[Closed] HiFi breakthrough

CDs last longer if you store them in potatoes?

Ah, can you imagine storing all those Rush albums in lossless FLAC format on punched cards?! Now that's an audiophile nas/ripper if ever I've heard one...

Hmm, I reckon paper tape gives much better flow to the sound quality - with punched cards it's all rather choppy

Heathens. I only use tickertape made from 120gsm papyrus grown on the banks of the Nile. Of course, you need to use a high-end directional hole punch for the best encoding.

I used to have to punch paper tape. Not for data you understand, but for commands. 😳

On a serious note..... at what point does this just become fraud?

If they start publishing stuff like: "HDD X is better than HDD Y for audio playback" and that's categorically impossible - surely the manufacturer of HDD Y has got a case for damages? Particularly if there is an "interested" party associated with the publisher?

I suspect that's one reason why they stick to very subjective terminology and stay well clear of anything empirical.

I agree - and they could get away with it when there was [i]plausibly[/i] some justification for subjective differences.

However, at the point that there categorically cannot be any difference between the two products and there is a financial component (advertising), he's simply lying for financial gain.

The whole HDMI cable thing was really pushing it - but nobody was going to complain as all parties to the reviews were invested in the same scam - but this is not the case here. If he publishes a review saying that (for example) the QNAP has [i]better tonal convergence[/i]* than the Synology** - then I expect Synology would have a case for a suit.

* I just made that up
** It better f%^&ing not be, I have a Synology.

I wonder if any of these people one day just put their hifi magazine down and think "What am I doing with my life?"

Rhythm fuugf DRTY I guy guy Kuhn kvfff ferg huff deft bb jj ghju CchhhhlionYes ghju Cathy ggg

Sorry about that. Problem with my keyboard cable. Maybe I can buy a new one from NAIM.

I wonder if any of these people one day just put their hifi magazine down and think "What am I doing with my life?"

[img] [/img]

🙂

Question

Since processing sound is actually a function of the brain, does not believing that it sounds better actually make it sound better?

In much the same way that believing wearing a wristband with a hologram on it makes you faster can actually make you measurably faster, or better at golf etc.(whether or not the hologram is actually present)

So, if by buying it and believing it sounds better, actually makes it sound better... What's the problem?

So, if by buying it and believing it sounds better, actually makes it sound better... What's the problem?

So basically, top end hifi = Homeopathy?

🙂

Yup

Of course it's not like anyone is telling you that by buying their hand made speaker cables instead of mass produced ones you aren't going to catch malaria or anything!

hang on, I see an opportunity here....

So basically, top end hifi = Homeopathy?

in a way, yes.

The homeopathic remedy might not work, but being seen by someone has been shown to have beneficial effects.

Since processing sound is actually a function of the brain, does not believing that it sounds better actually make it sound better?

Better still, forget all that messy mechanical interaction between air molecules and the ear drum. Just read the musical score and imagine it as the composer intended!

To be fair (returning to the subject of the thread), NAIM's connection with the article is someone from their PR department...

Given that the thread on the NAIM forum has been locked, I suspect he's already had his "Manager's Interview" and may very well be unlucky enough to lose his job.

I doubt you'll find anybody on the technical staff at NAIM who would be willing to get behind anything in that article, other than to give it a good shafting.

And I'm still lusting after a (by now, totally out of date) CDX2.2

Steady The Buffs.

The homeopathic remedy might not work, but being seen by someone has been shown to have beneficial effects.e beneficial effects.

The hifi might not be any better than any other, but seeing a nice man in a shiny shop has been shown to make some people think it is.

As I have a (Scottish built) Linn amplifier, should I move my electricity supplier to Scottish Energy, just to make sure it's all compatible??

Rachel

The hifi might not be any better than any other, but seeing a nice man in a shiny shop has been shown to make some people think it is.

Shops like Richer Sounds rely on this principle...

