Nothing new there. Audiophiles in the early 70's used certain viny records for demonstration purposes. Some were direct disk analog recordings, but some were digital recordings using vastly inferior equipment than what we have these days :-)
I still have a heavy weight, virgin vinyl, 45RPM, 12" "audiophile" disk of the day, recorded digitally at 14 bits using a VCR and converter. Still better than one using a tape recorder of course :-)
Trevor.
So why then do the most fastidious audiophiles prefer valve amplifiers?
They're commonly known as audiophools. What people *prefer* does not have to bear any relationship to absolute performance, just their personal notion of it. Valve amps are preferred by many electric guitarists for their distortion qualities of course, something you may choose to *produce* a certain musical "sound", but not a good choice for musical *reproduction* of that sound, and certainly not when you don't want that distortion at all.
Trevor.
So let's see some distortion figures for Hi Fi valve amps vs transistor/mosfet amps then
amps then
from SC June 2008 Altitude 3500-SS Stereo Valve Amplifier (RRP $1899) @32W THD < 0.63% at 1kHz
compare this to two of SCs power amp modules; from SC January 2004 Studio 350 Audio Amplifier (transistor) @180W THD < 0.002% at 1kHz
from SC August 2008 Ultra-LD Mk.2 200W Power Amplifier (transistor) @100W THD < 0.001% at 1kHz
Also, valve amps have very poor damping factors which means the loudspeaker cone excursions are not tightly controlled, especially in the 'piston' range below about 500 Hz. (i.e. muddy bass).
True audiophiles use vinyl and tubes!
But for *me*, 4BH at 32 Kbps (WMP format) is just fine! :-)
**Unless the sampling rate is specified, you cannot state such a thing.
"Good quality" audio leads are a crock, like gold-plated connectors. Plain copper wires do a perfectly good job.
If the quantised approximation is close enough, you cannot hear the difference, and it does have the advantage of perfect copyability and identical repeat playings.
Some people might prefer valve amps just because they "sound" better, not because they reproduce better. There are so many factors that affect the sound that gets in your ears - the speakers and the acoustics of the room being two huge ones. It may be that valve amps in combination with other factors produce a result that those people enjoy listening to the most.
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The tonal qualities and smoothness of valve amps is legendary
That shows how much you know then
I thought all you needed was low resistance. You can get that with plain copper wire of reasonable thickness and as short as possible. In the end, can you hear the difference?
The point of gold plating is that gold is a soft metal that doesn't oxidise, which helps ensure a consistent connection. I've had enough trouble with poor audio connections to recognise the benefit of that. If course, better still is a screw clamped connector.
Sylvia.
I think it can be taken as read in context that the sampling rate (and number of bits sampled) will be high enough that the will be nothing left of the quantisation noise that is capable of being heard by the ear. The ear itself is not an analogue device.
Sylvia.
Yes, gold plating is very useful in electronics to ensure that good contact is maintained, but you don't need it for speakers. I think my speakers have gold-plated screw clamps. Looks nice, but the gold is unnecessary.
Doesn't mean that its an accurate reproduction of what was recorded.
**I take NOTHING as read. Unless the precise specs of the digital system are specified, there can be no blanket claim that the effects of that digital system are inaudible.
For instance: There is abundant evidence to prove that a (say) 24/96 digital audio system is preferred by some listeners (in a blind test) over a 16/44 (CD quality) in a suitably high resolution system, using otherwise identical material. I would also add that there is considerable evidence to suggest that many listeners can easily pick the difference between DACs (Digital to Analogue Converters). In fact, some of the best DACs are considered to be those manufactured by Philips back in the late 1980s.
The ear is, most assuredly, not a digital system. And, with any audio system, the digital signal must be, at some point, converted into an analogue signal, before being processed by the human ear.
For my part, I took part in some blind tests back in the early 1980s, using 2nd generation master tapes of live music. We compared tape (15ips, played through Otari and Studer machines) to a Sony CDP101 and vinyl, through a high end turntable. The master tapes were preferred over the vinyl, which was preferred over the 16/44 digital. Further testing revealed that the CD was preferred over the vinyl, using certain contemporary recordings (Elton John's Two Low For Zero).
FWIW: I have not purchased a (new) vinyl recording since 1988. Recording companies lst interest in manufacturing quality LPs long ago.
**Not only unnecessary, but actually bad. Gold plating is necessarily very tin and provides a poor choice for speaker connectors. Silver, which can be plated far more thickly, is a far better choice. It's superior conductivity is also a bonus.
**That would be: "....very THIN..."
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