darrell;697886 Wrote: > maybe I should have framed the question more narrowly - "Digital music > transfer - science or craft?"
Excellent question. I'd have to break it down into two parts: 1. Digital music transfer from the computer/cloud to the digital transport (e.g. SBT) 2. Digital music transfer from the digital transport to the outboard DAC As far as the first part goes, I'm not in the position to comment, as I've never been in the position to play with it to see if there is a possibility for me to learn some craft. I have a tendency to think that this part don't really matter, but then what do I know? I remain completely open to be corrected on this. As for the second part, I think there must be some science to it. Once TCP packets reach their intended destination -- the digital transport box (SBT), they are to be declared as a faithful (to its source) series of ones and zeros. Weak electrical signals that travel across the wire or through the air are now to be declared as an 'etched in stone' signal. How much variability could be introduced by noisy processes at this point? What are the odds that a particular sequence of ones and zeros may get misinterpreted, if even slightly? And if so, what impact could such variability have on the overall health of the signal? These are the questions that leave me in the dark. In other words, I'm clueless. I'm pretty certain that careful scientific investigation could shed some light on these, but I'm not aware of any conclusive research. That is, unless I acknowledge the lackadaisical and arrogant shrill claims that nothing, absolutely nothing could go wrong whenever and wherever ones and zeros are involved. Seems like a fairly fundamentalist, extremist approach, but let the sleeping dogs lie. On to the craft aspect of digital music transfer (from SBT to DAC): despite the fact that understanding how these things work are to me akin to attempting to assemble IKEA furniture in a dark room, that does not preclude me from actually having a go at it. It's my money, it's my unassembled furniture, so I'm now going to enter the pitch black room armed with some tools and touch-and-feel my way around the furniture parts lying around. I'm not breaking any laws, bylaws or regulations by doing that. So what I do is start changing things around. I ssh into the Touch, apply soundcheck's mods, then on top of that create many different 'profiles' that have been over the past few months offered by Dynobot and SBGK, and then try them out, one by one. Sit down and listen, try to discern if I hear any differences, and if so, which 'profile' sounds better to my ears. This is where craft kicks in. Same as when I'm crafting my own beer, I don't understand the first thing about the science behind the process of beer brewing, and still, despite that glaring lack of requisite qualification and knowledge, I stand a chance of producing a good bottle of beer. In the end, by being open to trying out various things without insisting upfront on having proper qualifications, proper pedigree and proper understanding as to why do things work the way they work, and by applying my craft of listening carefully to the end result, I arrive at the most (for me) optimal configuration. Again, I'm not breaking any laws, I'm not violating any regulations, I'm not swindling anyone out of their money. Just enjoying my hobby. -- magiccarpetride ------------------------------------------------------------------------ magiccarpetride's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=37863 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=91322 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
