Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On 29/04/2018 21:31, Robin wrote:
On 29/04/2018 21:12, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 29/04/2018 12:56, TonyGamble wrote:
Don't forget that only an LP is storing the sound above 20 khz and
most, if not all, musical instruments produce harmonics way above
that level.

Two points:
- Most of us can't hear harmonics that high
- DVD can have higher frequency limits. 48kHZ sample is standard, I'm
sure I've seen 96k (with 24 bit!) and I've a feeling even 192 is
possible.


plenty of samples you can play (sic) with - eg

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-test-files.aspx

"These files are available for you to test which audio format is
compatible with your system. You can choose between ALAC, FLAC, CD
Quality and MP3 formats and Studio Master (also known as HD, hi-res or
high definition) formats from 192kHz, 96kHz and 44.1kHz sample rates."

Too late for me.Â* I sold my Quad ESLs when I realised my ears could no
longer justify their floor area :(



I tried the Linn test records.

tried the CD version, then the 96 studio master in flac format
and apart from what I suspect is slightly different volume they
sounded exactly the same.

This is via Firefox, and a spdif optical cable connected to my
Onkyo CR515.

So I guess I'll be sticking to CDs and saving oodles on not
buying a 'Hirez' audio system.

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On Tuesday, 1 May 2018 15:22:18 UTC+1, charles wrote:
In article ,
Terry Casey wrote:
In article ,
says...

There was, in the early 1990s, a hifi magazine that I'd
though quite reputable until it ran an article which stated
that gold plated mains plugs gave better stereo separation.

Are you sure that it wasn't the April edition?

absolutely


Within the last ten years I read a copy of Hi-Fi choice IIRC, which had a comparison of mains leads and came down in favour of a £££ one with silver wire which sounded better...

Several pretty hilarious reviews on other kit as well and I don't think they even had a lab'.

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On Tuesday, 1 May 2018 10:37:06 UTC+1, Terry Casey wrote:
In article ,
says...

In article ,
TonyGamble wrote:

AR and LWT - and music enthusiast.

Can you expand the AR and LWT. I'm not sure what they stand for.
Artists and Recordings? London Weekend Television? or what?


Associated Rediffusion, surely?

Compulsorily forced by the ITA (sorry - Independent Television
Authority) to merge with ABC to form Thames Television.

ABC had their studios here in Manchester in the former Capitol Cinema, then it was part of Manchester Polytechnic / MMU, before being demolished and replaced by flats and a friend lives in one of them.

At the
same time, the ITA forced the new London Weekend Television to
buy Rediffusion's Wembley studios.

https://tinyurl.com/AR-LWT-ITA which tranlates to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London...evision#Creati
on

--

Terry

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Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On Sun, 29 Apr 2018 00:32:45 +0100, Bill Wright wrote:

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?

Short answer, yes.

Slightly longer, I asses speakers by the dynamic range (can I hear the
bass separated from the treble) and can I identify individual instruments.
I can certainly hear differences between different audio set ups and form
an opinion on quality.

This may not match the opinion of others, but there does seem to be a
noticeable difference when I swap speakers between systems, the most
expensive (fortunately) giving the best quality.

I do have several sets of speakers. :-)

Cheers



Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

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Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On Tue, 01 May 2018 09:22:05 +0100, Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article , Roderick
Stewart wrote:
It seems that people like what they are accustomed to, regardless of
any objective assessment of realism. When VHF/FM first became available
many preferred medium-wave AM, some people can't be bothered to type
101 instead of 1 (etc) on their Freeview receivers to see the HD
version,

In early DAB days when R3 was 256kbps I did some comaprisons versus FM
(Yamaha CT7000). And preferred the FM.

...at least for a week or so of repeated comparisons. But I then got
curious as to why the FM sounded 'warmer', but I was starting to change
my mind abiut which was 'better'.

Measurements shows the FM at the time had about 5-8 dB of peak
compression compared with DAB. This altered the peak-sustain behaviour
of instruments like piano, making them sound 'nicer'. But the DAB was
clearer for orchestral music.

So my initial preference was caused by habituation to the 'warmer' sound
of FM cause by some amount of peak limiting.



In the right circumstances, levels of peak clipping can actually augment
the sonic performance being captured or recreated.

Whether a grand piano can be played so forcefully as to create such an
effect in the ears of an audience member sat in the middle of the front
row of a live concert performance is questionable but, whilst watching
the demos of the original DOS game "Wolfenstein 3D", I was greatly
impressed by how they'd applied peak compression to the crack of the
pistol shots so that your ears didn't have to.

This added somewhat to the 'sonic realism' of firing a luger but without
the damaging SPLs of actually firing it in person without ear defenders.
The only thing missing was, of course, the ringing in the ears effect
shortly thereafter. :-)

--
Johnny B Good

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On Tue, 01 May 2018 18:22:05 +0100, Andrew wrote:

On 29/04/2018 21:31, Robin wrote:
On 29/04/2018 21:12, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 29/04/2018 12:56, TonyGamble wrote:
Don't forget that only an LP is storing the sound above 20 khz and
most, if not all, musical instruments produce harmonics way above
that level.

Two points:
- Most of us can't hear harmonics that high - DVD can have higher
frequency limits. 48kHZ sample is standard, I'm sure I've seen 96k
(with 24 bit!) and I've a feeling even 192 is possible.


plenty of samples you can play (sic) with - eg

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-test-files.aspx

"These files are available for you to test which audio format is
compatible with your system. You can choose between ALAC, FLAC, CD
Quality and MP3 formats and Studio Master (also known as HD, hi-res or
high definition) formats from 192kHz, 96kHz and 44.1kHz sample rates."

