As a significant amount of my overall music listening already takes…
search
The integration of computers into high-end audio is contentious. A reader poll last spring on our website indicated that a significant proportion of audiophiles—a quarter—is dead set against the idea, yet both Microsoft, with Windows Media Player 9, and Apple, with iTunes, seem convinced that the future of domestic music reproduction involves computers. To support that idea, both Apple- and Windows-based computers (the latter with Intel's about-to-be-launched HD Audio technology) are promoting hi-rez audio playback.
Sound
I used iTunes as my primary playback engine, with Apple Lossless Compression applied to the test tracks to keep file sizes manageable. As I wrote in September, ALC compresses AIF files to about 40% of their original size without losing any information. Some readers have asked if ALC changes the sound. But think about it: If the reconstructed file data with ALC are the same as the original AIF, the data presented to the DAC for decoding are the same and the sound must be the same, other than the effects of word-clock jitter. However, though jitter will depend on the stability of…
I used iTunes as my primary playback engine, with Apple Lossless Compression applied to the test tracks to keep file sizes manageable. As I wrote in September, ALC compresses AIF files to about 40% of their original size without losing any information. Some readers have asked if ALC changes the sound. But think about it: If the reconstructed file data with ALC are the same as the original AIF, the data presented to the DAC for decoding are the same and the sound must be the same, other than the effects of word-clock jitter. However, though jitter will depend on the stability of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CardBus-format soundcard for PCs and Macs with two-channel analog inputs and outputs on stereo 1/8" connectors, 128x-oversampling A/D and D/A converters, 24-bit data resolution maintained throughout signal path, onboard 24-bit Motorola DSP for mixing and monitoring, and headphone amp with volume control. Sample rates supported: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz. Supports full-duplex two-channel in, two-channel out operation. Type II CardBus slot required. Analog input: Frequency response: 10Hz-20kHz, ±0.5dB. Dynamic range: >109dB (A-weighted…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Host computer: Apple 15" Titanium PowerBook, 867MHz G4 processor, running iTunes 4.6, Bias Peak 4.0, SignalScope 1.5, SignalSuite 1.1.2.
Headphones: Sennheiser HD600, Sony MDR7506, Ultimate Ears UE-5, Shure E3c.—John Atkinson
Sidebar 3: Measurements
All the tests were performed with the Echo Indigo IO soundcard installed in my 867MHz Apple TiBook. Looking first at the Indigo IO's analog output, using WAV files played back with Bias Peak 4.0, the maximum output at 1kHz with the volume control at its maximum was to specification at 1.603V. The output preserved absolute polarity—ie, was noninverting—and the source impedance was less than 1 ohm across the audioband.
The frequency response was absolutely flat with CD data (not shown). Driving the card with data sampled at 96kHz gave the response shown in…
The following unpublished letter offers useful info:
I've been an Echo Indigo owner for quite some time now, and I have discovered a nifty trick with the Echo that will make the playback blow your mind (well, to quantify, for playback on a PCMCIA sound card...it will blow your mind). The Indigo line of cards are capable of kernel streaming, gapless audio playback, based on the ASIO specifications. I'm sure you know all about ASIO, so I won't bother with details.
It takes a little time to get it working, but the results are worth it. The trick goes like this (sorry, only works on…
"Observe the candle!"
I can still hear the booming voice of my high-school chemistry teacher. My classmates and I sat around the octagonal lab tables, staring at the candles burning before us as he walked us through the scientific method.
"Now, take your lab books and record your observations!"
We did:
"The candle is giving off heat..."
"The candle is green..."
"The candle's flame is yellow..."
But we were one step ahead. Our public-school education had overflowed with films and filmstrips about the wonders of science and its method, so we…
What's so great about objectivity? It travels. If I were to review some $200 RadioShack speakers and report—subjectively—that they sound exactly like my reference Quad ESL-63s, most objectivists would roll their eyes and turn the page. "Reisch, you may think they sound the same, but you're probably the only one." But suppose I showed that the speakers measure exactly like the Quads in my living room. In that case, they'd probably measure like Quads at your place, too, and they'd probably sound pretty good. Even the staunchest objectivists would be on their way to the strip mall before you…
"You're right about that (you stupid philosopher!). Besides, we objectivists are one step ahead of Kuhn. We know that beliefs affect observations. That's the whole point. That's why we advocate blind testing and ABX tests—precisely to keep reviews objective. If a turntable reminds a reviewer of ice-cream castles or beloved Uncle Ralph, or if the designer drops by and proves to be an all-around nice (or nasty) guy, the review may be skewed one way or another and the poor reader won't know what's going on."
Au contraire, mes frèeres. The whole point is what you objectivists always trip…
It's useful to ponder the wonders of democracy in this election year—not because of elections, but despite them. Were you to judge democracy by this election year, you might conclude that it consists of judging who has the best PR people, who the best pollsters, and who can muster the nastiest, most effective "negatives" about the other guy.
My two years in Nigeria, working as a mechanic in a relief program during the Biafran conflict, provided me with perhaps the best working example of democracy in action. Nigeria was scarcely a democracy at the time, as it was more or less…