Audio Digest thread

[ROBSCIX]

It should, in theory be exactly the same bit for bit. However, some people suggest that those bit perfect output plguins do sound different. That is one of those ideas in audio that is a constant debate. Use your ears to decide what sounds the best for you, set it to that plugin and forget about it. However, make sure it is not a cases of bad settings..etc.

[Anarion]

I've turned everything off that could possibly affect it. It sounds noticeably softer (fine detail seems to get muffled) and I'm pretty sure that it's not a placebo. Stereo imaging seem better too.

[EspHack]

Originally Posted by elkosith

Lets start a new conversation

My left and right ears apparently have different sensitivity. My left ear is slightly more sensitive than the right ear. It's very noticeable when using headphones, the left cup is always sounds a little bit louder and brighter.

When there's a loud sound, like car horn or sound system's feedback, the sound will hurt my left ear but not the right ear.

The difference is not much and very subtle so most of the time it doesn't bother me except when using headphones.

Anybody notice the similar? Or have the explanation about this?

when using earphones with my cellphone and all the settings for the maximum bass possible while retaining quality, i used to feel more bass shaking coming from the right, but i dont remember if i've tried switching sides, i blame the earphones anyway

[TruMutton_200Hz]

Originally Posted by ROBSCIX

It should, in theory be exactly the same bit for bit. However, some people suggest that those bit perfect output plguins do sound different. That is one of those ideas in audio that is a constant debate. Use your ears to decide what sounds the best for you, set it to that plugin and forget about it. However, make sure it is not a cases of bad settings..etc.

One theory relates it to the electric noise from the PSU creeping into the circuitry of the soundcard / DAC unit due to improper galvanic isolation, while another theory suggests that some audio equipment can be oversensitive to the electromagnetic radiation (EMI / RFI) from the PC hardware due to insufficient shielding.

Cables act as antennae, and if the high frequency noise enters the rectifier of an amp it might introduce noise into the audible band of the spectrum. The clock signal that's used to feed the bit perfect data into a DAC chip should be seen as analog so, if it (and / or the power signal that powers the clock) gets contaminated with electric noise somehow, whatever is creating that noise (PSU) might have an impact on a number of things, including jitter.

Personally, I think if PC hardware choices (other than the soundcard or DAC unit) and / or software choices affect the quality of the sound, if there's no processing / effects going on in / being controlled by software (apart from properly implemented digital volume control, which only adds dither that's at -138 dBFS anyway on a 24-bit DAC) it should be attributed to a flaw in the audio equipment, and quite possibly a design flaw.
Had my async USB DAC not been completely immune to those kind of side effects, since I am not using any type of volume control in my chain except the volume slider of foobar2000, the 32 dB of amp gain of my power amp (>114 dB full power) combined with its slightly oversized power output (300W RMS / ch into 8Ω, 500W RMS / ch into 4Ω) compared to my speakers (180W RMS / ch with 4..8Ω nominal speaker impedance and 87.5 dB speaker sensitivity) would have rendered them audible without a shadow of a doubt.

For this reason alone, I cannot for the life of me figure out why some folks prefer to invest more money in a SOtM SATA filter than a DAC.

[ROBSCIX]

Yes, I am well aware of where the possible issues may be in any PC based audio system. I find the main trouble with those is that many people exaggerate the extent of any possible issue. The "I gotta go external to get the best sound" statement. I have heard and used more internal and external devices then I can count both mine and associates and I have have still never found anything to ever suggest that one is better then the other based on just design and susceptibility to interference. Afterall, our environment is basically bombarded with RFI and EMI from many sources.

However, I was speaking in general theory but as I said, some say bit perfect should technically sound the same as that is the entire idea behind it. Other suggest there are well known issues that may be at work or it is just possible the coding varies.
Which is why I say it is one of those never ending audio debates and It is up to the individual to do some testing and decide for themselves.

I agree with you on the SATA filters though. Some people get a bit crazy investing money into areas with very little if any sonic rewards. Perhaps it just eases their minds.