More Audiophoolery. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 08:32:43 am
content: Here are some manufacturer quotes that I stumbled upon on an audio blog site, which made me chuckle.“Additional bottom cover added for additional support and to improve sound performance at higher volume levels”“Specially designed 5th foot. The Anti-Resonance Technology (A.R.T. Wedge) design improves structural rigidity and reduces vibration resulting in sound improvement.”“Zip ties to ground. Minimizes magnetic interference as well as reduces unwanted radio frequency interference.” (Really? Plastic tie wraps around internal wire bundles do all that? Wow, a lot of lesser engineers have really been missing that cheap little trick and wasting lots of money on mu metal shielding, careful circuit layout, proper grounding, and Faraday cage housings.)Suggestions for future Aventage marketing efforts:“Black oxide coating on exterior housing helps dampen unwanted light interference for improved sonic purity”“Anti-resonance (A.R.T. Rotary) volume knob prevents transmission of vibrations from operator to the filter capacitors, preserving audio signal integrity”“Progressively-stamped Cu3Zn2-plated power plug prongs with thermoplastic polymer encapsulated cord grip ensure even power flow and enhanced musicality”

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 09:02:39 am
content: Is it just me, or does this shit just get funnier and funnier?!Dave.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 10:51:39 am
content: This is from a site called Machina Dynamica. They sell all sorts of things like "magic little rocks" that you set on top of your power strip or your signal cables to dramatically improve the sound.www.machinadynamica.comNow, at first glance, the website looks like a bit of a piss take, but some people have been taken in. Audiogon for instance sells for the bargain price of $60. You simply ring up one of their special numbers and they will play some random noises down your phone which will markedly improve the acoustic aura of not only your AV room, but the rest of your home too. Sounds outrageous, but apparently they have taken over $750 from this phone-in service.Machina Dynamica's Tru-Tone Duplex Covers are special audiophile-grade covers for all duplex wall outlets; they are intended to replace all types of duplex covers - steel, plastic, wood, etc. - in the listening room --including non-audio outlets and unused outlets.While one or two Tru-Tone Covers can make a significant improvement to the sound, 3-4 Duplex Covers in the room can yield tremendous results. Tru-Tone Duplex Covers produce a remarkable degree of focus, fullness, detail and presence.IMPORTANT NOTE: When installing the Tru-Tone Duplex Cover, the screw should be loosened 1 to 1 1/2 turns from the point when it is nearly tight; never overtighten.Tru-Tone Duplex Covers are prepared using proprietary materials-processing techniques and fit snugly on all standard duplex receptacles. Size: 1/4" thick x 2 3/4" wide x 4 1/2" high.New!Tru-Tone Light Switch Covers now available, for single light switch, pure white $30 each. Size: 3/8" thick x 2 3/4" wide x 4 1/2 highTru-Tone Duplex Cover (pure white), $30.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 11:13:36 am
content: While realising the whole audiopholery industry, it is important to realise that the sound quality from a high end audio setup (usually expensive) far surpasses that of an ipod, pc soundcard, gaming headphones etc. If you have not been exposed to high quality audio you cannot appreciate it. Like chocolate. Whether you can live with low(er) quality audio is another story.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 11:48:13 am
content: Oh, don't get me wrong. I can discern the difference in sound quality between a beatbox and a high end system. I appreciate good sound quality and I have good components at home and in the car. I was quite into building good quality amplifiers when I was younger. I also appreciate that certain measures can be taken to improve the acoustics of the listening environmentThere are advancements in technology and design that make very good sounding systems, but some things have gone to far. There is no way on this earth that an uprated light switch wall plate is going to affect the sound quality of your HiFi or the picture quality of your television set in any room.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 12:25:56 pm
content: Nice post, OP! If someone believes and buys it, s/he deserves losing their money.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 03:11:34 pm
content: the most stupid site i have ever read in my life.

