The question which should be posted is does analog make a difference.
The cool thing is most are in agreement to lossy as changing things. At 6% they are also saying a change from 44.1/16 bit into lossless happens too, but not as many. Even less are the 3% who guess that there is improvement in HI-Rez digital.
Why aren't lossy and lossless even in numbers here? If you choose one, you're basically saying compression as a whole affects it. If you can hear a difference when it's lossy, you can hear a difference when it's not. Is that a bad assumption, or am I right to think that not noticing problems from compression is an audible difference to a compressed mess of a file as well as compression being an audible difference from the pure sound as it was meant to be?
The question which should be posted is does analog make a difference.
The cool thing is most are in agreement to lossy as changing things. At 6% they are also saying a change from 44.1/16 bit into lossless happens too, but not as many. Even less are the 3% who guess that there is improvement in HI-Rez digital.
It seems that people, at least unconsciously, agree that digital/analog does make a difference. Bit depth, sampling rate, file type, they're all heavily debated as to which is the best. In theory, analog is better in every way as it is not hindered by bit depth and sampling rate, but in practice, we cannot reproduce the original sound 100% in either format all the way through whatever signal chain we may have, so there will always be a debate.
But I did vote for cabinetry. Not the æsthetics, but there are practical reasons.
When I built the crossovers for the ProAc clones, I couldn't find the values it needed in inductors with a sufficiently low DC resistance. So I bought inductors with values too high and then unwound them to the proper value with the help of a LCR meter. I had each of them dead on to three digits out. I bought extra innards and hand-matched everything to about .005. Even mirrored the crossover layouts so they'd be the same in each cabinet.
I assembled the crossovers on an old steel desk. Being slightly paranoid, I measured the parts one last time before installation. But the inductors were off. What, I spent a few hours carefully unwinding and measuring.
Then I realized that they were coupling with the steel desktop.
I took them over to the marble-topped coffee table. The measurements were dead on.
So if you build with ferrous materials, your components really can couple with them and change value.
You can run into lots of other problems, too. Heat is a big one. Inadequate cooling and the innards will heat up and change value. Placing components too close together also causes problems. One manufacturer puts parts too close together - their designs make me cringe.
Oh yeah, putting a power supply too close to the circuit can introduce noise.
And there's lots else. If anyone is curious, the Morgan Jones book on building valve amps has loads of good information. I also pick up a lot by sorting through my old communications receivers and other tube gear.
Though not quite cabinetry, grounding is a huge issue. One manufacturer seems clueless about grounding.
Anyhow, in terms of bling, cabinetry doesn't matter. In terms of correct layout and materials, it's huge. And measurable.
OK, fair enough. But since there was no "none of the above" answer available, I voted "price" as we do know from research that what we see effects what we hear. Besides, placebo effect is very powerful.
But wait, considering placebo again, "all of the above" should be the correct answer. Mind you, I know what I'm saying, I teach how to improve multiple choice test scores.
I took the time to read that carnival sideshow slang! The best part is when they tell you that the more black boxs you buy the more sound improvement you get. The simple fact that you can shoot muli-rays at your gear from many different angles! HA
There should be a disclaimer before hand letting you know it's time to go into the closet and get your boots on.
Potentiometers: pick a crap one and you'll get built in panning for free!
Room treatments: perhaps the most definite one. The one thing I would like most.
Price: relative to the others, changing the price gives far more change in performance.
Could nuke the rest and there wouldn't be significant difference. I'd prefer to keep my current amp/dac radiation free though.
I took the time to read that carnival sideshow slang! The best part is when they tell you that the more black boxs you buy the more sound improvement you get. The simple fact that you can shoot muli-rays at your gear from many different angles! HA
There should be a disclaimer before hand letting you know it's time to go into the closet and get your boots on.
It's not actually shooting rays, it's altering...... it's an "anti-projector", it alters the ambient reflections of actual EM radiation originating from and affecting the gear, creating a different reflection pattern.
Now this is important:
"The listener can sit and report sometimes drastic, sometimes less drastic, changes in the sound's neutrality as the Blackbody travels, affecting key areas of the circuitry in the gear."
Completely "Green", it's connected to nothing and requires no power:
"[It] utilizes particle/wave patterns to work, and therefore does not need to be wired to your gear. It contains no batteries and is not powered by an external power source. It needs only to be placed near your audio system, "
It's not actually shooting rays, it's altering...... it's an "anti-projector", it alters the ambient reflections of actual EM radiation originating from and affecting the gear, creating a different reflection pattern.
Now this is important:
"The listener can sit and report sometimes drastic, sometimes less drastic, changes in the sound's neutrality as the Blackbody travels, affecting key areas of the circuitry in the gear."
Completely "Green", it's connected to nothing and requires no power:
"[It] utilizes particle/wave patterns to work, and therefore does not need to be wired to your gear. It contains no batteries and is not powered by an external power source. It needs only to be placed near your audio system, "
It's an attractive $1000 paperweight that has just the right amount of advertising for the placebo to set in and make you think it's doing something.
Does anybody want to buy this custom super mouse pad? If you put it next to the one you use (but don't actually use it or you'll wear its effectiveness away) it makes your computer present a better picture, and better sound output regardless of the monitor or sound card. I'll sell it for $300, that's half what I payed and I got a great deal.
I voted for lots of the stupid stuff like resistors and caps, because stat amps tend to blow up/catch fire when you don't use decent ones. Singlepower comes to mind.
Transformers kind of count too, tends to cause lot's of humming when you have it close to the inputs and it isn't shielded/potted. Not to mention an underspecced transformer tends to overheat and catch fire.
Bad pot's aren't centered at low volumes, and sometimes the internal ones walk a little and cause the amp to drift out of spec and catch fire.
I think I can hear audible differences when my amp isn't trying to set me on fire, must be a psychological thing.
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