To muddle the analogy further, in the EU (where I presume Darko is filming), natural mineral waters are required by law to include measurements of their mineral composition on the label, which is precisely what gives the water its taste.
Of course ..are required by Law.. You cannot sell Mineral Water bottle without chemical and bacteriological Analysis in an Accreditated University.. This Is in Italy and i think in entire EU.. And those Analysis set the various Waters in different Categories..!!!
But who would want to measure water, those mineral measurements tell you *nothing* about how the water actually tastes like. And you can’t measure what I taste in my extra filtered and double mineralized balanced energy water. I can taste the sunshine and the love of the person bottling the water in every sip. There’s a night and day difference. Although, this one time I forgot I had filled one of my bottles with normal tap water, meaning to give it to my dog on a hot day (as no human would actually drink tap water, disgusting) and I ended up drinking it almost empty until my wife reminded me. Naturally, I had to go vomit it all out because I just then realized how bad it tasted. For some reason, before that I thought it was their best batch so far, but I think I had a heatstroke or something, as normally I would know the difference 100/100 times double blind. I just don’t have time to do that test, obviously.
@@alkestos Well...Analisys first of all assure that you are drinking a water that is authorized for Uman use, without any bacteris, poisons or heavy metals, and you don't die after drinking..! Seconds..mineral types and quantities defines "Water Type" and terapeutics indications 'cause Minerals Waters was in the Past ( an also now) First globalized medicines and here in EU Princeps and Kings turned around most famous sources of water to cure their ills. Thus mineral composition was fondamental. Third...different Minerals and quantities give to Waters different tasting in the same way 'cause H20 is tasteless.. And waters with similar mineral compositions and similar quantities will have similar tastes. This is certain and scientific. Then everyone 'll have their own personal taste and will prefer one type to another but this is an absolutely subjective choice. Analysis and Taste given't different response or deny each other .. They are complementary to each other .. and the same is regarding measurements and listening in Audio..
I’m a computer engineer & IT director and I never find fault in your reviews and assessments. Love the work you are doing debunking false conspiracies in audio marketing. Keep up the great work!
Biggest paradox of the purely subjectivist crowd for me that they said measurements are mostly irrelevant and taste is subjective. But their conclusion almost always is that more expensive equipment sounds better. So their logic is that objective measurements don't count but there is one objective parameter which determine sound quality: the price.
Beyond cognitive biases, I think the purely subjectivist crowd is entrenched in a level of neuroticism. At what point do they just say that they are happy and satisfied with the sound? At what point do they say "I don't want to delve in this new obscure tweak for my own sanity". I feel like a lot of their hobby is just an excuse to engage in rampant consumerism where the consumption of gear takes priority over the consumption of music.
@@ChildrenOfDesire I think you are actually spot on with this as I've had to start fighting the urge to want to upgrade my system on a constant basis. I've finally come to the realization that my current system sounds SO much better than my old one and that I'm satisfied with how it sounds just the way that it is configured and setup today. No more upgrades for me. Now on to the living room where I need to replace my old(ish) sound bar with a cheaper and better 2 channel system. The soundbar is a DefTech WStuio Micro, which uses DTS Playfi to create a "true" 5.1 system using some DefTech wireless cubes as the rear speakers. The problem is that DTS Playfi almost never works so after 5-6 years, I'm giving up on it. For movies and TV the soundbar does a really, really good job but for music it sounds incredibly thin. Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?
Funny. Both tap water and bottled water are continuously measured during production to ensure quality and the absence of biological organisms or other contaminents. Regular tasting is done by some companies, but never before measurements (sensor readings and lab testing of samples) confirm it is okay to drink.
Excellent point. In that regard me reviewing audio gear with measurements plays the same oversight role that government safety boards have. And sadly, doesn't exist much among typical audio reiewer.
Surprisingly the analogy is just complete opposite of the point he thinks he’s making. The irony is as delicious as the tastiest mineral water. (See what I did there? Mineral water is not very delicious at all, so I ended up making the opposite point I wanted to with my poor analogy, like the guy in the video and… okay I’ll show myself out.)
