Took the plunge, Asher--this better be worth it.

[Fake Boris]

It's more complex than that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there was a great part of listening pleasure that can't be quantitatively measured.

[Asher]

As far as I'm concerned, the only people who want to make it more complicated than it actually is are people who want to obfuscate a point.

Digital audio is a stream of ones and zeros -- the more of these ones and zeros that arrive at the destination in-tact, the clearer the signal is.

There are other factors involved that can affect heard quality, such as minor things like the quality of the headphone jack...or major things like the quality of the headphones.

But that is much, much harder to quantify than SnR is. A device with a bad SNR will sound worse than a device with a good SNR, given everything else is the same.

[Fake Boris]

How do you measure the 0s and 1s in one's brain?

[Asher]

You don't, you measure it as well as you can in the electronics device.

If the signal gets corrupted by noise before it even gets to the brain, you can bet your ass that this affects clarity.

[Barinthus]

Hot Topic, I am ashamed to say I own some stuff from there. I just couldn't resist those tshirts with Nintendo stuff.

[Imran Siddiqui]

At least you are ashamed about it .

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Barinthus
Hot Topic, I am ashamed to say I own some stuff from there. I just couldn't resist those tshirts with Nintendo stuff.

It is an awesome store.. I love it..

[Nostromo]

WMP10 will only rip to 192Kbps WMA by default, so you should look into...other means.

I believe you're wrong. I have WMP 10 and all my songs are ripped at a 240 to 355 Kbps (variable bit rate). And if I rip them at lossless, it jumps to 470 to 940 Kbps! I'm not quite that anal about sound quality. Anyway, I probably couldn't hear the difference.

Man, these microdrive MP3 players are tempting... I could have the mini iPod for 225 $ Cdn. But for 70 $ more, you have the Zen micro, with an extra GB, better sound quality and better ear buds. The best price I found here in Montreal for the Zen micro is 295 $ Cdn.

[Asher]

I'm not talking about VBR or Lossless.

I'm talking about CBR @ 320Kbps, which Boris was using dBPowerAmp to encode his CDs with. WMP only supports up to 192Kbps CBR.

[Nostromo]

I'm not talking about VBR or Lossless.

I'm talking about CBR @ 320Kbps, which Boris was using dBPowerAmp to encode his CDs with. WMP only supports up to 192Kbps CBR.

I see. Is CBR @ 320Kbps a lot better than VBR @ 240 to 355 Kbps? Can you actually hear the difference?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
No, his point is that audio fidelity as you define it does not necessarily result in better overall audio quality, which can only be subjective.

Reread his posts. For instance:

And which, while useful, are not really good enough to tell anyone which one sounds more like the real thing, or which one will sound better. That's just a fact.

And if your music sounds BETTER when reproduced less accurately, you really need different music.

[Agathon]

And if your music sounds BETTER when reproduced less accurately, you really need different music.

Oh dear... you don't get it do you.

SNR is not sufficient or necessary to determine heard audio fidelity. That's why it doesn't play any significant role in audio reviews. You can try to pretend it does until you are blue in the face, but it doesn't. Heard audio fidelity is simply too complicated to be accurately captured by the numbers.

I wish it was, then we would all have better equipment. But it isn't. End of story.

[Kuciwalker]

But it is, end of story.

[Sava]

I think we need a kill kuci party for apolyton

[Spiffor]

Nah, he would stop visiting in here either