KingBollock Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Right, let's see if I've got this right... To hear things that aren't there and to not hear things that are, all you have to do is [i]really believe[/i] it? If we take this to its logical conclusion, you don't really need a hi-fi system or records/CDs at all. Blimey! My favourite bands will never write a duff album again! Unless I'm in a really bad mood when I imagine it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) [quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399399901' post='2443887'] To hear things that aren't there and to not hear things that are, all you have to do is [i]really believe[/i] it? [/quote] Yes, just [i]really believe it[/i]. This is how Jesus became more popular than The Beatles. If you hear things that aren't there and not hear things that are, do they still make a sound? Edited May 6, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1399398413' post='2443862'] Yes, there is a growing market nowadays in audiophile USB cables. Scientists say it shouldn't work , hifi magazines say it does. I haven't heard a demonstration yet so can't vote either way. What I do know is that I recently invested a a basic but decent quality analogue interconnect to link my P.C to my hifi and it is a noticeable improvement on the few-quid-off-the-internet no-name cable I was using before. [/quote] I can see how the analog connection thing could make a difference, especially if you're replacing the often crappy leads that come with PC speakers etc. But for USB and other digital cables, it's not just some kind of subjective opinion about sound quality-it's that digital connections fundamentally don't work that way. The data you receive will be exactly the same each time, otherwise computers, the internet etc just wouldn't work. When you buy an album from iTunes, your copy of it is identical to mine even though both sets of data have taken completely different paths to our computers. The only time this isn't true is when something goes wrong, in which case the errors aren't a simple issue with sound quality, but are usually much more serious, like a completely unplayable file. Sorry, IT lecture over. ....my inner geek gets annoyed when people who write for hi-fi mags don't take the time to learn the basics of the technology that they get paid to write about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 In my experience reviews in magazines tend to be thinly veiled advertising copy. Also we mustn't try to extrapolate a cable that fundamentally doesn't work with a (more expensive) one that does. Once it works, then that's an end of it. More money and fancy materials can't make it work "more". If cable A really does sound better than cable B (in any environment) then cable B is broken or not up to the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1399398866' post='2443870'] Hifi hasn't changed that much in the last twenty years or so, Stu. If you had a system that sounded really good in the early 1990's , chances are it is still competitive with what is about today, contrary to what a lot of magazines and hifi retailers will try and tell you . The 1990's was the Golden Age of two channel audio. Since then, like my body shape , it's all gone downhill. [/quote] Funny you should say that, I almost entirely changed my hi-fi from '95 to around 2000. Still got the boxes off them all . Since then my only new stuff has been a DAB radio - Xmas pressy off my son and the solid oak unit that the decks all sit on - I've heard tell that such a unit makes ALL the difference - silver interconnects Bah!! I downloaded the manuel for the record deck after I lost the original; it clearly states that the shelf for it should be bolted to a solid wall to avoid distortion. SWMBO used her power of veto though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I've still got the hi-fi I bought in 1995 and it sounds a treat... if it ain't broke, etc... and I'm a skinflint, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1399392626' post='2443784'] I've recently had a few Virgin cable engineers trying to sort out problems I'd been seeing with data errors causing bad picture interference and what flummoxed me was some channels experienced high pre and post RS errors yet others were completely error free (more info about RS errors here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed%E2%80%93Solomon_error_correction if you're so inclined). In the end it turned out it was a problem with the cable between the internal wall plate/splitter and the decoder - they put a new cable in and the error rate dropped dramatically - it would seem that the old cable wasn't passing certain frequencies particularly well (for the channels affected). So yes, in this case, the cable really did matter. [/quote] Well of course it mattered. The one you had was broken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399406834' post='2443994'] I've still got the hi-fi I bought in 1995 and it sounds a treat... if it ain't broke, etc... and I'm a skinflint, too. [/quote] That's the year I bought my Marantz CD deck, £379 well spent, less discount for cash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Vincent Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 But which is the best power cable for Metal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1399400635' post='2443905'] I can see how the analog connection thing could make a difference, especially if you're replacing the often crappy leads that come with PC speakers etc. But for USB and other digital cables, it's not just some kind of subjective opinion about sound quality-it's that digital connections fundamentally don't work that way. The data you receive will be exactly the same each time, otherwise computers, the internet etc just wouldn't work. When you buy an album from iTunes, your copy of it is identical to mine even though both sets of data have taken completely different paths to our computers. The only time this isn't true is when something goes wrong, in which case the errors aren't a simple issue with sound quality, but are usually much more serious, like a completely unplayable file. Sorry, IT lecture over. ....my inner geek gets annoyed when people who write for hi-fi mags don't take the time to learn the basics of the technology that they get paid to write about. [/quote] Codswallop! My Monster HDMI cable makes the 1s much more aligned & stops them curving with the 0s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399399901' post='2443887'] Right, let's see if I've got this right... To hear things that aren't there and to not hear things