Klarinet Archive - Posting 000226.txt from 2002/11

From: "William Semple" <wsemple@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Why Bb? (was: reverse Mozart)
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 23:47:56 -0500

In the case of the CD at that time, the analog converters were the same. So
I would expect there wouldn't be a discernible difference between a $150 CD
player and a $500 CD player. They all sounded lousy.

The fact that there are measurable differences that are transparent to the
listener does not negate the proposition that there are non-measurable
differences the listener CAN hear, nor the proposition that there are
measurable differences the listener can hear.

If measurement is important, then what's at issue from a sonic point of view
is what is being measured. Some distortion is consonant with music, some is
not.

Tube equipment, for example, can register greater distortion on the
oscilloscope, but still sound more truthful to the music than transistor
designs because tubes do not distort harmonic content in the same way
transistor designs used to.

Recent advances in solid state design and the CD have ameliorated many of
the problems I experienced when I was listening seriously, I found the CD
intolerable on everything but chamber music. All my equipment used tubes,
including the phono stage.

The Absolute Sound, we relied (and they continue to rely) on our ears. We
tested nothing. It is amazing the extraordinary advances in design that
ensued because of this philosophy. Kinda the same approach as we use to pick
out a new clarinet, huh? We don't hook one of them up to some gadget
(although I admit I take my tuner).

Now I listen to CDs on two Boston Acoustic Speakers, driven by a Radio Shack
RCA receiver driven and a Denon CD player, and I am happy. Whether it is
"absolute" doesn't concern me anymore. But I do remember the days I had my
Maggies cranking powered by 500 watts of well-designed equipment, and
nothing has compared since, except of course, live music, which is what I am
into now.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subject: Re: [kl] Why Bb? (was: reverse Mozart)

> At 05:33 PM 11/4/2002 -0700, William Semple wrote:
> >The problem is that she was an international concert-goer, not an
> >audiophile. She would have had no way to discern which of the recording
> >companies produced what kind of sound. Of course, I could, familiar with
the
> >miking of EMI engineers vs. say the multi-miking crazies at DG.
>
> With such a background, she probably DID pick out the individual
orchestras
> and/or their leaders.
>
>
> >I suppose the same folks who listened to the CDs you mention wouldn't be
> >able to tell the difference between Tony Pay and Harold Wright.
>
> That is not what they were measuring. But when they compared $500
high-end
> CD PLAYERS to $149 Symphonic ones playing the SAME CD, the listeners could
> not accurately pick which was which. A few could get it right 6 or 7 out
> of 10 tries; many could not even get 50-50 -- pure chance. Nor could they
> tell Monster Cables from zip cord in other tests.
>
>
> >Ears therefore can hear differences before scientific equipment can
measure
> >them.The discerning eye can tell the difference between a real Vermeer
and a
> >digitized counterpart. The human hear can tell the difference between the
> >digitized CD and its analogue counterpart primarily because of the CD's
low
> >sampling rate, distortions, and other problems that simply resulted in
> >homogenizing the complex harmonics of massed strings.
>
> Actually, I think the opposite is true. Differences in audio equipment
can
> be measured that are absolutely transparent to the ear. As for CD
> distortion, the distortions inherent in vinyl disks are orders of
magnitude
> greater. I'll take the CD EVERY time! I have never heard any of the
> distortions alleged to exist on CD's.
>
> Bill Hausmann
>
> If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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