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 03:36:20 pm
content: Back when I was at uni, I came up with thescamidea of selling optimised air to audio obsessives. A perfectly balanced mixture of dust free nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide with a carefully balanced secret mix of rare gases to ensure optimal linear sound wave transmission. Of course this also came with a machine that de-ionised it (or re-ionised it should the owner wish) and distributed the special audio air silently around the room. I really should have gone ahead with it, I'd be a millionaire by now, just by selling compressed air.This sort of crap is getting as close as makes no difference to religion isn't it, and look how many billions of dollars a year that rakes in.

author: Wartex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 03:49:44 pm
content: Quote from: Alex on January 17, 2011, 11:13:36 amAlex you have to remember that the curve between quality and price flattens out VERY early. I have AKG K701 headphones, they are $300 headphones that were $700 at some point, I also have an XM4 amp for them. There is also Grado GS1 and RS1/2, which are still about $1000 and have inferior to AKG drivers. There are way more expensive Audiotechnica ($2500) that sound like $50 headphones. Grado also has a $300 headphone amp that is made with a $0.25 opamp and a dozen of discrete components, and sounds much worse than many $20 DIY solutions. Same goes for PC soundcard. I have M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 card. It's a $140 card that sound absolutely exact same compared to $1000 LynxTwo, and the only way you can judge the difference in the output quality is with a scope or looking at voiceprint . Of course LynxTwo is far, far superior feature-wise but on the analog end they are the same. Those $3000 home theaters stores sell sound like ass compared to a properly set up DIY solution. Based on years of surfing head-fi.org, I can safely assume that about 80% of "audiophiles" are just jackasses with a lot of money and minimal physics education.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 06:55:26 pm
content: I'm no audio expert but from what I gather, a decent quality modern amplifier gives an inaudible THD when sensibly derated, for good sound quality you need a good crossover network, high quality speakers and a room with decent acoustics. There's little point in spending £1000s on an amplifier with 0.0001% THD as most of the destortion occurs in the speakers and room.

author: slburris
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 07:45:25 pm
content: All listening setups have at least one large semi-gelatinous mass inthe room which must have a detrimental effect on soundquality as the sound bounces unevenly off of it.For the ultimate in sound quality, you must therefore remove allhumans from the room....Scott

author: Lance
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 11:05:06 pm
content: This stuff is brilliant. Too bad there aren't laws against this sort of thing.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 11:31:33 pm
content: Quote from: Lance on January 17, 2011, 11:05:06 pmBut then who would we have to laugh at?

author: Ferroto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2011, 11:45:31 pm
content: Quote from: Kibi on January 17, 2011, 10:51:39 amMost of my outlets don't even have their covers anymore.

author: PetrosA
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 02:20:46 am
content: Most of these gadgets have one major problem. They really only work at 100% effectiveness when you have the lights on in your listening room.

author: osmosis321
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 03:11:30 am
content: haha I was waiting for someone to mention MD.my favourite is :http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 03:28:59 am
content: Quote from: osmosis321 on January 18, 2011, 03:11:30 amAnd not just the magic pebble, they have a whole range ofAstoundingproducts

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:09:58 am
content: Quote from: GeoffS on January 18, 2011, 03:28:59 amwith all the super deep science description, all the items aim at one similar purpose... increase sound quality, more "information", and improving your monitor color too! with "crystal artificial atom resonance". the shittiest things i ever seen/heard... the dot, peeble, water bag etc that mostly screwed the room cosmetic. i was reading it for sometime to get the joy of how stupid the writer is (Geoff Kait)Quotei hope he has no relation to GeoffS

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:16:42 am
content: Quote from: shafri on January 18, 2011, 04:09:58 amI guess my reference to Astounding was lost here[Astoundingis the worlds longest running sciencefictionmagazine. I took the fact that his web pages are liberally sprinkled with covers from Astounding, to mean that his products were tongue in cheek]

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:21:54 am
content: Quote from: GeoffS on January 18, 2011, 04:16:42 amwell, semantic error, to the same syntactic...Astounding

author: tyblu
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:29:56 am
content: Mind the gap!

author: RayJones
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:31:35 am
content: Quote from: Kibi on January 17, 2011, 08:32:43 amLOL, so it has brass mains plug pins in a molded plug. Wow I am impressed!

