So apart from the stuff that makes a difference it makes no difference...
Effectively yes. However, it depends on what you mean by “a difference”, a difference in what? A difference in the digital audio, a difference in the analogue audio, a difference in the sound, a difference that is audible or a difference in the perception of a listener? In the latter case, everything can potentially make a difference, a green marker pen on a CD, wooden cable lifters, different Ethernet cables, etc., literally everything and anything can produce a difference in what we perceive/hear. In fact, absolutely no difference whatsoever can make a big difference to what we perceive/hear and musicians have been trained to do exactly that for at least 6 centuries and probably a great deal longer.
If we’re talking about a difference in the sound that is audible though, then most of it makes no difference whatsoever. With some pathological exceptions, the only thing that really makes a difference with modern audio reproduction technology are the speakers/HPs/IEMs and the listening environment.
This thread asks you to share your experience based on listening. Could those who persist in posting that this makes no difference actually take a moment to state exactly what their listening experience was that made them reach this conclusion?
For the above reason, the answer to this question tells us little to nothing at all about the performance of audio equipment. All it tells us in most cases is the susceptibility of the listener to biases and perceptual error, which is hardly useful information because everyone suffers from perceptual error virtually all the time. In fact just appreciating music in the first place is dependent on that fact.
As it’s been specifically requested though, and is in the thread title, here is a brief history of my listening experience:
My listening skills started being formally trained when I entered my teens and played an orchestral instrument. Later in my teens I attended one of Europe’s most respected music conservatories and then for several years played with various orchestras. Then I became a sound engineer, toured and recorded with an international concert soloist for quite a few years, worked with a number of the world’s great orchestras, at many of the world’s famous concert venues and several of the world’s best recording studios. I also worked with a number of well known artists from other musical areas, jazz and popular genres. Later, for about 6 years I was a senior university lecturer and course designer, where I taught, among the other areas of music technology, listening skills. I still currently earn my living as a music/sound engineer.
My listening experience is probably greater or at least equal to anyone on this site but again, that tells us next to nothing. The facts aren’t the facts because I say so, because of my experience or even because a more famous musician, engineer or scientist says so. They’re the facts because they have been reliably evidenced/proven.
Incidentally, in case I haven’t made it clear, I, like all other humans, experience perceptual errors. I have at times perceived/heard differences in cables and all sorts of things, and of course I’ve been trained for decades to deliberately perceive the exact same thing differently. The difference in my situation is that my livelihood depends to a certain extent on knowing what’s really going on and I have the facilities to test, when necessary, whether what I’m perceiving is actually what’s happening.
G