@@alkestos I just watched the first 10 minutes of Darko's video. His analogy indeed fails, the water is about subjective comparison, what does one like the best. We could extend that to music, what style does one like the best. But towards audio gear, there is a demonstrable and measurable quality of reproduction that we can measure. We can objectively determine what gear has the best reproduction. Some might like the distortions created by certain equipment, like tube amps, and some might not. These distortions can be measured and demonstrated, it's not some magic ability of our auditory system that lets us differentiate between such systems and that supposedly cannot be measured.
At this point people need to realise that channels like Darko are just salesmen pitching to you. A lot of channels are like that now unfortunately, We have been duped into watching long adverts.
Outstanding and essential explanation. So many are confused about the differences, pros and cons, and basics of analog vs. digital that it has opened yet another window for the sale of pseudo electronics like "audiophile ethernet cables" and anti-jitter devices that cost a lot but do nothing. Thanks again Amir for adding to the education of your audio enthusiast audience.
Thanks for this Amir! It shocks the conscience that audiophile reviewers refuse to address all the cognitive biases and flaws of subjective reviews while listing so many reasons objective measurements are flawed.
Darko’s channel (and most the others) absolutely relies on support from the audio manufacturers, and maintaining the illusion of some kind of mysticism in hifi. Luckily for the TH-camrs and hifi manufacturers, there are still enough gullible people with money burning a hole in their pocket to sustain this bullshit.
True, and it’s quite obvious in Darko’s case with the promotions. He’s not hiding it as such - his channel is corporate advertising in its purest form and nothing much else. That is what pays the bills for him.
Just like ASR rely on people dumb enough to believe that human hearing can be modelized entirely on a frequency response graph. Everything that you hear and that cannot obviously be seen on the graph is an hallucination
I follow this kind of channels only for finding out the producers or new releases. Basically volunteering for ads lol. Not for a purchase decision though.
Great video Amir! My issue with Darko has always been that he takes money to advertise the same products he reviews which is a blatant conflict of interest not to mention money fueled confirmation bias. So no surprise that he always finds the most expensive brands to be the best performers.
@@AudioScienceReview it depends whether the relationship he has with the brand sustains a bad review and I suspect with him it does because he is clearly a people person. How would it be that he has given the dac magic 200m a bad review but is then receiving further product from them if that wasn’t the case? He operates in a market in which it is hard to say bad of products for which he is sponsored, but wouldn’t that be the case in every commercial market, and judging what he earns from TH-cam with his following, even with just a few long terms sponsors he will make a good living, so adding to a sense of credibility.
I once argued with darko in the comments about expensive usb cables... This guy seriously believes that 1k usb cables sound better than normal ones lol
I just bought a $170 USB cable that arrived today. (To compare against my freebie I've been using for a while.) They both sound musical when I play music through them. Other than that, I will be doing some more AB testing, and afterwards may gouge my eyes out with sharpened spoons. But hey, it's helping me pass the time through some tough life situations going on right now lol
@@AudioScienceReview that's disappointing as he recently had GoldenSound on talking about measurements. I would very much like to hear a constructive discussion between you and John.
@@1SourceAudio That's because GoldenSound is an even bigger shiller. You can replace all products he reviews with an apple dongle and I'm 100 percent sure he wouldn't be able to differentiate it in a blind test.
Love the great debunking Amir. As they say... "hater's gonna hate!" So many of us love what you are doing, helping to educate the massively fragmented HiFi community.
Darko is a likeable salesman - to me anyway. He is also fun to watch. I don't take what he tries to sell seriously. Most of his review products are out of my price range. Production is very slick , so I think credit is due when earned. If I want real information beyond the subjective opinion I come to this channel . Thanks to ASR , I have learned a lot of good/useful information.
Right on all fronts. Can you imagine the positive effect he could have if he put those talents toward speaker the truth in audio technology? FYI I reached out to him prior to production of this video offering to get on his podcast. Sadly he turned me down.
