2. I thought that [some] studioes like Gateway Mastering (bob ludwig), Skywalker, and Bernie Grundman use Transparent Ref or Cardas in their studios?
1. In terms of glass in front of artwork, most of it actually has loads of filters in it...UV, radiation, anti-glare, etc. In an audiophile way, one could argue it does make a difference (and it does)...as you dont get as much a sense of the tacticle nature of the paint as when you are standing right in front of the oil paint itself...it is different, but often the anti-glare coatings, etc make it easier to see given the fluorescent lighting, etc of certain museums. That is a tone control of sorts that is 'improving' the visual aspects.
2. I thought that [some] studioes like Gateway Mastering (bob ludwig), Skywalker, and Bernie Grundman use Transparent Ref or Cardas in their studios?
(...)
As for whether this is a positive change.... let's take a visual analogy.
Let's pick a brand of glass to put in front of our favorite paintings....
Personally, I prefer the clearest glass possible, so I can see the paintings as they are.
Choosing an interconnect that makes some change is like choosing blue-tinted glass....
even though it may make a certain painting look better (to you), I don't think it's the job of the glass to modify the painting.
If you like blue paintings, then BUY blue paintings!
Don't buy pink paintings and "balance them out" with blue glass.
For that matter, don't paint your walls red, then put blue glass over the paintings to try and cancel out the reflections from the walls.
Gray walls, clear glass, and paintings you actually LIKE is your best combination.
Likewise, buy components you like rather than relying on a cable to (hopefully) fix what's wrong with them.
I've never heard any good analogies. They all show a lack of comprehension of subtle differences by the person making the analogy.Visual analogies with glasses are always misleading when debating sound reproduction. In this case even the transmission of light through glass can not be compared with the transmission of an electrical signal, and the perception of images has very different properties of the perception of sound.
Exactly. Cable can do nothing but degrade the signal in different ways. They for the most part are not neutral. When you have a highly revealing system, these differences are quite obvious and repeatable. They may be affected differently by different source, however. Some source actually 'sounds' better passing through lossy cables, which tend to smooth out the sound. But they're not at all accurate.And you are ignoring two aspects - that some effects caused by cables can not be emulated by electronics and that effects of cables and electronics or speakers are cumulative. The proper cables will enhance the performance of the whole system.
Isn't that up to the moderator to keep the thread on track? This should be a discussion of cable principles among those who know there are significant differences in most cables and have high resolution equipment which can easily reveal it. Not to mention, ears to discern it. Dissenters need not reply since it's not that debate.
Not trying to be condescending, just blunt.
--Bill
I've never heard any good analogies. They all show a lack of comprehension of subtle differences by the person making the analogy.
Exactly. Cable can do nothing but degrade the signal in different ways. They for the most part are not neutral. When you have a highly revealing system, these differences are quite obvious and repeatable. They may be affected differently by different source, however. Some source actually 'sounds' better passing through lossy cables, which tend to smooth out the sound. But they're not at all accurate.
A neutral cable really stands out, opening up the entire spectrum, lows to highs, detail, soundstage size, and all those other superlatives. This assumes that components along the way are also neutral (it only takes one to ruin the whole experience). I suppose a visual analogy might be looking through a panel of crystal clear glass (or no glass) and a panel that has a thin slight layer of fine haze on it. Everything is still in proportion, but with less detail, less transparency -- just not quite as 'there'. Listening for the sustain of tones, how clearly harmonics in notes are distinct, hearing individual piano strings (many make up one note), thing like that.
Those who can't realize these kinds of differences either have limitations in their playback chain (could be anywhere or everywhere), or simply have never heard and therefore don't recognize that clarity of sound.
--Bill
Yes, we can argue endlessly between "it's all in your head" and "you guys are just too deaf to hear it"..... but, from a scientific point of view, it is rather important to answer that question before we proceed. It would seem to me that, unless the goal is simply to have a lively debate, we should ALL agree that we want to know the actual facts of the matter.
Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator | Ron Resnick Site Co-Owner | Administrator | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |