Digital replay. Have I experienced an epiphany, or just a healthy dose of reality?

[Mike]

Hi Rob,

Yes... Well put!

We had house guests last night and I clearly expressed it rather badly due not spending sufficient time on what I was posting. Sorry about that everyone.

The evening got rather surreal toward the end, with a two grand mountain bike being ridden into my fishpond and an entire bottle of Highland Malt getting consumed.

I have a large graze down one shin and a headache. I need more tea.

[Filterlab]

The evening got rather surreal toward the end, with a two grand mountain bike being ridden into my fishpond and an entire bottle of Highland Malt getting consumed.

I have a large graze down one shin and a headache. I need more tea.

You know, my life is so sheltered and sensible. Last night Esther and I had a lovely meal and then watched 'Have I Got News' and other comedies with a bottle of wine.

[Marco]

Well I honestly never thought about it like that, but you're probably right, Rob.

I did wonder why Mike wrote at the beginning of the thread that he would sit back and watch the sparks fly, or words to the effect. I didn't really get what he meant then but I do now

I think you've summed up the difference perfectly, and I would add that the other key issue is Howard pitched the subject in a completely non-arrogant way which wasn't offensive to people or likely to get their back's up. Perhaps if Ashley or JC had adopted this approach then they wouldn't have encountered the problems they did!

Like I've said all along, it's about treating people (and their opinions) with the due respect and courtesy they deserve; anything other than that is liable to result in confrontation and lots of ill-feeling which is exactly what happened.

Marco.

[Filterlab]

Well I honestly never thought about it like that, but you're probably right, Rob.

Well Mike said it, I just interpreted it without alcohol.

I think you've summed up the difference perfectly, and I would add that the other key issue is Howard pitched the subject in a completely non-arrogant way which wasn't offensive to people or likely to get their back's up. Perhaps if Ashley or JC had adopted this approach then they wouldn't have encountered the problems they did!

Like I've said all along, it's about treating people (and their opinions) with the due respect and courtesy they deserve; anything other than that is liable to result in confrontation and lots of ill-feeling which is exactly what happened.

Indeed, and as Mick said in another thread, the way a company or dealer presents its products can either make or break the business.

[Mike]

Well Mike said it, I just interpreted it without alcohol.

The alcohol came later Rob.

Oh god. I don't even want to think about alcohol.

[Filterlab]

Think about it!

[tfarney]

Hi. Tim, the new and perpetually bemused here. If the POV of someone who doesn't share the sordid history of this whole affair could be useful, I'm not sure I see much similarity between the discussion Howard started yesterday and the historical one being described here. In fact, on what may be the key point, they are off by the full 180 degrees. It seems that the banished Ashley & JC, where trying to sell something. Howard, on the other hand, intends to stop selling something.

Very different objectives there.

What they may have in common is that notion that the transport of the very near future is the computer, and the cd is a rapidly dying format. I can't imagine that is even controversial. That, plus "my active desktop speaker with built-in DAC is the equal of all your high-end gear" is a different matter, and a ridiculous one.

There is one small, lurking controversy hidden in the folds of Howard's post though; the idea that the difference between the sound of the average DAC chip in the average consumer audio (or Howard's Mac, in any case) and audiophile DACs is subtle, and probably lost on all but those who have trained themselves to listen for it. I was a bit surprised to see here, but I don't find it implausible in the least. In fact, I'd bet that even the trained ear would have trouble consistently identifying the differences between DACs in competent circuits engineered with transparency, not color, as their objective.

And now I will back away slowly.....

By the way, damn fine crowd you have here. Smart people, it seems, with their egos not all tangled up in their judgment and their britches. That's not all that common on audiophile boards.

Tim

[tfarney]

The alcohol came later Rob.

Oh god. I don't even want to think about alcohol.

I just flashed on a great scene from "Charlie Wilson's War" --

Tom Hanks: "Do you drink?"

Philip Seymor Hoffman: "Oh God yes."

Tim

[John]

Wow what a great thread some of it way above my head.
remember a few years back having a debate with a famous record producer about computer audio, at the time he told me to sell my cd player as fast as i could. It took me a year to get the courage to try my computer through a decent DAC at the time I was expecting a hrash sound. I had a highly mod nu-vista and my laptop and dac were eaisly it equal perhaps even better. I quickly sold my Cd Player and got the DAC I still have all my old cds maybe at some point i sell them but no idea when.
I also have lived with the 80gb ipod and now use the sony mp3 player which although not as stylish outperforms the ipod in term of sound I listen through HD595 and this is a really good match.
I must admit when i see brand new cd players coming out I just wonder who is going to buy it when you can use your mac pc or laptop with really good results. It just makes little sense to me why CD players are still being sold and persume this will change very soon.

[tfarney]

I still have all my old cds maybe at some point i sell them but no idea when.

Don't sell them. I still have all of mine. The jewel boxes are long gone and they're all in big black binders lined up in a pretty little row against the wall. The booklets are harder to let go of, but eventually you'll be able to un-grasp. If you listen with your laptop within reach, much more extensive liner notes, and the original album art are just a Google away. It's not as good as the big art that came with LPs, but it's better than the eyestrain that comes with CDs.

Tim