Too late for me.Â* I sold my Quad ESLs when I realised my ears could no
longer justify their floor area :(



I tried the Linn test records.

tried the CD version, then the 96 studio master in flac format and apart
from what I suspect is slightly different volume they sounded exactly
the same.

This is via Firefox, and a spdif optical cable connected to my Onkyo
CR515.

So I guess I'll be sticking to CDs and saving oodles on not buying a
'Hirez' audio system.

Good call! Even CDDA is way in excess of any music lover's hearing
abilities, no matter their age.

'Hirez' should stay where it belongs, in a multichannel studio or OB
recording system where its enormous dynamic range and resolution can be
put to very good use in creating a final stereo (or quadraphonic?) mix
for domestic consumption free of rounding errors and noise build up from
adding the background hiss of 48 or more audio channels.

If the music industry want to flog such recordings, they'd be best
getting Russ Andrews 'on board' to sell them as one of his offerings at
the cheaper end of his price range. :-)

--
Johnny B Good

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

In article , Andrew
wrote:
On 29/04/2018 21:31, Robin wrote:
On 29/04/2018 21:12, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 29/04/2018 12:56, TonyGamble wrote:
Don't forget that only an LP is storing the sound above 20 khz and
most, if not all, musical instruments produce harmonics way above
that level.

Two points: - Most of us can't hear harmonics that high - DVD can
have higher frequency limits. 48kHZ sample is standard, I'm sure
I've seen 96k (with 24 bit!) and I've a feeling even 192 is possible.


plenty of samples you can play (sic) with - eg

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-test-files.aspx

"These files are available for you to test which audio format is
compatible with your system. You can choose between ALAC, FLAC, CD
Quality and MP3 formats and Studio Master (also known as HD, hi-res or
high definition) formats from 192kHz, 96kHz and 44.1kHz sample rates."

Too late for me. I sold my Quad ESLs when I realised my ears could no
longer justify their floor area :(



I tried the Linn test records.

tried the CD version, then the 96 studio master in flac format and apart
from what I suspect is slightly different volume they sounded exactly
the same.

This is via Firefox, and a spdif optical cable connected to my Onkyo
CR515.

Did you check that the spdif carried 44.1k rate for the CD version and
ahigher rate for the 'high rez' version? It is quite common for computers
to mince everything into one rate. Thus meaning you don't actually get high
rez out.

That said, you're probably correct. I tend to find that *well made* CDs are
fine for me despite having various high rez files I enjoy.

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa...o/electron.htm
biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On 02/05/2018 09:36, Jim Lesurf wrote:
In article , Andrew
wrote:
On 29/04/2018 21:31, Robin wrote:
On 29/04/2018 21:12, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 29/04/2018 12:56, TonyGamble wrote:
Don't forget that only an LP is storing the sound above 20 khz and
most, if not all, musical instruments produce harmonics way above
that level.

Two points: - Most of us can't hear harmonics that high - DVD can
have higher frequency limits. 48kHZ sample is standard, I'm sure
I've seen 96k (with 24 bit!) and I've a feeling even 192 is possible.


plenty of samples you can play (sic) with - eg

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-test-files.aspx

"These files are available for you to test which audio format is
compatible with your system. You can choose between ALAC, FLAC, CD
Quality and MP3 formats and Studio Master (also known as HD, hi-res or
high definition) formats from 192kHz, 96kHz and 44.1kHz sample rates."

Too late for me. I sold my Quad ESLs when I realised my ears could no
longer justify their floor area :(



I tried the Linn test records.

tried the CD version, then the 96 studio master in flac format and apart
from what I suspect is slightly different volume they sounded exactly
the same.

This is via Firefox, and a spdif optical cable connected to my Onkyo
CR515.

Did you check that the spdif carried 44.1k rate for the CD version and
ahigher rate for the 'high rez' version? It is quite common for computers
to mince everything into one rate. Thus meaning you don't actually get high
rez out.

That said, you're probably correct. I tend to find that *well made* CDs are
fine for me despite having various high rez files I enjoy.

Jim


Err, no. The realtek audio manager shows that spdif output
is 24 bit 44.1

I'll give it another try.

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

In article , Andrew
wrote:
Did you check that the spdif carried 44.1k rate for the CD version and
ahigher rate for the 'high rez' version? It is quite common for
computers to mince everything into one rate. Thus meaning you don't
actually get high rez out.

That said, you're probably correct. I tend to find that *well made*
CDs are fine for me despite having various high rez files I enjoy.

Jim


Err, no. The realtek audio manager shows that spdif output is 24 bit 44.1

I'll give it another try.

I can't comment on Windows or Macs as I've not used them (thankfully) for
over a decade. But with linux the trick is to set the playing software to
go 'direct' via ALSA and bypass any OS 'mixers'. They tend to foul up high
rez. This catches pros sometimes. I found more than one case at the BBC
when discussing some issues. 8-]

Over the years I also decided that it is vital that a computer DAC should
das blinken leighten so you can see right away when the sample rate has
been tampered with. Computers tend to try and 'guess what you really want',
when you don't...

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa...o/electron.htm
biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Can I, aged 69, really assess hi-fi speakers?
 

On 03/05/2018 14:22, Jim Lesurf wrote:
I can't comment on Windows or Macs as I've not used them (thankfully) for
over a decade.

I've never used Mac, but I used to have a high quality DAC in a Windows
machine. Windows 7 came out, and it decided the right thing to do was to
re-sample all my CDs to 48kHz on the fly during playback.

It was noticeably worse. I had to give up that DAC.

Andy