[haiku]

  I'm not suggesting it won't be different with different impedances.  But I read "this changes" or "that changes" - usually followed by "you guys gotta try this - its so much better"
 
All I want is for someone to actually measure what changes - then I can see it - with adaptor / without adaptor.  Just call me sceptical - I've seen too many times people make claims about something and then find out later they're wrong (the change does happen, but not the way they described).  

 
Check this out I guess it explains a lot about why some people hear things others can´t hear. 
 
http://www.mother-of-tone.com/listen.htm
 
I recently read almost all of Charles Altmann´s websites. He´s the maker of the Tera Player. What he experiences matches exactly what I´m hearing, except that I like the Sabre 9018S chip.  

 

[audio123]

Check this out I guess it explains a lot about why some people hear things others can´t hear. 

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/listen.htm

I recently read almost all of Charles Altmann´s websites. He´s the maker of the Tera Player. What he experiences matches exactly what I´m hearing, except that I like the Sabre 9018S chip.  

i love the altmann tera player! yes we have different ears.how the sound is going to sound like upon entering our ears will be subjected to the shape of our ears. We all perceive sound differently! I love measurements but measurements are rigid and there are no perspectives to it. These also proved the point why some of us believe in burn in!

 

[haiku]

i love the altmann tera player!

yes we have different ears.how the sound is going to sound like upon entering our ears will be subjected to the shape of our ears. We all perceive sound differently! I love measurements but measurements are rigid and there are no perspectives to it. These also proved the point why some of us believe in burn in!

Yup. I also went with Charles´ suggestion to convert my CD´s to .wav instead of alac. This took the Monks to another sound quality level. Amazing, at what sound quality you can arrive with some simple tweaks.

 

[audio123]

Yup. I also went with Charles´ suggestion to convert my CD´s to .wav instead of alac. This took the Monks to another sound quality level. Amazing, at what sound quality you can arrive with some simple tweaks.

definitely best is to not be rigid. Facts are facts but facts cannot translate to sonic bliss.

 

[haiku]

definitely best is to not be rigid. Facts are facts but facts cannot translate to sonic bliss.

Hit. Nail. Head. 

 

[audio123]

Hit. Nail. Head. 

you can have the best driver available in the market and plenty of them with the best crossover design but one thing is certain, it will not appeal to everyone.

 

[Lurk650]

Yup. I also went with Charles´ suggestion to convert my CD´s to .wav instead of alac. This took the Monks to another sound quality level. Amazing, at what sound quality you can arrive with some simple tweaks.

ALAC is lossless just like WAV, anything you are hearing is placebo

 

[haiku]

ALAC is lossless just like WAV

On paper, yes. When I listen with the monks, I hear a more holographic presentation of the music when listening to .wav, less distortion and bleeding of frequencies, more and tight bass with a good punch, and the highs are airy and sparkling. The sound quality is just stunning and a lot less ear fatiguing with the Monks. Thank you Charles for the recommendation.  

 

 

[Ruben123]

On paper, yes. When I listen with the monks, I hear a more holographic presentation of the music when listening to .wav, less distortion and bleeding of frequencies, more and tight bass with a good punch, and the highs are airy and sparkling. The sound quality is just stunning and a lot less ear fatiguing with the Monks. Thank you Charles for the recommendation.    

That is really silly what you say unless your media player is broken and can't play alac how it should

 

[Brooko]

  On paper, yes. When I listen with the monks, I hear a more holographic presentation of the music when listening to .wav, less distortion and bleeding of frequencies, more and tight bass with a good punch, and the highs are airy and sparkling. The sound quality is just stunning and a lot less ear fatiguing with the Monks. Thank you Charles for the recommendation.  

 

 
If it tweaks your buttons and brings you pleasure - I have no issues with whatever you think you're hearing.  Just know that ALAC, FLAC, WAV are all just digital containers.  They all convert to exactly the same PCM file.  Zero difference. I guarantee under controlled listening conditions - you will not hear a difference when comparing.  How can I guarantee it - because there really isn't any difference.  Welcome to the power of suggestion and what our brain can do when we're convinced there is a difference.

 

[Saoshyant]

@Brooko That's why I love the concept of expectation bias.  It can go to show that no matter how much you try to control the conditions of an experiment, as long as there's something to bias the observer, the outcome can change.  Not that it's a good thing, but perception can be an interesting and funny thing.

 

[Brooko]

Been caught so many times reviewing and expecting something then finding I had an EQ engaged which I forgot to turn off. Or had a cable connected out of phase during measurements and then found out all my critical listening was done the same.  We can't escape it - unfortunately, but shows us we're human.
 
Classic though is EQing a headphone and spending an hour or more on it until you get it exactly tweaked right - then find out the equalizer isn't turned on or engaged 

  Done that before too.

 

[haiku]

   
If it tweaks your buttons and brings you pleasure - I have no issues with whatever you think you're hearing.  Just know that ALAC, FLAC, WAV are all just digital containers.  They all convert to exactly the same PCM file.  Zero difference. I guarantee under controlled listening conditions - you will not hear a difference when comparing.  How can I guarantee it - because there really isn't any difference.  Welcome to the power of suggestion and what our brain can do when we're convinced there is a difference.

http://www.audioquest.com/audio_file_formats/
 
Quote: "Interestingly,  uncompressed  music  files  such  as  WAV  or AIFF can sound better than lossless compression formats like Apple Lossless or FLAC. Perhaps this is because they don’t require the ad- ditional  step  of  being  “unzipped”  and  restored  to  their  original  PCM data package during real-time during playback. Listen and you’ll hear the difference."
 
 
Anyway, back on topic!  

 

[1TrickPony]

http://www.audioquest.com/audio_file_formats/

Quote: "[COLOR=1B1B1B]Interestingly,  uncompressed  music  files  such  as  WAV  or AIFF can sound better than lossless compression formats like Apple Lossless or FLAC. Perhaps this is because they don’t require the ad- ditional  step  of  being  “unzipped”  and  restored  to  their  original  PCM data package during real-time during playback. Listen and you’ll hear the difference."[/COLOR]


[COLOR=1B1B1B]Anyway, back on topic!  [/COLOR]

I had suspected this to be the case with my ihifi770 dap, couldn't believe that wavs sounded "better" than my flac files (was re-burning my collection into losless). A fellow head-fi'er suggested it was the DAC's inability to make then sound as good as the original. Don't think I can scientifically back that or any claim, though I figured I'd lay this out there. Food for thought.

 

[ozkan]

I had suspected this to be the case with my ihifi770 dap, couldn't believe that wavs sounded "better" than my flac files (was re-burning my collection into losless). A fellow head-fi'er suggested it was the DAC's inability to make then sound as good as the original. Don't think I can scientifically back that or any claim, though I figured I'd lay this out there. Food for thought.

That was also the case with my Meizu M6 SL. Wav sounded much better than flac files which made me think some players might struggle to play flac files. There was a huge difference in both sound and refinement when playing wav files.