Digital Audio Myths - Listening on a PC

Snow Dog wrote: This is a fascinating thread

I really enjoy not talking about how Gildenlow sucks or Neo-Prog rules for a change ...

cobb wrote: You don't need specs to tell you the pc can do as good a job as a player, Mike, your ears are already telling you that it can. Ignore oliver- audiophiles are always like this. I don't need fancy graphing images to tell me how good the sound is. My ears do a pretty good job all on their own.

Agreed. I like how my system sounds, and no comment here can make me throw it away and buy a new one. But I'm always interested in improving the system.

Although I'm largely opposed to audiophile systems, I really try to understand them. Here's a summary of what I found out so far:

• Upsampling really improves the sound, if done properly. I now know how it works and what it does, and technically it makes sense (it is not esoteric).
• The single most important factor for the sound is the amp. Of course for perfect sound every link in the chain has to be good, I know that. But if you have a fairly good - but not HiFi/audiophile - system, upgrading the amp is what will have the most noticeable effect on the sound. Next is the source (good CD player/vinyl), then the speakers, and then the cables.
• People like Oliver are right in that until just recently, PC sound cards did not do upsampling properly. Cards like the X-Fi are beginning to do so, and their specifications really do compare to good audiophile CD players (jitter, symmetric outputs, etc.), especially if they are connected to the amp digitally.

If I look at my current system (Computer (Audigy 2) - Harman Kardon Amp - Elac speakers), I think that I might buy an X-Fi sound card for €110 and maybe upgrade my amp to a Musical Fidelity Avalon ...

cobb wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: If I look at my current system (Computer (Audigy 2) - Harman Kardon Amp - Elac speakers), I think that I might buy an X-Fi sound card for €110 and maybe upgrade my amp to a Musical Fidelity Avalon ... And then you will never have to leave your house

Hey, I'm already addicted to music. And I will even have to leave my house more often - to work and earn the additional money I need for my expensive hobby.

Snow Dog wrote: Can I ask something here, I hope its ok. Is it possible to rip Cds to MP3 using Windows Media Player aand using MP3 Pro?

No, I don't think so. Why would you want to use mp3pro?

Snow Dog wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: No, I don't think so. Why would you want to use mp3pro? Same sound quality at lower bitrate.

I was using mp3pro a few years ago and in the end I didn't like it. I ripped many CDs in 128kbps mp3pro format, but the problems with mobile players were annoying, and the quality isn't THAT better. mp3pro makes sense if you're using 64kbps - the results pretty much sounds like mp3 128kbps. But 128kbps mp3pro unfortunately doesn't sound like 256kbps mp3.

What do you need the ripped files for?

I don't know how many CDs you're planing to archive ... I would recommend an external 200GB hard disk. I ripped my 650 CDs in 128-192kbps mp3 (VBR), and now I'm ripping many of them again in lossless format because it just sounds so much better.

How many CDs will it be?

Fun with Audiophiles!

1. Exclaim that you can easily hear polarity differences, and than get your favorite audiophile to spend the next hour trying to hear a difference on their favorite Chesky recording while you flip the polarity switch back and forth on their Theta Generation V. Be sure to mention that it sure was easier hearing the difference at your friend's house using their Levinson No. 23 with the glass interface, but that their cables are probably clouding the differences.
   
   
2. Point out anything wrong with the stereo you are listening to you can think of (hint: standing waves, put on a rock and album and complain the treble is harsh). See if you can get your audiophile to try and calculate the room nodes based on it's size, and than mention to take into account the ceiling height.
   
   
3. Make up theories about imaging, especially height effects for things like cymbals and center images (such as the bass, snare drum). See if you can actually discover any new laws of physics!
   
   
4. Write letters to the editor of an audio magazine stating that you won't buy their magazine anymore because a) they trashed your speakers which you know are great since your cousin Ralph and his girlfriend said so, b) somebody who writes for their magazine used lewd language, c) the integrity of their reviews has gone down, d) they are racist, or e) the Smice clock they told you to buy didn't really make a diference after all.
   
   
5. (Experienced hackers only): Open up a Krell preamp and put a tube preamp (such as a conrad johnson PV-11) inside. Bring it around with you to people's houses and claim tubes suck and you can prove it. Compare your Krell to their preamp, making special note of it's timbral purity, air and detail, and lack of added euphonics (while at the same time maintaining the essence of music). Another fun trick is to put a Sony discman inside of a three chassis alleged CD player/transport (you usually have to do this at home), and show them what CD is "really capable of". Be sure to play CDs like "Peter, Paul and Mary's Greatest Hits", "Ravi Shankar and Jim Croce - duets" while doing this.
   
   
6. Go to anybody's house with a new stereo and say things like "I think the crossover is hosed", "Too bad you have so many standing waves in here", "the imaging is weird", "the midrange isn't right, I think you need different speakers for this room, or at least try to move the speakers around" (especially if the speakers weigh over 100 lbs, and are spiked into the floor). Chew on pretzels loudly.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: I don't know how many CDs you're planing to archive ... I would recommend an external 200GB hard disk. I ripped my 650 CDs in 128-192kbps mp3 (VBR), and now I'm ripping many of them again in lossless format because it just sounds so much better. How many CDs will it be?

Don't know. There is no plan. I will not be buying anything extra...