To Switch or Not to Switch?

[2FarGone]

LOL. Amir has spoken....

He ain’t no E. F. Hutton.

I personally regard the entire blind testing protocol as being specious in the extreme - fundamentally flawed pseudoscience masquerading as legitimate science to the point of being irredeemable. It seems to me that people who follow that protocol are far more interested in promoting an ideology than in building a genuinely engaging audio system. If they want to worship at that altar of mediocrity that’s their right, of course, but don’t expect those of us who genuinely pursue good sound to join them there.

 

[RepublicOfTexas69]

Done blind testing? Audiophile's subjective results are valid only for themselves.

Rewiring his house? Good grief!! We are having some electrical work done at our place. (1) 200 amp panel, (2) 100 amp subpanel in our garage supporting additional 115V outlets, and (3) 30 amp "mini-split" supplementary AC, and (4) 48 volt EV charger. This is becoming a big enough pain-in-the-butt, never mind the whole house

GARP!

 

[Randy Myers]

Done blind testing? Audiophile's subjective results are valid only for themselves.

Rewiring his house? Good grief!! We are having some electrical work done at our place. (1) 200 amp panel, (2) 100 amp subpanel in our garage supporting additional 115V outlets, and (3) 30 amp "mini-split" supplementary AC, and (4) 48 volt EV charger. This is becoming a big enough pain-in-the-butt, never mind the whole house

Yea, I thought he was nuts re-running ethernet throughout. And yes, we did some blind testing to verify our results. It was easy to distinguish the difference from locally stored files versus those being streamed across his Network from his NAS even after his rewiring. And no, we did not compare to those played from his favorite streaming service. We were literally comparing the exact same files being stored on internal drivers versus being pulled across the network from his NAS. It only stands to reason. Files going straight from the drives to the DAC, not going through any network gear whatsoever.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

He ain’t no E. F. Hutton.

I personally regard the entire blind testing protocol as being specious in the extreme - fundamentally flawed pseudoscience masquerading as legitimate science to the point of being irredeemable. It seems to me that people who follow that protocol are far more interested in promoting an ideology than in building a genuinely engaging audio system. If they want to worship at that that altar of mediocrity that’s their right, of course, but don’t expect those of us who genuinely pursue good sound to join them there.

Well said.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: some people are easily influenced by "this must be better as it's more expensive". Not everyone is like that.

It seems to me the people who most loudly demand DBT and don't trust their own ears are usually the people who are easily led and manipulated and therefore assume others are as well.

I always wonder if these same people have to rely on others to tell them if food is good or not as they are afraid their taste buds are misleading them.

They just want to find more reasons to claim their superiority and tell us why we are wrong in what we like. They always find a reason to discredit your choices.

 

[RepublicOfTexas69]

Pricey, ineffectual and visually appealing? Why are you so demeaning, insulting and judgemental? What gives you that right? Classic passive agressive behavior. You are an ASR junkie. No one else on AS is that I am aware of. You select your gear based on ASR test results. Your prerogative. BUT, given your obvious biases and the fact that AS is a subjective based listening forum, why do you post your caustic, superficial, ignorant comments?

Pot Meet Kettle.

 

[ggdudeabides]

Where's the fun if an audiophile can't spend more money on pricey, but ineffectual, (but visually appealing). equipment.

A very broad, presumptuous, demeaning post and simply not true. A stereotypical statement from an ASR fan boy. Please leave your biases and false assertions at the door.

 

[Feanor]

Yea, I thought he was nuts re-running ethernet throughout. And yes, we did some blind testing to verify our results. It was easy to distinguish the difference from locally stored files versus those being streamed across his Network from his NAS even after his rewiring. And no, we did not compare to those played from his favorite streaming service. We were literally comparing the exact same files being stored on internal drivers versus being pulled across the network from his NAS. It only stands to reason. Files going straight from the drives to the DAC, not going through any network gear whatsoever.

I'd liked to have been there.

 

[Randy Myers]

I'd liked to have been there.

That would have been fun. The guy I did this with was the president of our audio club, and a huge analog fan. He has a very impressive turntable setup with literally many thousand albums. We both felt that the locally stored files had something special, over the streamed versions... we both called it more of an analog flavor for lack of a better term.

 

[RepublicOfTexas69]

That would have been fun. The guy I did this with was the president of our audio club, and a huge an analog fan. He has a very impressive turntable setup with literally many thousand albums. We both felt that the locally stored files had something special, over the streamed versions... we both called it more of an analog flavor for lack of a better term.

I found this to be true with my Zenith also. But I still stream every day and with my setup only find local files to be marginally better. Then again I do not use Roon I only use the Sense app, it makes a marked difference as well as having a quality DAC as you and I both do.

 

[Randy Myers]

One other comment I should make. We both found that the better the file the more noticeable the difference. Another factor here is that we were comparing files that would be virtually impossible from a streaming service. Higher level DSD for example; DSD256 and even some DSD512. He is not using HQPlayer so all of the files are in the resolution they were obtained at. Many were DSD64 since I had previously ripped his entire SACD collection for him, and I also have a large collection of DSD downloaded albums. I have 162 albums downloaded in various levels of DSD and over 100 ripped SACDs. Of course, none of these could be used through a streaming service.

 

[Randy Myers]

I found this to be true with my Zenith also. But I still stream every day and with my setup only find local files to be marginally better. Then again I do not use Roon I only use the Sense app, it makes a marked difference as well as having a quality DAC as you and I both do.

I agree with you in that a quality DAC is essential in doing real comparisons. I also agree with you as to both of us having quality DACs (thank you BTW).

I have never tried the Sense app. I have used Roon in conjuction with HQPlayer for a very long time. Completely happy with both. I was one of the original Roon users that purchased their lifetime subscription with a leap of faith. It certainly has paid off .

Also, I removed the ignored settings on users. I hope going forward we can agree to be civil and respectful to fellow AS members (all of us on the forum please).

 

[Randy Myers]

I agree that one would think that buying a high end dac (arbitrarily over $50,000) that the streamer and switch and cables feeding it shouldn’t matter because the DAC would have figured out how to clean it up. And if that’s out of their expertise then partner with a specialist that can provide the circuitry to accomplish it.

But then again - start rant - why the heck don’t amplifier companies do the same thing to clean up the power coming into their pre/power amps.

Let’s face it - the circuitry in AC power distribution boxes is not what makes them cost what they do - it’s the pretty box the plugs the extra power cord etc. why can’t a $50,000 amp include a couple thousand dollars of power cleanup stuff in the amp box? Charge $55,000. Why wouldn’t you want your amp to sound the best? I don’t get it. Or maybe I do - profits or laziness. — end rant.

Hmmm, I know it was arbitrary figure, but I believe that you can get an absolutely fantastic DAC for a whole lot less .

Many companies actually do a lot to clean up and/or preserve the power in their amplifiers.