@@AudioScienceReview I cannot imagine him giving deep solid scientific evidence based information. It's just not his thing and probably for most of his subscribers. He sells dreams...
@@AudioScienceReview I am disappointed he turned you down. We could really do with a coming together of subjectivist and objectivists trying to understand each others point of view. Or not, as the case may be
As someone who's been sending digital data back and fore as my job since I left school, often over hundreds of metres of 20+ year old unshelded cable wrapped around 400 volt unshielded power cable buried in asbestos cladding that would make your grandmother cry, this video is a masterclass. Luckily for me I am still within the 30 day amazon prime return window on the 0.5metre £7543 Cat9dd ethernet cable so I think I will be sending that back for a no quibble prime refund. Thanks Amir if I ever meet you I would like to buy you a pint (and let you measure my 30+ year old Wadia DAC though I know I am not gonna like the measurement results!!) :D
I went the rounds with Darko over Ethernet cabling. His solution wasn't to provide better information, it was to delete the information I was providing. He's 1/3 of the holy trinity of bullschiit artistry with Hans Beekhuyzen and Alex Crespi that prompted me to make my own series of videos debunking their claims about data networking as it relates to audio reproduction.
It is disappointing that he doesn't accept new information/counter points. I offered to go on his podcast to explain these things but he turned me down.
Darko is toe-curlingly embarrassing. The water analogy was, in fact, one of his better attempts to pour scorn on anyone who thinks audio manufacturers should back up their claims. If Darko, or his sponsors, decide something isn't worth it, it's USELESS or DEAD (see hi res audio). If Darko, or his sponsors, have a new product to debut, then it's The Future of Hi-Fi TM. His highly polished, uber-professional videos are all gloss and preen, but if you dare to disagree, or even raise a query, it's like the Eye of Sauron has turned its wrath on you.
Amir certainly makes enemies from all other TH-cam influencers that have a vested interest in propagating BS marketing nonsense that goes contrary to basic measurement. Critical ears certainly help, but there is so much hype in high end audio products that it is super valuable to have objective measurement. Can there be rare circumstances where Amir might miss the mark? Sure, but that is science and he would probably be the first to admit a flawed test. That said, I wish there were more Amirs that really tickle my early electrical engineering training when I were a young pup. Solid vetted science usually wins the day. We need a handful more Amirs in this space to measure spectrums and 1's and 0's. Keep up the good fight, Amir!
Excellent conference. Learned a lot! BTW, the other day I had to laugh at an extremely expensive DAC because the manufacturer said that its design helped avoid digital problems that are so subtle that they can’t be measured. I asked myself: If the problems are so subtle that they can’t be measured, how can your “hear” them? As you implied and mentioned, they, as many other manufacturers, rely on the “if it is very,very expensive, then it must be much better” mantra. Thanks for your excellent service.
The best analogy I can come up with is imagine someone reading you a math problem. It doesn't matter if I tell you to add 10+4 or James Earl Jones asks you. You're still going to come up with 14. And at some point if the speaking is so distorted that you cannot understand it, you're not going to come up with 14.00001 or 13.9999, you're just not going to have an answer at all. That's VERY similar to how digital audio works. Sure, the voice itself is analog, but the answer isn't dependent on the precision of the analog signal until it becomes completely unrecognizable.
These videos and explanations are absolutely great. You perfectly describe and demonstrate concepts I’ve internally understood but have been unable to communicate to others for years. Sharing your videos is my new go-to solution for dispelling audio woo and my new tool for reinforcing the concepts you discuss. Thanks!
