Redcarmoose
Headphoneus Supremus
Did you pay for it?
Yes.
Did you pay for it?
Why?
There’s no reason to believe USB cables make an audible difference.
Except for the thousands of people who perceive a difference and the fact that nobody has ever proved they can't.
Although your certainty despite zero expertise in the field, and any proof otherwise is impressive!
I meant the first I have personally tried which sounded different in sighted tests. Maybe because it was more expensively priced?
Because I rarely believe important stuff unless I try it for myself.
Because I rarely believe important stuff unless I try it for myself. Maybe you should try one too.
Have you ever done a blind test with an expensive USB?
Many of the chances I’ve taken have been surprising in audio. I basically only believe my own ears. Also I can’t get a system upgrade unless I spend another 8K, which I’m not doing.
Did you think it wasn't actually important, or did you buy it because it was expensively priced? Did you really just buy it or have you had it for a while? You're acting like you are trying to prove something through your argument. Would you like to submit your cable to independent testing and find out the truth?
I'm really divided on this. on one hand I completely agree that actual(proper!) experiment is a really good way to know where we stand with our own gears and circumstances.Because I rarely believe important stuff unless I try it for myself. Maybe you should try one too.
Have you ever done a blind test with an expensive USB?
Many of the chances I’ve taken have been surprising in audio. I basically only believe my own ears. Also I can’t get a system upgrade unless I another 8K, which I’m not doing.
Proving you can't hear a difference doesn't prove anything since that particular person may not have the ability to perceive any differences if they exist. The proof would be someone out of these "thousands of people who perceive a difference" proving they actually can hear a difference; which would be astonishing since people haven't even been able to prove they can hear a difference between amplifiers (Richard Clark Amp Challenge) let alone a single digital connector.
Well, first, to @castleofargh's point, we have no proof one way or another, and random experiments by some dude with some meters proves nothing, so hyperventilating about links and numbers is as valuable as me trying cables on my system: it's not scientific and proves absolutely nothing.
This is all the more true because we're not trying to find the Higgs Boson here - this is just encoding and decoding via software, thus whatever the truth is, it's trivially easy to prove if one has the code. Thus the only reason nobody here knows, is because nobody here has the code. Get it, and we'll know, don't have it and we won't. / thread
Specific to your point, that's exactly what I suggested 1000 pages ago:
(1.) Start with a world-class system that's familiar to audiophiles, and someone who's very familiar with that system and who claims to hear cable differences.
(2.) Then have the doubters control the system, swap out the cables, and see if the person can identify the high quality cables.
(3.) Repeat a few times.
I suggested we test with Paul McGown, CEO of PS Audio, given he claims to hear differences, has access to some of the best audiophile equipment in the World, has 40 years of experience, and is willing to do the test in his Music Room 1. He's even got Gus Skinas, who runs one of the best DSD mastering labs right on site. Given Gus has recorded a large chunk of the SACDs out there, he probably has some listening experience too, and might have a few suggestions.
Unfortunately everyone here wussed out and won't do it because it'll likely prove them wrong. Anyway, would be easy to do for anyone willing to schedule it with Paul and run the test.
Here's measurement nut Jon Atkinson of Stereophile in PS Audio's music room 1:
Here he's using music room 1 to test binaural recordings: