As you age your hearing MAY deteriorate in the higher frequencies above 15K. The IMPORTANT frequencies in music are all well BELOW that. Mine (thanks for asking) hasn't degraded to any measurable degree and tests well up to around 15K. I was always careful to not get blasted by obscene volume during all the concerts I put on while occupying the same stage as Led Zep, the Mothers, Steppenwolf and so on and on.... It WAS loud and I am NOT stupid. A lot of us old guys have many years of listening and skills you young whipper snappers have yet to achieve. And most importantly GET OFF MY LAWN----hahahahahaha.
I don’t doubt you perceive a difference. I doubt others may perceive the same, especially about a DAC. That’s just not how the device is designed.
Incredible. I never even thought to look. Exogal is ~20 minutes from my house, and I can probably see Bel Canto's office from my office. Magnepan is nearby too. So is Audio by Van Alstine. Maybe I'll build an all-Minneapolis system!
Oh stop. What are you doing? I have read your posts and know full well you of all people are enjoying good audio. Let's both age like fine wine and look back in awe at what we have gained from being classic and "survival" grade. I heard recently an old 1965 Corvette with original paint was worth a lot of dough. I bet some young girl is looking for YOU right now with that knowing glow in her eye. Buck UP, my friend! All is NOT lost!
Says YOU. My considerable experience up against a guy I wouldn't allow on my lawn. Who you gonna CALL? GhostBusters!
I maybe lost a bit of the top end but I’m totally committed to listening to and being involved with the best reproduction that can bring me closer to the music I love. It’s a huge part of my life and I’ll never let it go damn the cost. I just love throwing in some humour here and there.
Don't give the whipper snappers an inch or they will cancel your opinions. I believe that bad hearing should not be trusted. But if you have AGE and decent hearing then we as a group are a RESOURCE and not to be dismissed out of hand. No? How many of these young whipper snappers actually heard Jimi Hendrix's early Fender Bassman 4X10 amp live on stage playing with Wilson Pickett before he was famous? I DID. Me and Jimi talked about it for a half hour. And I now own a 4X10 Fender blue Jensen Bassman amp and know what it can do. I don't take most of the comments on here for more than guesses. It mattered a whole lot more when your life depended on your sound. These guys haven't much to go on. But at MY age I was THERE. I know what sounded like what. Boy am I GLAD modern electronics is getting BETTER. I KILLED for every tonal improvement back in the old days. Me and Jimi. Yup. I AM that old.
Speaking of wine I’ve always been partial to this: Pavillion Blanc Du Château Margaux nice light musical snack.
That's IT. I'm going down to the rehearsal room and playing along with Mitch Mitchell and Jimi at full blast on my new Ludwig drum set with dual floor toms. I just got some new nylon tipped sticks and they sound killer. My wife upstairs swears I am NAILING it. That's pretty freakin cool at 72. And how is YOUR day going?
Starting to get better and better. Blue Jays helped lift my spirits while I’m waiting for my new electronics.
HERE COMES THE SUN. Is this title still available? Bet it would make a great song. Optimism. And why not I ask you?
This place has helped me immensely since the onset of this rotten Covid situation. I’m up at all hours and it’s great to see familiar posters even with some of the exasperating bickering. It’s a comforting place to share our passion with audio.
I'm right there with you. It seems astounding that people believe losing some of your upper frequencies means you don't know what instruments sound like. If you're old enough, you usually heard acoustic instruments at some point (school band, parades, friends whose parents made them take up piano lessons...). I can still tell a cello from a double bass from a viola" that's simply tonal quality. Sorry, but that doesn't disappear along with age, Big_Pink.... That is, unless you have suckouts in your hearing in the upper mid bass to middle midrange. I have my hearing checked every year so I don't waste money buying equipment and then trying to hear the highest frequencies (mine are down a bit). And I go to the symphony regularly (well, until COVID) with a friend whose hearing goes up to 15k pretty well. There's also the myth that women hear better than men. No, they hear differently than men. But what's more truthful to say is that they don't go to as many overly loud events as men do, so they don't damage their hearing as quickly. Comparing how well one hears is different than knowing what one is hearing. As I said, some people have no idea that a Bosendorfer sounds different than a Steinway and that is different than a Yamaha. Could I tell the difference between the three? In a New York second. So, whose hearing do you trust: someone who knows what these three pianos each sound like, or someone who can hear out to 20KhZ, but can't tell a flute from a piccolo from a clarinet? You have to know what you're hearing, son, before your hearing means anything more than "My frequency extension's better than yours."
I’m not doubting anyone’s perception of a difference. And I’m certainly not trying to offend. I appreciate the dialogue. Personally, I don’t trust anyone’s hearing wholesale, simply because so many uncontrolled factors go into it. Putting measurable differences aside, the psychological aspect of hearing is too much of a variable to put a lot of stock into a subjective report. Someone’s mood at the time of listening can greatly impact their experience. Someone’s expectations are greatly influential as well. Every wonder why you can jumble up a couple letters in every word of a paragraph but still read it easily? Your brain fills in the gaps. Same with hearing. What you perceive may not be exactly what is there. So where does that leave us? For me, I read reviews, look at measurements, read forums, and then try different devices to see which I like best. Back to the topic at hand.... A DAC should not color a sound, period. If you hear a difference between level-matched DACs, it’s noise, distortion or some artifact of the signal chain like impedance matching.
Ah, the ideal of “straight wire with gain”. The search for the Golden Fleece of audio is on again. Someone please let me know when you find it. I want one.
There are many options. Quality recording/mastering > Quality streamer/player > Quality DAC with THD+N less than -90db or so> Quality amp with THD+N less than -90db > Quality speakers with relatively flat frequency response. The DAC/amp/speaker chain could be something like: Topping D30PRO > Parasound Halo A21+ > Revel Studio2 My personal setup is close, I just don’t see the need to replace my amp as it performs well though is probably closer to -70db THD+N: Topping D50s > Odyssey Kismet > Dynaudio Contour 60 EDIT: I’m ignoring your room of course which will alter the sound, perhaps significantly.
The source is a wild card as well as the speakers. The only hope for producing any semblance of straight wire with gain is transparency throughout the amplification stages and there aren’t any that provide 100% accuracy. Everything adds or subtracts from the perfect reproduction from input to output no matter what the level of equipment. That’s my take anyway.
There are many, many devices that provide low enough noise and distortion levels that you would not be able to discern a difference between “good enough” and “100% accuracy.” -70db to -80db THD+N is accepted as “good enough.” -120db is inaudible to human beings. The best THD+N possible for vinyl, for example, is I believe something like -72db. Do members of this forum consider vinyl good? The biggest factors in “straight wire with gain” is the recording quality and listening room, given the number of devices available which achieve “good enough” fidelity.