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 05:00:01 am
content: Quote from: shafri on January 18, 2011, 04:21:54 amAnother assumption I'd made was that you had looked at the website.Lots of examples of the magazine cover pages there.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 08:43:15 am
content: Here is another one which I discovered a while ago.Lexicon (Lexicon) were selling their BD-30 Blu-Ray player for the tidy sum of $3000+! Who are these people who will spend over $3000 on a ****ing Blu-Ray playerAnyway, the folks over at Audioholics got hold of it and noticed that it shared some stark similarities to Oppo's BDP-83 Blu-Ray player which sells for $899.All Lexicon had done was take the Oppo complete with chasis and glue some fancy looking panels to it.Below is a link to the full story including pictures of the two players taken apart.http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/lexicon-bd-30-blu-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 02:35:00 pm
content: Quote from: GeoffS on January 18, 2011, 05:00:01 ami mean my "semantic" mistake. saw that cartoon cover, but not theAstoundingword. my brain did not process, no corelation between the cartoon and lengthy text, i just assumed it just another writer's stupidity. never saw the magazine in reallife though, thats why i think, me.

author: Ferroto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:23:24 pm
content: 1) Buy a bunch of duplex covers from a hardware store for $0.50 each.2) Sell them as "High Tech" audio equipment for $20 each.3) Customers are too embarrested to raise a stink and just lets the $20 go.4) PROFIT.Ok who wants to buy Ferroto's preimum plates. Guaranteed to improve dynamic range. <---- lol photography term.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 04:39:18 pm
content: Quote from: Ferroto on January 18, 2011, 04:23:24 pmLOL.HDR wall plates.

author: Fryguy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 08:57:26 pm
content: 4 weeks ago a hifi voodoo priest opened his high-end-hifi shop about 200 meters from my place - i walked right in and talked to him - 1 hour later i left his voodoo place and laughed my ass off !He sells small granite plates 15 x 15 x 3 cm big - like the sample pieces from the professional stonefloor dealer - for only 500 bucks per piece ! WOWHis idea : you place the disc you want to hear right on the granite plate for a few seconds right before you play it - and then it sounds way better because the granite plate has restructured the information on the disc . . . . COOLAnother thing i found in his shop : he fixed ALL connectors ! - the signal cabels from the cd-player to the amp and the speaker cables with MODELING CLAY - if you're not doing this , the connectors will vibrate and induce electrical current into the signal path which f***s up your sound . YEAH RIGHT !He also uses the modeling clay to attach mysterious self made feet to the cd-player AND the table beneath it .It all looks like it was done by a 3 year old kid .And for the "grand finale" : he puts little plastic stickers - about 10 or 12 mm diameter - on the membrane of every speaker chassis and on all displays from disc-players , amps etc. in his shop - they will break down mysterious electro-magnetic stray fields in the material which will also f*** up your sound !I LOVE THIS GUY !

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 09:50:28 pm
content: The economy must be getting better, if people can waste money this way.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2011, 10:12:30 pm
content: http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm- from the same muppets that brought you the Shakti Electromagnetic Stabilizer (a stone you place on top of your HiFi equipment)..

author: osmosis321
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2011, 11:04:40 pm
content: Quote from: BoredAtWork on January 18, 2011, 10:12:30 pmHey, that Hallograph thingy might actually work. That is, it might actually have 'some effect' on the system performance. And I'm sure the higher the price you pay for it, the more likely you are to perceive this effect as a benefit.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 19, 2011, 11:39:24 pm
content: Quote from: osmosis321 on January 19, 2011, 11:04:40 pmThe only possible physical effect that this device would have is that of lightening your wallet.

author: williefleete
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2011, 01:56:05 pm
content: http://www.ludens.cl/Electron/audioamps/aaaa.htmlheres a REAL audiophile amp check this outi absolutely love the audiophile eevblog video and it amazes the buggery out of me that these people walk the earth. both the people that release the snake oil and those that buy it.obligatory XKCD referencehttp://xkcd.com/841/

author: Polossatik
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2011, 02:37:21 pm
content: I tell you, witchcraft is back...and not only in audio with "holistic stabilized" cables and so...ever noticed all those "athletes" who wear those Power Balance® holograms ?