As I have a (Scottish built) Linn amplifier, should I move my electricity supplier to Scottish Energy, just to make sure it's all compatible??

Scottish electricity is probably a bit too cold to unlock the full tonal warmth of you music. You would need to run it through a pre heater before it got to the amp.

As I have a (Scottish built) Linn amplifier, should I move my electricity supplier to Scottish Energy, just to make sure it's all compatible??

I'm frankly surprised that it works at all. Are you sure it isn't a Chinese knoock-off?

Just to bite for a little bit 🙂
It [i]is[/i] possible that some of these devices interfere to a lesser or greater degree on the analogue stages of the system. Especially if they are in close proximity.

My mains system seems to suffer a lot from this kind of thing. When we put some christmas lights on that had a fade effect, there was an audible buzz through the speakers as it did the fade part.

It's my understanding that magnetic media is susceptible to this. Data on magnetic storage is, as the name would suggest, basically lots of tiny little magnets all magnetised in a particular way. They're weak enough that they don't affect each other day to day, but what's going to happen to millions of tiny little magnetic fields held in close proximity to each other for a couple of millennia I wouldn't like to speculate.

Serious archives will always have different copies on different media types, and be checked regularly for coherence. We have a few where the value of the data is dwarfed by the cost of keeping it hanging around, but the legal bods say it must be kept.

Can someone please start a rumour that Token Ring is the best transport mechanism? Need the shelf space back 😀

Better still, forget all that messy mechanical interaction between air molecules and the ear drum. Just read the musical score and imagine it as the composer intended!

Already been done....
[url= http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Reader ]Beck's album - Song Reader[/url]

I went into a posh hi-fi shop in Coventry and tried out lots of combinations of cd players, amps and speakers. The salesman said nothing whilst plugging in the different bits of kit. I ended up with a Uniti lump with KEF XQ20 speakers because it sounded so good. People who come to my house comment on the sound quality. It would be a shame if the genuinely good stuff coming out of NAIM is discredited by this PR waffle.

back in the day, I remember reading a letter in a hifi mag from someone working at the CEGB (yes that long ago!) that claimed that his kit sounded better when supplied by a nuclear power station over a coal station. I'm still not sure if it was a spoof...
My life improved considerably when I stopped reading hifi mags and started listening to music again.

I went into a posh hi-fi shop in Coventry and tried out lots of combinations of cd players, amps and speakers. The salesman said nothing whilst plugging in the different bits of kit. I ended up with a Uniti lump with KEF XQ20 speakers because it sounded so good. People who come to my house comment on the sound quality. It would be a shame if the genuinely good stuff coming out of NAIM is discredited by this PR waffle.

This ^^

However, as I said, I doubt it was "official" PR from NAIM. What the guy thought he was dong attaching his, er, name to this guff as a NAIM employee is anybody's guess.

allthegear - Member
As I have a (Scottish built) Linn amplifier, should I move my electricity supplier to Scottish Energy, just to make sure it's all compatible??
Rachel

It is possible that some of these devices interfere to a lesser or greater degree on the analogue stages of the system. Especially if they are in close proximity.

My mains system seems to suffer a lot from this kind of thing. When we put some christmas lights on that had a fade effect, there was an audible buzz through the speakers as it did the fade part.

It is, but,

a) an audible Buzz is Lightyears away from "QNAP2 rendered the same song more tunefully. It was more organic and made more sense, the lines of melody and rhythm cooperating better. As well as showing better individual instrument distinction, the whole piece sounded tidier, tonally less messy without the roughened HF, and perhaps better integrated in musical intent."

b) modern consumer electronics are shielded to mitigate this sort of thing.

c) the kit was in in a different room, in order to affect the audio equipment it would have to have been throwing out enough EM radiation to perform an MRI scan.

I'll just leave this here 🙂

Would it not just be cheaper, more enjoyable and longer lasting to just neck an E and listen to the music. It will sound fantastic, and even if it doesn't it will sound fantastic.

