@boodi @andrewski @ttt123 @Whitigir
I think this person explains really well the kind of mental calming effect I am experiencing from using the swissbit industrial microSD with the wm1am2. A better noise floor which translates into a reduction in the obstruction/smearing of low level details:
Great insights here too:
Nice brief articles on noise, stage, dynamics. The topics are not new, and they have been around forever. They don't give a lot of detail, but they do state in simple terms. Maybe they will start people thinking about the topics, and pay more attention to these areas, and do more research on them.
Noise floor: Lowering noise in a system is a fundamental, a day 1 goal that SHOULD be a continuous, and common goal for all systems, and the importance bears repeating.
- A simplistic analogy, imagine you are talking to somebody in a room, and there is an audible hum (composed of low and high frequencies). You have trouble hearing each other, and low level sounds are masked by the hum. Certainly there can be no argument that this situation is not ideal, and you cannot hear each other properly?
And it is irritating as H&ll ! The same situation if the hum is just below audibility. Not quite as bad, but you know something is wrong. This is a high noise floor situation.
Benefits of low noise:
- Sound Stage: A theoretical conclusion: The better the stage, the lower the noise floor, as low level reverb/echo signals hold the information that the brain translates as stage. Noise will mask, or attenuate these low level signals.
- Dynamics and Bass - both improve/easier to perceive. Lowering power supply or System noise (AC, Cable, Power Supply, System) reduces Amplifier parasitic power drains , and lowers the amount of error generating signals/reduces error correction. Anybody who has experienced the results of a better power supply/cable, will know the initial puzzlement about why that should improve the bass in a system. There is no obvious linkage. But look deeper, and there is a linkage. This is one of those things we are not aware of, as it is not something we would think of.
This is why lowering the noise in a system is of paramount importance. And the effect is cumulative. i.e. lower the noise from multiple sources, and the cumulative effect on a system can shock you.
So anywhere where you can lower the noise floor, that should be pursued. It is one of the most worthwhile actions in any audio system.
- Get a better power supply and cable if using the DAP mostly while plugged into power
- Remove RF sources. At lease separate them.
- MicroSD card - get a better low noise card - There, I've stated the forbidden topic. Why it should be that divisive a topic, and like a red flag to a bull for some people, I do not understand, as noise is present everywhere, in all parts of the system. Even in the brain (tinnitus is one example). That a complex storage device should have noise, and some models will have less, and some will have more, is irrefutable. To deny this is beyond logic, or science. (at least to me)
I don't think I have golden ears. But I am lower on the autistic spectrum (like so many, undiagnosed with Asperger's), and audio is my vice.
maybe the 320x and something else.. but rarities