author: osmosis321
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2011, 03:17:19 pm
content: The only possible physical effect that this device would have is that of lightening your wallet.

author: osmosis321
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2011, 03:21:44 pm
content: QuoteOh I don't know about that. I'm sure those squiggly bars create some interference patterns which does produce a change in sound.Whether or not that change is actually audible is another matter. And the likelihood that it represents any objective improvement in sound quality is almost nonexistent.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2011, 04:48:36 pm
content: Sorry if I've missed someone else's mentioning of this:Are there still E-bay sellers selling cryogenicly treated receptacles? (power points?) 100 bucks (US dollars) for a 2 dollar receptacle.Of course, one would need the 500 dollar power (mains) cable, but neglected is the house wiring. I should put some romex (brand name for Non metallic shielded cable used in the US for mains wiring) in the freezer and sell it for 100 dollars per foot.Not to mention the fuse-panel, and the wiring to the transformer, and the transformer itself - would the local utility write a work order to freeze a transformer? What about the miles and miles of distribution wire?I still laugh at 5 dollar, 1 watt, tantalum resistors that offer "unparalleled resolving power and transparency with warmth and musicality."I guess we could all get into this voodoo market and make some money, but I have to look at myself in the morning to shave and I can't take advantage of these fools.

author: ArtemisGoldfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2011, 06:28:38 pm
content: Quote from: osmosis321 on January 18, 2011, 03:11:30 amHere's my question about the magic rocks: Do they also work with digital audio? I mean, will they help with AES3, or the embedded audio in an SDI/HD-SDI stream? And do they work for balanced lines, too? Or unbalanced only? This stuff is confusing!

author: osmosis321
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 04:29:21 am
content: Quote from: ArtemisGoldfish on January 20, 2011, 06:28:38 pmDuuh, they're magic! Magic works everywhere on everything!

author: DJPhil
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 09:05:10 am
content: Here's a real magic rock in action!I was thinking of a fool and his money, and thought of this.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 10:24:28 am
content: Quote from: Excavatoree on January 20, 2011, 04:48:36 pm$500 for a mains cable! Why are you wasting your money on such cheap tacky crap like that.Come on, you should be spending at least $3200 for a decent 6 way power distibutor like the PRS-6. It doesn't include the power cord, but that's just $1600 for a 5 foot one.http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/power-conditioners/weizhi-precision-prs-6-fl

author: baljemmett
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 11:33:28 am
content: Quote from: Kibi on January 21, 2011, 10:24:28 amAh, now, I think you want to be careful with that. One of the reviews linked from that page about the rebadged Blu-Ray player mentioned that the MOVs in this unit 'introduced a layer of white "grunge"' when used with a hugely expensive disc player, even after the system was treated with a special sweep tone disc to clear out all of said "grunge"!

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 06:44:39 pm
content: Quote from: Kibi on January 21, 2011, 10:24:28 amSorry, I tried to cheap out on the mains cable - I spent all of my money on this:http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/06/22/amazon-reader-review.html(follow the red link on that site.)

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 08:24:44 pm
content: If your on about the Shunyata Research Black Mumba Power cable, then having read the reviews for it, I'm not entirely won over. Apparently, it takes a week for the cable to "settle in" after it's been connected up. You only start noticing the deeper soundstage after this settling in period. In addition, you have to plug it in YOURSELF!!! At $700, I'd expect it to plug it's self in.http://www.audioreview.com/cat/cables/speaker-cables/shunyata-research/black-mamba-power-cord/PRD_124280_1584crx.aspxOf course, let's not forget about the gold plated (satin nickel) OPTICAL cable.http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Grade-Digital-Cable-Connector/dp/B000HDJXZS/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

author: williefleete
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2011, 11:39:08 pm
content: at one stage i was trying to set up a 5.1 decoder on a sky set top box and i wanted to try the optical inputs but i didnt have a cable, off to DSE and 40 something dollars later, you get about 1 meter of the stuff and its all the same audiophool BS gold plating and EMI sheilding on an OPTICAL cable and even then its a digital signal. still after all that i could never get it to work

