10 audiophile myths busted

[Marco]

All good points, Marco, and, on a somewhat unrelated note, you made me a bit worried now -- I've been on this forum for quite some time already, and still haven't been banned. Hmm, I'm getting old, losing my edge...

No chance, we lurves ya, Alex!

Marco [a big fan of your 'thought provoking, slightly controversial epistles'].

[walpurgis]

If you like The Smiths or U2* then fair comment, otherwise I agree very rude, how dare they.

*I'm guessing this event pre-dates Diana Krall. Otherwise add her in as well.

You can add Gary Numan and Queen to that!

(if that doesn't get 'em up in arms nothing will )

[Macca]

You can add Gary Numan and Queen to that!

(if that doesn't get 'em up in arms nothing will )

I quite like 'Seven Seas Of Rye'. But I'd cheerfully go back in time and strangle them all as children to prevent 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' Then bet on some sports fixtures and make millions like Biff out of 'Back To The Future - Part 2'. Could go and see Hendrix at the Isle Of Wight too. I'd just have to avoid meeting my future self. And getting caught for the child murders, obviously.

[magiccarpetride]

No chance, we lurves ya, Alex!

Marco [a big fan of your 'thought provoking, slightly controversial epistles'].

Aargh, now you make me feel like I'm some lame ass conformist.

Never a sellout!

[magiccarpetride]

I quite like 'Seven Seas Of Rye'. But I'd cheerfully go back in time and strangle them all as children to prevent 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' Then bet on some sports fixtures and make millions like Biff out of 'Back To The Future - Part 2'. Could go and see Hendrix at the Isle Of Wight too. I'd just have to avoid meeting my future self. And getting caught for the child murders, obviously.

You made me lose my shit over that. I was trying to read this out loud to my wife, but couldn't. I was repeatedly breaking down trying to pronounce the word 'strangle'. Was always choking on the first syllable ('stra').

[Joe]

If you like The Smiths or U2* then fair comment, otherwise I agree very rude, how dare they.

Actually it was because I said I couldn't stand the sound of the harpsichord and much preferred to listen to Bach's keyboard music played on the piano.

[Macca]

Actually it was because I said I couldn't stand the sound of the harpsichord and much preferred to listen to Bach's keyboard music played on the piano.

Harpsichord does my head in too. You were right and he's an idiot. Case closed.

[George47]

Enough of this gay banter.

Here's my ten Audiophile busted myths, take them or leave them. You'll probably leave them, Bad move but it's a free country (except it isn't):

1) You can overcome plaebco and expectation bias without listening blind . No you can't unless you are Jesus and have powers. (You're not Jesus).

2) High resolution digital is better. No it is just different mastering or if it is the same master and you still think it is better see 1) above.

3) There are things that matter in audio but we can't measure them yet. No, there really are not. There might be things we rarely measure or don't ever measure but there's no mystery science theatre going on.

4) Some equipment is better at conveying the 'emotion' of the musicians better. No it is probably just technically better and/or better engineered. There's no 'emotion' op amp or resistor you can buy. You'd think the Japanese would have invented it by now but they haven't ( see: Ken Ishiwata). And it's mostly in your mind and your mood at the time of listening anyway.

5) Speaker cable and interconnects can make a big difference. No they can't (see myth 1 above). At best they make a tiny difference.

6) All the really good kit is very expensive for good reasons. No it isn't, although I suppose it depends what you mean by expensive. You can't make anything good on the cheap. But a £10K item of kit is at most just 500 quid worth of parts once the maker, distributor, dealer and HMRC (the VAT) have had their cut. That's scary when you think about it. If you are capable of building your own equipment you are laughing. Wish I was.

7) There are a lot of poor recordings. No there are not unless your collection is mostly tapes of your band recorded in the garage on a Sharp ghetto-blaster. If you find any professional recording, from any era, sounding unlistenable, that's a problem with your system. A good system will always convey the intent of a recording even if it is not a Diana Krall album.
Which neatly brings us to

8) Diana Krall albums are worth listening to. No they are not. I don't think an explanation is necessary. If you don't know what I mean then you probably didn't read this far anyway.

9)A good test for a system is a painstakingly superb recording of a woman singing while a bloke hits a block of wood with a stick. No it isn't, that will sound good on an Amstrad. A good test for a system is 'Thin Lizzy: Live And Dangerous' at generous SPL. When you are next at a show and they are playing the woman/block of wood thing, ask them to put on the Lizzy at volume. See how many will. Obviously let the block of wood thing finish first before you ask.

10) You can't knock it until you have tried it, no matter how wacky it is. Oh yes I can. Cable lifters, crystals, those things that look a bit like lecterns that you stick around the room to 'define the listening space', Peter Belt tweaks, colouring your fuses with a marker pen, special bowls you put on the speakers... there's a million more. See busted myth 1 and read a book on human psychology. Or at least skim-read it.

Hmmmmm......

1) You can minimise these effects by not carrying out ABX tests with 12 sec samples but by listening for much longer time periods and getting the real measure of the item and then trying the other component. Doing blind tests is an awful way to test components and I have not seen any statistically significant data that shows SS amp sound different. But they are.
3) Yes there is. When Bruno Putzeys developed Class D he heard some observations about SS amps (feedback) and went off and devised his own tests. If he thought it was a placebo then there would be no new test.
4) True but some equipment can strip music of its micro detail and make it a dissected thing to be admired as opposed to music to be enjoyed.
6) Depends what you mean by good reasons. There are reasons. How much does your computer cost in components? There is normally a 5:1 ratio between a sales price and component costs for a lot of audio although pretty boxes are expensive. Newer direct sales methods try to remove one of the cost elements, of course you increase the risk of ownership that way. Making it yourself? What an 845 valve amp with 1,200V??
9) Agreed but as an owner of the 24-bit version of the Thin Lizzy you could end up with a system that has no treble to make that listenable.
10) Truish. Someone told me Belden mains cables at £40 (decent connectors) was better than most copper mains cables. Ha....it was.

[Pigmy Pony]

I quite like 'Seven Seas Of Rye'. But I'd cheerfully go back in time and strangle them all as children to prevent 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' Then bet on some sports fixtures and make millions like Biff out of 'Back To The Future - Part 2'. Could go and see Hendrix at the Isle Of Wight too. I'd just have to avoid meeting my future self. And getting caught for the child murders, obviously.

So you're the one that didn't get to see Hendrix? I suppose someone had to stay behind and 'man the fort'.

And what's wrong with 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? They had great fun with it on 'Wayne's World', even the lad that was trying not to throw up.

[Pigmy Pony]

I remember back in the eighties a reviewer called Jimmy Hughes talking about the sonic benefits of putting wooden chopping boards in random places on your listening room floor, and placing feet under three of the four legs of tables and chairs.

It was around this time I moved away from hifi and spent my money on holidays instead.