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Stereo Times reviewer holding my $80k power cables for ransom
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rommelrommel
Diamond Member
Fiber optic cables too, can't have that digital colouration turning 0's into 1's.
Then you have a ground issue, plain and simple. Sorry, filtering on the AC side is more bull from people who want to sell you expensive boxes that do nothing.
RampantAndroid
Diamond Member
So you're telling me there's zero fluctuations in AC power? It never has a peak below or above +/-169V? That there's no ripple that needs to be controlled? No need to control the RMS voltage? No need for surge protection? Wow, you're ignorant. They can be crucial to use with tube amps, for example.
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Number1
Diamond Member
There are fluctuations, but there is no "need" to clean them up. It's a good idea to have a surge protector but that's it. A modern power supply will handle the incoming AC power just fine. One thing for sure, a power conditioner may give you a cleaner looking AC signal going into your audio gear but it's NOT going to make your gear sound better or worst. Filter circuits inside your gear's power supply are there for this purpose.
RampantAndroid
Diamond Member
Sure, but this assuming good filtering. I'm not saying you need this on a $500+ AMP, but conditioners do actually do something tangible...something that expensive cables won't really do. Certainly not in cases where you're transporting digital signals.
AudioTruth
Member
It's a $300,000 modification with crystals. The DAC comes for free, and all the contacts on it are gold plated.
B-? Woahhhh... that sounds pretty good coming from you. I thought I was gonna get an F or D-? Woahhhh 😱
The thing is, I wasn't trying hard. I was just posting what I feel like posting. No need to up my game. I already have wealth of knowledge in how cables (audio cables and power cords) work and how much impact they have on sound. It's your loss that you don't have the guts buy an expensive cable and try it out yourself... I can understand that you have limited income. You can save.
AudioTruth
Member
Audio is not either "on or off". Human ears are not computers that can read 0's and 1's. With this kind of thinking, there are no differences between audio gear at all, because the data is the same.
If there are differences between audio gear, then there are also differences between cables and tweaks. One reason why audio gear sound different, is from the resonant properties of the materials within. Even screws make a difference to the sound.
Video cables make a difference also.
I have made competition test between my $100 BetterCable SilverSerpent DVI-D cable and a $15 generic DVI-D cable from Fry's for the same system. The generic cable generated a bit more picture noise and loss of detail in the skin. Color depth wasn't as good either. The images look more fludic on the better cable. I will be upgrading my BetterCable to Synergistic Research Silver grade DVI-D cable for $200 later.
Gold doesn't conduct electricity all that well. Usually the cheap equipment has that. Just because they look like gold color doesn't mean they are better. 😀
RampantAndroid
Diamond Member
Your "tweaks" are made with play dough.
Differences between audio equipment are easily quantified by looking at an oscilloscope. Ever used one?
Wait...screws make a...
http://bit.ly/T1acFi
By crystals, you mean you took styrofoam and shoved a bunch of stuff into it, yes? The EMU404 is by no means a great DAC, I've built a better DAC for something like $250. And no, they're not gold plated - not in your stupid little video which you filmed on a toaster. If you're making audio equipment worth this much, why are you living in such a crappy place? Why can't you afford a proper DSLR to make your videos?
Oh, right...because you're a troll.
AudioTruth
Member
If you are passionate about audio, you can always save and start eating low cost foods. I always buy food that's on sale. Yesterday I bought 5lbs "old" bananas and ate them within a day. Two days ago I bought 12 buckets of cottage cheese, also on sale. 2 weeks ago I bought 30 cans of coconut milk! Crazy sale!
Fiber optic cables carry electrical noise too. 1's and 0's mean squat. All digital music get affected by electrical noise and jitter affect timing. I was getting terrible SQ off the generic toslink cable. The $200 Sydney cable (analog) beat the pants off.
RampantAndroid
Diamond Member
...what?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electr...conductivity#Resistivity_of_various_materials
Gee, let's look at this...gold is less conductive than copper and silver, but less resistive than both...and gold is used because it won't tarnish like silver and copper do.
RampantAndroid
Diamond Member
Glass is an insulator. So no, it doesn't carry electrical noise. At all. Better yet: the cables are terminated using plastic which is....gasp, an insulator!
