MUST be better, that it MUST essentially be more pleasant, but, using the research that allowed you to reach that conclusion, you must also accept there is reduced clarity of the image (as the research indicates) and that at least for first lateral reflections there is no right answer for all rooms and all people.

Stated another way, you vehemently argued that a less accurate approach would absolutely result in a better listening experience, to the point of claiming that anyone who suggested doing otherwise was incompetent. Your words, not mine. Paraphrased but still your words.

Today, you posted this:

The Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC shows again that just because a DAC is designed from ground up, it need not perform poorly. It is actually the opposite with it performing at the top of the class with respect to distortion and noise.

Effectively you are stating that the only correct way to design a DAC (or any piece of electronics really) is for it to perfectly reproduce / amplify a signal. Do you not see the issue?  On one issue you are advocating, literally insisting on a provably inferior technical solution, while on another issue, you are insisting the only correct way is a perfect technical solution, and you leave absolutely no room, except at best cursory, that a non-perfect solution could be more pleasant. It is a irreconcilable position.

I understand what has likely lead to this point in time. Both scurrilous marketing coupled with a group of audiophiles insisting that equipment has properties beyond the understanding of science. You know that is not the case. I know that is not the case. Many know that is not the case. So what is the possible benefit of measuring yet another DAC, or now yet another amplifier that performs well beyond any ability of humans to detect the faults?  There is not. It does nothing to advance the science or art beyond identifying new price points. That is at best consumer protection, not science. Ditto for exercises in debunking product claims. While valid it is not science, it is consumer protection.

So I will challenge you. Turn the ship. Stop proving 1+1 = 2. Use your reach and platform to do something useful for the industry, both for your followers and detractors, and put effort into understanding or debunking as the case may be, the audibility, and audible impact, negative or positive of less than perfect signal construction and amplification. Just like that those less than technically perfect reflections can create a superior experience, it is possible that less than perfect on the electrical side can do the same. It is already done on the music creation side for improved preference so the evidence is there to support it conceptually (even if not on all music).

Are you up to the challenge?

@amir_asr ​​​​@prof 

Your confusion of what is snake oil and what we are at ASR are your problem. You seem to think anything expensive must be snake oil. Do you go around saying that about a BMW?

ASR routinely labels anything "expensive" as snake oil when there is a cheap ASR endorsed option, regardless of real or perceived performance difference.  Individuals that opt to spend hundreds or thousands on an item they find pleasing for whatever reason, ASR also routinely ridicules as audio-fools. 

Interesting you bring up a car analogy, ridiculed many times on ASR.  Again the irony and hypocrisy is staggering.  

@somethingsomethingaudio 

Sure, I'm aware there are all sorts of places where room treatment will be touted.  Amir is going against the grain of what many people think, including likely some at gearspace.  I don't know if he's right. But he does reference technical arguments and studies in support of his argument, so if someone wants to argue the other point, hopefully they can marshal stronger evidence.  Rather than just "Amir is a meanie" type stuff.

@prof I am not referencing all sorts of places. I am referencing pretty much any recording studio, mastering desk, mixing rooms. They all use treatment. These are the people who edit, produce and fine tune all the audio, vocals and sound effects you’re playing through your system. They arent prone to the same flash of high end stuff. Running commercial cable snakes and generic power cords. They do use room eq in addition to treatment. What youre saying is based on one guy, who has no experience in any of those fields knows better and they are misinformed?

I am trying to find a link but The Disney Concert Hall is a great example of this. They designed the seats to mimic the human body's density so that when the seats are empty it still sounds consistent with a full house. A lot of effort went into the project with materials and wood so that it was acoustically great. I guess you better go tell them with Amir that they made a big mistake.