ralphpnj wrote: > Once again you act like the master politician, who when asked a direct > question gives a totally unrelated answer. The issue at hand is whether > or not the bit perfect digital audio data stream which goes from a stock > SB Touch to an external DAC can be somehow improved so that it will > enable the DAC to produce a sound which is 100x better than that > produced by a stock SB Touch. Now here's the rub: a digital data stream > is something which consists of "cold hard quantifiable facts", the facts > in this case the stream of ones and zeroes that make up the stream. > Aside from the question of jitter (which remains a very big bone of > contention, as in whether or not the amount of jitter in question can > even be heard by any individual) there is no way to make the ones and > zeroes "better". So what SBGK is saying is kind of like saying that he > knows a way to make four more four like. Four is four. Period. One can > no more make four more four like than one can make a string of ones and > zeroes better. Period. This is the part of digital audio that most > upsets audiophiles since no amount of money can or will improve the > digital side of things. A lowly stock SB Touch can and will deliver the > exact same digital audio data to an external DAC as a highly modified SB > Touch or some mega-buck high end media streaming device. These are the > "cold hard quantifiable facts". > > On the other hand, when speaking of highly subjective things, such as > how an individual feels about a given piece of music, much of your > totally off topic ramblings make some degree of sense.
Good point. I have no problem agreeing that facts are facts, and that bits are bits and so on. But the fact remains (and it's also a cold hard fact) that many people I know are hearing differences in the resulting sound quality. How to reconcile these two bundles of facts is the challenge here. To me, this is similar to the experience we may have while eating a meal. I could get served two identical meals, only one gets served on a very nice, classy plate, and the other gets served on a lousy, ugly paper plate. In reality, both meals are identical, facts are facts, but it is very likely that I might enjoy my meal slightly better if I'm eating it off the classy plate (that is, unless I'm a senseless log of a person, with no aesthetic capabilities whatsoever). The same goes for enjoying a glass of wine (out of a stylish glass vs. out of a paper cup), or a company of stylishly vs. appallingly dressed people and so on. A lot of the bottom line quality of experience will depend on the packaging, even though the packaged substance remains identical. This is the fact that many people 'round here have issues with recognizing and accepting. If I fit my hi fi with glitzy, stylish accessories, and set it up in a nice, classy listening environment, I will enjoy the music better. Facts are facts, and this fact is undeniable, like it or not. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ magiccarpetride's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=37863 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=94418 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