that are, all you have to do is [i]really believe[/i] it? [/quote] Sounds about right, which is why plenty of people think they play better when they are pissed and why others like to listen to their favourite tunes while stoned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBollock Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1399409694' post='2444046'] Sounds about right, which is why plenty of people think they play better when they are pissed and why others like to listen to their favourite tunes while stoned. [/quote] I only ever played while drunk once, it was just a jam with mates, not a gig. I remember thinking that everything was really fast at the time, but when we listened back to the recordings the next day it was all just a really slow dirge. I'd never play a gig under the influence of anything (except love, but I'm a gret big soppy git). Listening to music while stoned is nice, though. Why did I move 160 miles away from the people I know who sell it? Having my wife get a job with the police hasn't helped, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I don't think it's ugly at all. Looks great to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Just having a wee look & Russ Andrews actually have a 3/4 mitre HDMI cable for £216 (or 20m for just £1592) & a 1/2 mitre USB cable for just £686. I think their customers probably have nothing else to spend their money on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1399409053' post='2444027'] Codswallop! My Monster HDMI cable makes the 1s much more aligned & stops them curving with the 0s. [/quote] I find that gold-plated contacts make my 1s much more...I dunno....'on' somehow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399410139' post='2444057'] Listening to music while stoned is nice, though. Why did I move 160 miles away from the people I know who sell it? Having my wife get a job with the police hasn't helped, either. [/quote] Legal highs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBollock Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399456845' post='2444334'] Legal highs? [/quote] I have tried a few but none of them ever seem to work for me. The most useful thing I used them for was to replace tobacco in a spliff, because I gave up tobacco 13 years ago. I prefer to use a bong as a filter so don't need the extra stuff anymore. I still have a drawer full of legal stuff, on the very rare occasion that I crave a cigarette and want to struggle to breathe for a couple of days, I stick some in a pipe and smoke it. Proper grandad pipe too, makes me look wise. The stuff I have tried is all plant based. Most of them are based around wild lettuce. Some of the chemical experimental stuff looks scary, even though I used to enjoy a bit of whizz occasionally. I even tried a really strong salvia divinorum once, but that didn't work either. Some legal highs can be a bit dodgy, not having a proper history behind them so you can't know all the side effects. This is yet another problem with making safer stuff, that we have proper knowledge of, illegal. A bunch of festivals are banning the sale, by stall holders, of legal highs this year. Something I regret not trying when it was all the rage in the 90s is LSD, mushrooms, too. Apparently listening to music while on those is just a whole other level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399460858' post='2444400'] Some legal highs can be a bit dodgy, not having a proper history behind them so you can't know all the side effects. [/quote] That is true, and why I would never recommend them to anyone, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399460858' post='2444400'] Something I regret not trying when it was all the rage in the 90s is LSD, mushrooms, too. Apparently listening to music while on those is just a whole other level. [/quote] You could say that. My experience in the 70s was that the boundaries between sound and vision become meaningless, and music presented itself not just as sound but (in my case) as various geometrical shapes and patterns. Can be a little scary if you're not expecting it. Of course this has a lot to do with how much you spend on your speaker cables. [size=4] [/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1399408385' post='2444017'] But which is the best power cable for Metal? [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1399461935' post='2444422'] [/quote] MEGAWATTS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UglyDog Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399462102' post='2444426'] MEGAWATTS!!! [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestar Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) In the 80s i worked for a couple of hi fi mags. There was a guy called peter belt who sold some interesting, err improvements for your system. Try googling him. I recall one involve a piece of wire a couple of inches long with croc clips that you attached to your power cord. Another was sticking bluetack in all your 13amp plugs. Try this for example http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/product/quantum/quantum.html Edited May 7, 2014 by lonestar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UglyDog Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1399465184' post='2444459'] In the 80s i worked for a couple of hi fi mags. There was a guy called peter belt who sold some interesting, err improvements for your system. Try googling him. I recall one involve a piece of wire a couple of inches long with croc clips that you attached to your power cord. Another was sticking bluetack in all your 13amp plugs. Try this for example [url="http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/product/quantum/quantum.html"]http://pwbelectronic...um/quantum.html[/url] [/quote] Wow. I'll have an eighth of whatever he's been smoking please. It's obviously incredible stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 [quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1399465184' post='2444459'] In the 80s i worked for a couple of hi fi mags. There was a guy called peter belt who sold some interesting, err improvements for your system. Try googling him. I recall one involve a piece of wire a couple of inches long with croc clips that you attached to your power cord. Another was sticking bluetack in all your 13amp plugs. Try this for example http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/product/quantum/quantum.html [/quote] Wow! http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/product/ccu/ccu.html :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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