Dumb and Dumber

[Gregadd]

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. They invite criticism and hate. Literally. T

 

[dcathro]

Wow, so much knowledge and wisdom!

 

[Gregadd]

Wow, so much knowledge and wisdom!

yes, if only they would consume it.

 

[Gregadd]

I think people should be free to indulge themselves in whatever fantasy they wish. They also aspire to the lowest common denominator if they wish. Perhaps you are fortunate if you "don't hear a difference." But it never seems to be sufficient to apply that standard to ones own situation, It always have to bring some dullards along with them. It is unlikely that I could change these guys' minds. One might surmise that hearing musical sounding products would help. I suggest the opinions are based on sound. There opinions are political. They cite a few facts that don't support their conclusion.
Despite their argument there is a good, better, best. There is path to be followed to achieve those goal. the pursuit which costs money and hard work to achieve those goals. The reward of excellence is worth it. Sadly they have chosen to drag us down to the LCD instead of pursuing excellence.

 

[marmota]

600k views? Mediocrity sells!

Mediocrity path, starter pack:
- Focus on being yourself (mediocre and dumb!)
- Don't aspire to be better, instead, tell the others that what they have or do is inferior or not worth it. You are into the mud yourself, so better drag more people into it, so you don't feel alone and stinky at the same time.
- Do not forget to post your "life changing, six paths sage level facts" in some sensationalist platform full of the same type of mediocre people (ie: "Ferraris are a scam" after realizing that where you live you can't drive faster than 50km/h or "MP3 and FLAC sound the same" after looking at your 100$ +10 years old laptop that doubles as a TV in your 10 square meters "living room").

Those two fit into every category. Being like that must suck

 

[thedudeabides]

Dumb and dumber indeed.

 

[sbo6]

There are two sides to every story. Some of what they say I agree with and have witnessed on this very site and on others. For example - members bragging about how great their system is in almost every post, other times members being ridiculed / admonished for asking about comparing equipment A costing $ versus equipment B costing $$ (this one just happened to me in WBF last week). And I've seen it other times as well, a level of snobbery is alive and well at WBF and some other forums. I think most don't do it consciously but some are blatant snobs - it is what it is.

However this video also has a pinch or three of simple ignorance, you'll never know very / ultra high audio (and all its attributes) unless you experience it IME / IMO.

 

[Gregadd]

Is it audio snobbery that bothers them? Memory is cheap. I just got 1TB Seagate external SSD drive for less than a $100.My dac cost$150. If exorbitant pricing is your thing, say so. You can great sound for a reasonable price. You are gonna kiss a lot of frogs but you will find your princess. Cost has nothing to do with the efficacy of a format. Say it- this is a great format but memory costs makes it prohibitive. Don't trash a format merely because it is expensive. I attended a seminar on asynchronos dacs. The speaker said it was the best but the cost was prohibitive. He did not say it sucks because it was too expensive. As a result the cost came down.

 

[stehno]

I think people should be free to indulge themselves in whatever fantasy they wish. They also aspire to the lowest common denominator if they wish. Perhaps you are fortunate if you "don't hear a difference." But it never seems to be sufficient to apply that standard to ones own situation, It always have to bring some dullards along with them. It is unlikely that I could change these guys' minds. One might surmise that hearing musical sounding products would help. I suggest the opinions are based on sound. There opinions are political. They cite a few facts that don't support their conclusion.
Despite their argument there is a good, better, best. There is path to be followed to achieve those goal. the pursuit which costs money and hard work to achieve those goals. The reward of excellence is worth it. Sadly they have chosen to drag us down to the LCD instead of pursuing excellence.

I'm curious. Aside from adding a few zeros to the dollar amounts they mention, how do you suppose their mindsets differ from the some-to-many you might otherwise encounter?

 

[Gregadd]

I'm curious. Aside from adding a few zeros to the dollar amounts they mention, how do you suppose their mindsets differ from the some-to-many you might otherwise encounter?

I am not sure what you mean. The video covers such a wide swath of topics with little or no supporting data. I find no difference between the pricing in high end audio and any other segment of the economy. Perhaps you can provide an example. When adjusted for its' technical aspect and relatively small customer base. I nof no segment of the economy that does not do exactly what the high end does when it comes to pricing.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I watched the entire video.