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 23, 2011, 04:08:57 pm
content: Quote from: Hero999 on January 17, 2011, 06:55:26 pmI bought a shitty little amplifier off ebay for my PC it was rated at 2 X 180W (bollocks of course more like 1-2W per channel), I ran a pair of small ex stereo system 10W speakers off it. Sounded ok. Then I picked up a pair of Warfdale 100W speakers at a charity shop for £ 0.5, I did the swap and it sounded heavenly, people easily over look speakers but they are the main issue with sound quality

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2011, 05:41:29 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on January 23, 2011, 04:08:57 pmYes plenty of cheap audio amplfier ICs provide low THD and wide bandwidth providing they're not operated at clipping.Class AV audio amplifier ICs have been more than good enough for audio for the last 25 years today's technology is more than good enough. The only time when a hightech solution is required is for class D amplifiers which need to operate at high frequencies to give good sound quality.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 23, 2011, 06:06:13 pm
content: I think the requied power of amplifiers is overated, I can here my 2X1W amp all over the house when used on 40+W speakers, I think it has a lot to do with the physical size of the speakers as well as the amps actual power, no point in putting a lot of noise into a tiny speaker that won't make none and sound awful when it tries

author: dimlow
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 06:46:04 am
content: This is sort of side stepping a bit, but it is something i have noticed with CD's of late and that is the loss of dynamic range in remastered CD's and new releases, due to dynamic compression applied to the audio. I noticed this after replacing one of my CD's that i had purchased in the 80's with a new one last year. I could not put my finger on it at the time. But i was sure it just did not sound the same as it did all them years ago. I put it down to me getting older or my sound system, but later i found it to be dynamic compression applied to the audio to make it louder!To more illustrate my point here some You Tube vids i found.Now Im not big into Audiophoolery, Im not fooled by all these silly gimmicky cables etc, but these new so called remastered CD's sound flat to me and have no punch to the music at all. I want the quiet parts of my music to be quiet and the loud part loud and punchy. Dynamic Range Compression is killing some of the older recordings. Why do all these Audiophools worry about shiny additions to their music systems when what they really should be doing is complaining to the record company and CD producers about these shit flat recordings with no dynamic range.Here is a good readhttp://www.cdmasteringservices.com/dynamicrange.htm

author: Lance
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 07:22:49 am
content: I learned something new! I had sort of noticed this, but lacked an explanation.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 08:02:06 am
content: Quote from: dimlow on February 02, 2011, 06:46:04 amafaik, compression will try to make the sound wave simpler, ie killing higher frequency/harmonics out. the case and problem with "make it loader" that i can see is... digital data "clipping", and that obviously kills dynamic range, as the softer sound get boosted closer to the clipped louder sound. my 2cnts.

author: dimlow
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 08:14:51 am
content: Dynamic range compression does not clip the sound, what it does is make the lower volume sounds louder, it will also not harm the frequencies or harmonics. They are not just making it louder by amplifying the samples, if they did that then the clipping would be very bad. Dynamic range is the difference in amplitude between the quiet sounds and the loud sounds Altering this makes the overall "vibrancy" of the punchy sounds, softer. That kills the music.http://www.sciencemedianetwork.org/wiki/Tutorials/Dynamic_Range_Compression

author: the_raptor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 10:03:29 am
content: Modern music is engineered for people playing it in their cars or through shitty mp3 player headphones, this is the reason for the loudness war.The reason Vinyl is back is because even new Vinyl is normally engineered properly.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 12:42:21 pm
content: All recorded music is engineered, its not 'natural'; its made to sound like the engineer wants it to sound, and that people who like music will enjoy hearing. Its tempered to sound with "common" equipment that the consumer who buys music will play it on. Its much an art form, and they still give Grammy awards in this category.When music is remastered and/or re-engineered, it may not sound like the original, unless the same sound engineer works on the material.If you've ever played music and record yourself, you'll find that making it sound like what you hear, or the audience hears takes a lot of doing, that's unique for each venue and the number of people in the recording studio, and even changes in environmental conditions that can skew the analog segments of the recording process.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 03:05:39 pm
content: So (as Lance said), I learned something new today! i thought i'm best in listening music, turned out me among the worst. CD Audio vs low/carefully compressed MP3 sounds the same to me, i just care the punch of treble, middle and bass (high, mid and low freq) and the balance between them. I just blamed the hardware between the actual music data and my ear (ie amp, speaker, player), i guess there is more than that, that i'm not aware of.

