Anti-Cabls Ic's alternatives?

09-15-09: Muralman1
Resolving is not subjective. Resolution is measurable.

Muralman1, I only asked how measuring resolution is accomplished.

There was no criticism. Just a question.

Resolving is not measurable because it is not even definable.

Every person has a different concept of "resolving".

However, if muralman wants to pursue this I would ask the following:
1. If resolution can be measured, please list the appropriate units and parmameters in the quantification.
2. What tools, instruments, meters, apparatus, etc. are used in the measurement.

Thanks in advance.

Resolving is not measurable because it is not even definable. Every person has a different concept of "resolving".

True. And my suspicion is that Muralman is, intentionally or not, referring to "resolution" in a technical sense, while most audiophiles tend to use it in a musical sense.

For instance, redbook cd is capable of a "resolution" of 16 bits, or 1 part in 65,536 relative to full scale. And in theory a little better than that, if dither is properly applied, noise is weighted by frequency, etc. All of that can certainly be measured.

But as we all know, essentially all that those measurements will reveal about a component are gross design errors, or defects in individual examples of the component. They will tell us essentially nothing about how much musical detail the component is capable of revealing, partly because the ear has better "resolution" (in the musical sense) than most or all instrumentation, and partly because the science involved in correlating measurements with perceived sound quality is still not very well developed.

So I don't think there is a real conflict here, just terms being used in different ways.

Regards,
-- Al

09-16-09: Muralman1
Hi Tvad. I said that because people who know say so. I am not a
techy.

I see.

Aren't voices and instruments recorded using
spectrum analyzers?

Recording devices are initially set up to a baseline prior to recording sessions
to ensure the recording is in accordance to industry guidelines (for phase,
channel orientation and separation, and signal to noise ratio, etc) to ensure
consistent quality playback. This was the purpose of the RIAA guidelines. TV
and film uses baseline settings as well to ensure correct playback for
broadcast and theatrical screening.

Certainly, resolution is measurable in terms that Almarg described, i.e. bits
and sample rates. I was under the impression that you were stating that
system resolution is measurable. I imagine one's system could be
analyzed for signal to noise ratio and for frequency balance, but substantial
differences in everyone's rooms and environments makes any comparison of
measurements from system to system meaningless, IMO. For example,
assemble your system in another house in another neighborhood, and I'll
wager the measurements would be completely different due to changes in
room acoustics and environmental noise, even though the
system remains the same.

BTW, since you use redbook CD as your source (considering you use
a non-oversampling DAC, correct?), then your system is actually *less*
resolving than those that utilize higher resolution source formats such as
SACD, DVD-A, and vinyl.

I know you prefer the sound of NOS DACs, but the resolution measurements
for the format are inferior from a technical standpoint.

Tvad, I will stand down on the subject of measuring resolution. It is far more complicated, and not fully reliable than I had been led to believe.

On SACD, DVD-A, you are wrong. I have proved it on my system numerous times. All oversampling and upsampling players suck. There is no more accurate term. The highs always sound contrived. The stage is shallow, and short. The mids are always grainy. They all support the generally their bad reviews compared to vinyl here and elsewhere.

My Audio Note DAC is an AN in name only. It has been reworked to get rid of the choked, rolled off British sound they all have, down to their most expensive AN DACs. The stock Audio Note house sound is partially accomplished by utilizing frequency limiting diodes, for instance.

My AN DAC sounds natural. When called upon, it can bring the house down with orchestra crescendos at full cry. Then, it can gently finesse a delectable classical guitar solo. Everything sounds the way they are.

This system will go on show. It didn't happen this year due to last minute snags. Next year we will put all doubters to rest. I will happily entertain anyone's vaunted SACD player, or obscenely priced SCs. I can guarantee any taker, you will all go away deeply embarrassed.