I think they manage to be false or misleading or ignorant on almost every assertion.

I especially liked: "Tubes are terrible; it does very bad things to your audio." How could I have been so wrong all of these years?

And that balanced cables "are all about marketing." Can someone please inform the recording studios?

And I loved: "Vinyl is recorded in 24 bit."

However, I agree with them that spending more money for higher sound quality is subject to diminishing returns.

They seem intelligent; I think they simply are unwittingly ignorant about the topics they are discussing. They say they are "up for learning." Maybe they would be amenable to learning about and understanding:

-- higher digital sampling rates

-- that reproduction above 20kHz is important not for audio information but for phase information

-- that tube amps reproduce more than midrange frequencies

-- that many audiophiles listen to music over loudspeakers

-- that even order distortion may sound different than odd order distortion

-- that analog recording does not involve digital sampling

-- etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

On the other hand, maybe they are not interested in learning anything. It is troubling that they are so certain of the righteousness and correctness of their views that they call the views of the other side "myths" and "BS" and "nonsense."

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . members being ridiculed / admonished for asking about comparing equipment A costing $ versus equipment B costing $$ (this one just happened to me in WBF last week). . . .

I would have replied disapprovingly if I had seen the post to which you refer.

 

[Gregadd]

The problem is they think they possess such a wealth of knowledge it should be shared over the internet.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I just sent this email to TekSyndicate, which I believe published the video:

Hello Justin,

I hope this finds you well!

I saw your Youtube video "Audiophile Myths Part 1: MP3 VS FLAC, Cables, Sample Rates, Tube Amps, ETC."

At the end of the video you solicited comments and indicated that you are open to learning and to discussing these topics.

I am one of the owners of WhatsBestForum.com, the most popular high-end audio forum on the Internet. I also am a writer/reviewer of high-end audio equipment for monoandstereo.com

I would be delighted to discuss these topics with you, and to present views on the other side of some of these topics. Are you up for a challenge?

Thank you for your consideration.

Best wishes,

Ron Resnick
Co-Owner -- WhatsBestForum.com
Senior Contributing Reviewer -- Mono and Stereo

 

[Gregadd]

Certainly you are not questioning y veracity?
Update: My computer was recently in for repair? My OS had been comprised. Reinstalling my OS would cause all my data to be lost .He offered the drive in a package deal that included the new drive which he used to preserve my data. I "guestimated" the cost of the drive based on the total hourly rate for repairs. i don't know what the off the shelf MSRP is.

 

[Mikem53]

Another example of youth being wasted on the young..
Why wouldn’t you want the best and sampling rate possible? Why would you accept compressed files to save a little space on the drive when storage is so inexpensive..?

 

[Mikem53]

The problem is they think they possess such a wealth of knowledge it should be shared over the internet.

The problem is YouTube pays people for information, Bad or good, doesn’t matter.

 

[Gregadd]

Another example of youth being wasted on the young..
Why wouldn’t you want the best and sampling rate possible? Why would you accept compressed files to save a little space on the drive when storage is so inexpensive..?

" Youth is not wasted on the young. Wisdom is wasted on the old." Raymomd Reddington The Blacklist.

 

[Folsom]

*Plays 8 bit music mp3*
*plays 8 bit music flac file*
see can't hear the difference?!?!?

This is an older video but these people are literally mentally deficient. Sampling rate isn't frequency... And that isn't even a remotely appropriate discussion of what would make a DAC sound different because of the sample rate.

They didn't in anyway credit tubes for what they do right. And they aren't mentioning actual distortion numbers. Basically they know nothing.

No comprehension of the amplifier classes... obviously don't understand how they work.

They don't know how horrendously pointless ABX tests are for hearing.

Overall we're wasting our breath to even give them the time of day.

 

[Gregadd]

44.1khz was chosen as the minimum by the proponents of digital! A standard form which they quickly departed for monetary reason.
It is not that ABX is pointless. It is that the point has already been made. It quickly changed form a tool to weapon in and of itself.