AudioTruth
Member
Gold plated contacts are bad for AC cables, I never use gold for AC. Gold plated for USB cable is ok, but it's too warm so I prefer nickel plated USB plugs.
The plating is just a signature change, it can be compensated for. I like to combine Rhodium plating with gold on the other end.
Good call on saving money for audio.
I would suggest the following:
- Stop smoking
- Stop drinking pops
- Drop your phone service and use your spouse's phone or you family's... if you work for the company they should provide you a blackberry phone. You can use that.
- Buy ramen (any flavor of your choice), spinach, and celery. Or broccoli and celery or onion). Not only you will save great $$$$ but also you will become very healthy. Stay away from beef, polk, and chicken (being the worst). Oh and stay away from fast food...
You can save good money then so you can go buy nice audio cables and power cables. That's what I do.
I would suggest the following:
- Stop smoking
- Stop drinking pops
- Drop your phone service and use your spouse's phone or you family's... if you work for the company they should provide you a blackberry phone. You can use that.
- Buy ramen (any flavor of your choice), spinach, and celery. Or broccoli and celery or onion). Not only you will save great $$$$ but also you will become very healthy. Stay away from beef, polk, and chicken (being the worst). Oh and stay away from fast food...
You can save good money then so you can go buy nice audio cables and power cables. That's what I do.
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The outer layers (not the conductor) of the cable carrys electical noise and adds to the signal. And yes, the cheap cable termination certainly hurts signal transfer too.
AudioTruth
Member
Styrofoam is bad for the health. Crystals are good for the health. I only use the safest materials.
The EMU 0404 PCI is completely different from the USB version. 0404 PCI was the worst, Benchmark DAC1 was better, Cary Audio 303/300 CD player was worse than Benchmark, dCS Elgar Plus DAC + dCS Verdi Encore SACD transport ($31,000) was worse than Benchmark also, I found others who agreed. Then I switched to EMU 0404 USB, and got the best sound ever! Others agree the EMU 0404 USB is better than Benchmark DAC1 as well. I have highly modified the Benchmark DAC1 to get more microdetail, the stock EMU 0404 USB was still better, for only $200.
They are gold plated. It says so in the product description: "delivering unmatched USB audio fidelity, enhanced by gold-plated connectors for pristine audio quality".
I didn't film it on a toaster, I filmed it with a professional webcam. There's something called white balance that made the image blue and cold looking.
I spend the money to design better tweaks, instead of buy an expensive camera that doesn't do anything to improve the sound.
I live in a real home now. Here's my old home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1QnXkSePKw
No, not a troll.
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AudioTruth
Member
Audiophiles are very healthy and mentally sane. The skeptics eat bad food and are aggressive and attack people. This thread is the proof of that. No wonder they can't hear differences in sound. Instead of listening and discovering the great eargasms, they attack and swear like gang members.
To get the highest ear resolution, you need a healthy diet. I go to a nutritionist once a year, she said my test results couldn't be any better. I do this to get better hearing. For years I have optimized the vitamin and mineral dosages to get the best sound from my audio system. You need to learn to listen to the body to know what it needs.
To get the highest ear resolution, you need a healthy diet. I go to a nutritionist once a year, she said my test results couldn't be any better. I do this to get better hearing. For years I have optimized the vitamin and mineral dosages to get the best sound from my audio system. You need to learn to listen to the body to know what it needs.
Good to hear you like the Benchmark DAC-1. 🙂 And it's impressive how it equals or outperforms the other high-end DAC's on the market. This is the DAC I am planning to get, along with Audioquest Niagara XLR cables ($1800). Hmm... I better check out the EM 0404 USB that you speak of. Sounds intriguing! 🙂
AudioTruth
Member
Benchmark DAC1 is very good. But the internal toroidal transformer needs to be placed outside the chassis to get a new layer of microdetail. See on the picture, I put the toroid on the right side of the Benchmark DAC1.
I put ERS Paper inside it also to reduce internal noise reflections.
With EMU 0404 USB, this AC/DC adapter is already outside. And it's directly plugged to the AC outlet, so it doesn't need a power cable. The plastic chassis of EMU doesn't reflect the internal RFI reflections. So I never needed to do the same ERS Paper treatment for it. I just had to put ERS Paper outside the EMU to stop RFI from coming in. I have replaced the ERS Paper with crystals now, it made it much more natural and transparent.
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