The one. One debate responsible for more bad blood than a zombie apocalypse. "Is there a difference"?
Cables, amplifiers, wire, power cords...getting that feeling in the pit of your gut yet?
In my 40+ years of experience exploring this unwieldy beast known as Audio I have come to the conclusion that - Some people are able to discern the difference, and some are not. Some peoples brains are just tuned, or "wired" differently. No, that doesn't mean some people have superior sensory abilities, but how their brain interprets and analyses input.
Case in point - some 6 years ago I worked with a guy who was half my age. We both shared a love of music, and despite our age difference, our tastes mostly aligned. He was a metal head, and enamored with Metallica enough that he took up guitar, so he could play the tunes that inspired him. He was into music. So, as we sat for hours at a time shuffling paperwork, we listened to tunes playing back on my portable device, with a Y-splitter to each of our own headphones.
Perchance the Edgar Winter song "Frankenstein" had finished playing and I commented on the interplay between the two drum sets in the middle of the song. "What do you mean" he asked. "The two different sets of drums"! I exclaimed. Indeed, the working title of the song was Double Drum Solo as Edgar and his drummer traded off beats on two different kits during the recording. Skipping back to that part of the song, I played it for him again, and he said he could not detect any tonality differences. (If you're unfamiliar with the piece, stream it or pay the $1.50 to buy it - great song). I even let him listen through my headphones to remove the possibility of it being his set, and still he heard no difference.
Self taught, he could play guitar right along note for note with no sheet music or tabs to the songs he knew, but could not detect the tonal differences that were to me so glaringly obvious. Yes, I hear differences between wire, cable, AC cords...and I also believe there is NO need to spend the same amount of money it would take to buy a nice car (or house) to get good audio. Measurements? Double blind tests? Chuck'em out the window. You know when you can hear a difference, and that's all that counts.
What actually keeps the debate alive is each camps belief it is their purpose in life to convince the other side they're wrong. And just like Democrats vs. Republicans - ain't gonna happen. So, if this thread is given an opportunity to live, don't feel the need to gather your pitchforks and torches, just accept each side for what it is, and live and let listen.
Cables, amplifiers, wire, power cords...getting that feeling in the pit of your gut yet?
In my 40+ years of experience exploring this unwieldy beast known as Audio I have come to the conclusion that - Some people are able to discern the difference, and some are not. Some peoples brains are just tuned, or "wired" differently. No, that doesn't mean some people have superior sensory abilities, but how their brain interprets and analyses input.
Case in point - some 6 years ago I worked with a guy who was half my age. We both shared a love of music, and despite our age difference, our tastes mostly aligned. He was a metal head, and enamored with Metallica enough that he took up guitar, so he could play the tunes that inspired him. He was into music. So, as we sat for hours at a time shuffling paperwork, we listened to tunes playing back on my portable device, with a Y-splitter to each of our own headphones.
Perchance the Edgar Winter song "Frankenstein" had finished playing and I commented on the interplay between the two drum sets in the middle of the song. "What do you mean" he asked. "The two different sets of drums"! I exclaimed. Indeed, the working title of the song was Double Drum Solo as Edgar and his drummer traded off beats on two different kits during the recording. Skipping back to that part of the song, I played it for him again, and he said he could not detect any tonality differences. (If you're unfamiliar with the piece, stream it or pay the $1.50 to buy it - great song). I even let him listen through my headphones to remove the possibility of it being his set, and still he heard no difference.
Self taught, he could play guitar right along note for note with no sheet music or tabs to the songs he knew, but could not detect the tonal differences that were to me so glaringly obvious. Yes, I hear differences between wire, cable, AC cords...and I also believe there is NO need to spend the same amount of money it would take to buy a nice car (or house) to get good audio. Measurements? Double blind tests? Chuck'em out the window. You know when you can hear a difference, and that's all that counts.
What actually keeps the debate alive is each camps belief it is their purpose in life to convince the other side they're wrong. And just like Democrats vs. Republicans - ain't gonna happen. So, if this thread is given an opportunity to live, don't feel the need to gather your pitchforks and torches, just accept each side for what it is, and live and let listen.
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