author: Balaur
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 03:54:42 pm
content: Yep, the loudness war has really negative consequences.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_warIt's one of those things that cannot be "un-heard" (also like autotune; don't get me started on this). Once you are familiarized with the process, you quickly become aware of how wide-spread has become.I remember lessening to the Metallica "Death Magnetic" album on CD. The sound quality was rubbish IMHO. The issue is well documented:http://mastering-media.blogspot.com/2008/09/metallica-death-magnetic-stop-loudness.htmlhttp://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/09/does-metallicas/One anecdote is that the title song version that was delivered with "Guitar Hero" video game is correctly remixed while the album version is bad.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2011, 04:13:56 pm
content: Yes, remember that people, clothes, rugs, curtains ... absorb sound. So, room ambiance will differ. Even if a 'audiophile' mic is used, it won't conduct sound flat 20-20 or whatever specs it has, due to manufacturing variation. Then, as the devices age, the bose plot could change too. So, the engineer has to tweak, or equalize, the sound at frequencies to compensate for these losses or changes, plus compensate for reflections in the room that can reduce or enhance sound too much. not to mention the analog input stages of the recorders.So in the end, the 'audiophile' is really just listening to at best, what the engineer has to offer.Take your CD and look for the credits, particularly the audio engineer. Often stars like Michael Jackson or others, tend to use the same engineer so that all his recordings have the same "sound." Change labels, change engineers, changes sound.Time/Life reissue of the 'best of the 1990s', fully remastered? It may not sound like the vinyl you remember or the 1st release, again, due to reengineering.Lastly, as folks age, the ear changes, just like a speaker or a mic and the brain can reinterpret the signals from the sensor, the ear. The 'brain' works like a MPU, or CPU, and does cognitive 'equalization' to 'normalize' the sound. When the brain can't cope anymore, you are now deaf at that spot, regardless of condition or your ear. Have you ever 'concentrated' to hear something? That what that is. We know this because folks with brain injury to the hearing center get unusual equalization or are deaf, that later change or 'recover' as the 'programming' rewires and compensates.Its another reason why having 'pure amps' without tone controls or equalization is also questionable practice, because the ear has inherent highs and lows, add to it your actual room acoustics can change sound character, and needs to be equalized to compensate, just as you would also do if you take the same music from headphones, quiet room, to a noisy car, or worse a motorcycle!

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2011, 02:51:54 pm
content: Strange, but I was talking to someone about loudness/compression the other day. I have analogue tapes of original recordings that now sound better (albeit noisier) than the current CD. the intro to Dire Straits' Alchemy Live now sounds better on my old Walkman II than it does from a digital source. The musicality has just gone. I just wish the compression algorithm was linear and predictable so it could be decompressed back to the original dynamic range, to give it back some slam.Another vote from me for a cheap amp and expensive speakers. I use a £12 amp block from Creative Labs, hacked to send full audio levels through the headphone socket. From there I have plugged in a 3.5mm to 2xRCA transition, and then on to a pair of 60W Technics speakers, 1990 vintage. It will only drive a true 2W per channel, but I hardly ever wind it up that far. People have got seduced by the "Peak Music Power Output" fudge factor where 2W somehow becomes 32W.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 03, 2011, 05:31:29 pm
content: my little ebay amp will easily be heard all over the house, I have some philips speakers connected at the monent but when I've got the carpets in and decorated I'll put my 100W warfdales back on. they sound lovely. The problem these days is everything has to be tiny, and tiny speakers aint speakers, just noise makers