[quote=AlexSimon ]My mains system seems to suffer a lot from this kind of thing. When we put some christmas lights on that had a fade effect, there was an audible buzz through the speakers as it did the fade part.

That's dodgy electronics which probably don't meet EMC specs, not your mains system.

[quote=Cougar ]b) modern consumer electronics are shielded to mitigate this sort of thing.

They should be. I suspect with all the imports through non-official routes an awful lot of stuff in this country now only meets EMC specs by accident if it does at all.

Even kit which does meet the specs can probably interfere sufficiently with top end hifi systems to have a real noticeable effect - though only if placed close enough, which as you mention isn't the case for this "test". Funny really, we all agree it's a load of guff and are simply discussing other means of interference which have no connection with what they did!

AlexSimon » My mains system seems to suffer a lot from this kind of thing. When we put some christmas lights on that had a fade effect, there was an audible buzz through the speakers as it did the fade part.

You've not wired your system into a separate mains feed? 😯

You've not wired your system into a separate mains feed?

Anyway, anyone want a really good MP3 player?
http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-zx2

Fond memories of the Sony Walkman Pro. Bizarrely, at that price, the only choice if you couldn't afford a Nakamichi Dragon...

(Only other Old Persons will know what this means...). 😉

Quirrel - Member
Would it not just be cheaper, more enjoyable and longer lasting to just neck an E and listen to the music. It will sound fantastic, and even if it doesn't it will sound fantastic.

No doubt you're right but I think you're missing the point. Hifi geeks don't really care about the music. It's about the equipment and having "better" stuff than anyone else.

Sony are just relaunching the Walkman Pro/Audiophile ranges.

Pffft

I still have an old Sony Walkman Pro. I never had a Nak Dragon but I did have a 582Z (best bit of hi-fi I should never have parted with).

I used to fancy myself as a hifi geek - a poor one though.

I read and researched systems, annoyed shop assistants, in the end I managed to get a setup that I liked, had it for 15 years now, although only started using it again the last 8 after putting it in storage.

An Exposure XX amp and B&W 602 speakers.

Exposure XX was a grand in 1990 when it was first made, I paid 400 quid for it, and still today it is sought after and costs 400quid.

I can't tell the difference between a 1000 quid amp and a 10,000 quid one though. Mainly due to the night clubs that ruined my hearing - it is always cool until you get tinnitus permanently

B&W 602 speakers

I got a lovely pair of 602's for £60 s/h.

They were great, were destroyed by a burst pipe flood.

Looked good to.

Naim have always had two faces to the hi-fi world - one is for kit that sounds great and "just works" as well as lasting for ever, the other panders to the serial upgrader with all the external power supplies etc. that you can add on. Linn to an extent are much the same.

I think I sort of straddle the line because my Linn turntable was one of the first LP12's and hasn't been upgraded at all since the 70's. On the other hand while most of my Naim kit is also old I will admit that I did upgrade my CD player with an external power supply and am not entirely convinced I heard that much of a difference.

No doubt you're right but I think you're missing the point. Hifi geeks don't really care about the music. It's about the equipment and having "better" stuff than anyone else.

[img] [/img]

THis is the exposure amp - simple, but sounds amazing.

Interestingly, from what I have read, the exposure speaker cable, gets the best out of the amp. or mains cable for speaker cable

Simple loud and clear. Weighs loads

THis is the exposure amp - simple, but sounds amazing.

My mate had the pre-power Exposure amps from the same period.

Sounded very good driving his Ruarks floorstanders but on my BBC-type speakers I wasn't very impressed - my Quad 34/306 was a much better match.

Can't remember which Ruarks, but they were big 'pieces of furniture' as they were that nicely made.

They still sell for good money exposure/ I think they are quite marmite in their sound

Many of the customers of my favourite hi-fi dealer are musicians

Not a lot of money in being a classical musician though.

I'm big not into £100+ bottles of wine.

Anyway, anyone want a really good MP3 player?
http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-zx2