HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

I have been following an intriguing thread on another forum about this. While most, myself included see the difference as night and day, there is a significant minority who can't tell the difference or even prefer Spotify. A number of reasons have been put forward such as poor systems, impaired hearing and wax in ears. I think DAC interconnector cable issues might have something to do with it, but I am struggling to be convinced that any of these can explain the big difference I hear.

I am intrigued and it begs a wider question. If so many are unable to detect a big difference in SQ which is obvious to most, will they be able to detect more subtle differences. By this I am thinking of comparisons between DACs, amplifiers etc? I believe Harbeth said all amplifiers sound the same. Then I suppose you could always take the easy way out and follow the gospel of ASR.

What was it that Mike Oldfield said about 'cloth-eared nincompoops'?

Fretless wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:35 pm What was it that Mike Oldfield said about 'cloth-eared nincompoops'?

They've got tubular balls?

This is quite good. Although You Tube is lossy the message comes across. I don't agree with what he says about sample rates above 44kHz.

I still subscribe to GIGO

Whats the point in spending money of Good Amps and Good Speakers whatever the price point if you feed Garbage in? For me source has to be lossless or your compromising the whole chain

montechristo358 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 4:03 pm I still subscribe to GIGO

Whats the point in spending money of Good Amps and Good Speakers whatever the price point if you feed Garbage in? For me source has to be lossless or your compromising the whole chain

A source which is not lossless makes no sense. A good point is made in the video about the brain having to work harder to replace missing information when the source is lossy. As a result this leads to fatigue and shorter listening spans. The same can be said in respect of transparent systems and ones less transparent.

Are there any streaming services that offer music in DSD format?

CN211276 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:04 pm

montechristo358 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 4:03 pm I still subscribe to GIGO

Whats the point in spending money of Good Amps and Good Speakers whatever the price point if you feed Garbage in? For me source has to be lossless or your compromising the whole chain

A source which is not lossless makes no sense. A good point is made in the video about the brain having to work harder to replace missing information when the source is lossy. As a result this leads to fatigue and shorter listening spans. The same can be said in respect of transparent systems and ones less transparent.

This!

Spotify for me after about 20 mins, I can only describe as fatiguing and my ears start to ring. We do have Spotify in the house but I tried to believe I would not hear a difference (as purported in other forums) but Deezer, Amazon Music or Tidal all sound better.

To the OP I have family members who cannot tell the difference between an Alba portable CD player and a basic separates system, they are absolutely convinced they sound the same.

Shevans wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 7:39 pm

To the OP I have family members who cannot tell the difference between an Alba portable CD player and a basic separates system, they are absolutely convinced they sound the same.

It is the same here, You Tube through any device. What I don't get is "audiophiles" who have spent serious money on kit not hearing what is so obvious. I think the theory about the brain working harder to make good the missing information has a lot of credence. From my stand point I enjoy listening to Planet Rock on my DAB radio, but it is only for short time spans in the bathroom and I am very familiar with most of what gets played and I suppose my brain is filling in what is missing. That said the SQ is a lot better than You Tube on my wife's Amazon Fire.