Don't know if it's mentioned in the video since I didn't watch it all but modulating a digital value into an analog signal doesn't mean that noise or distortion will translate into the data getting corrupted, that's precisely the point of sending digital information in the first place. Digital transmissions are not a flow of the raw data you want to transmit but they're encoded with error detecting and correcting systems. These are just mathematical tricks used to detect data corruption, like (in the simplest form) adding a parity bit: if one bit is flipped during transmission then the number of 1s won't be even anymore so it's clear that that package needs to be resent. There are much more complex codes that not only allow for error detection but also correction. So a high number of transmission errors would result in a slower data rate due to more bandwidth being used to resend the same package multiple times. You can check this yourself by looking at the status information of a data connection: the lower the signal intensity is, the lower the available bandwidth. Low quality signal means more error rate, and thus a lot of retries that take time that could be used to send more packages with less tries per package. But the data is either valid or resent, not mistaken by valid when it's corrupted.
One additional point on where not all "bits are bits" is that streaming SERVICES usually have an automatic feature to throttle the data throughput on slow connections. And the client/server connection is often finicky: if there's some small hiccup or sudden burst of other network traffic between your device, router, or ISP and the service's cloud storage, it may to automatically switch, mid-stream, to sending you a worse-quality, smaller audio file (albeit still a bit-perfect copy of it). The same reason Netflix, Prime Video, and (especially) HBOMax go all blurry sometimes. This might be user-defeatable, like on Spotify's phone and desktop apps there are multiple things to turn off in the settings, but you have to look for it. With some streamers, e.g. my AVR with Spotify Connect, there doesn't seem to be any way to stop it from throttling if something triggers the internal software to think it has a slow internet connection. So, -sometimes- people are hearing legitimate-yet-subtle differences between streamers, but not for any reasons that the manufacturers advertise. And the real problem is probably that cheap little wifi router that Comcast gives you that's sitting on the floor on the far side of the house.
First, yes I want my water measured to ensure it doesn’t have stuff it should not have in it. Yeah preferences vary but there should be no harm. Second, yes measurements of mineral contents etc can inform how water will taste if you know what the correlations are. Third, if the water claims health benefits, I want to know if there is any basis for it and if so if the water actually has the ingredients that cause that benefits. All are analogous to why measurements are needed in audio.
Amazing introductory masterclass on digital audio Amir! You address all the important issues and questions that today's audio consumer will come accross when designing their digital audio sub-system in a very clear, concise and structured manner. All that along with a couple of slap downs at John Darko that naturally arise from the nonsense that he usually blabbers. Your video is a must watch. Furthermore, the analogy that Darko makes about bottled water is more pure nonsense and the analogy with which Darko shoots himself in the foot. Water wells and spring water sources can become contaminated over time with dangerous toxins, which is why such sources are constantly tested and analyzed by governmental environmental agencies, i.e. MEASUREMENTS! Your subjective taste buds won't be able to tell in many cases when the water has become unsafe to drink.
About the Great analogy, Also wines have to be controlled. I would not make my choice based on the lab report though. Not shure Darko shoots himself in the foot 😜, are you?
Amir, Your educational videos are truly on target. Ethan Winer has also debunked much of the hoopla about jitter by simulating jitter in audio files to determine if you can actually hear it. He has posted the audio files on his website. Winer also wrote a recent article in AudioXpress on the topic. BTW, although timing errors seem to not matter much in terms of audibility, what about the DAC's interpretation of audio levels? The reason for R2R DACs is supposedly to eliminate this problem, which is probably also a non-problem in terms of audibility. Anyway, thanks for a very clear and technically accurate video!
Thank you for such an excellent overview and explanation. Clear, understandable, valuable information that addresses and corrects most of the misinformation being spread by audio component reviewers and bloggers.
It's very helpful to understand where things start and how to remedy them if necessary. Keeping in mind there are still misconceptions and false myths.
As I recall, several years ago there was something of a scandal when one of the great, French bottled waters contained clinically significant levels of benzine, despite the fact that the taste was not apparently affected. So the most important thing about testing is knowing what the test you are doing actually measures and whether that is relevant to the outcome.
👍. Good stuff as usual bud. One of the best parts of all your videos is that you truly don't make your particular perspective and/or critique personal. 👍 Moreover, your articulation of the subject matter is superb. 🏆 Thanks for your efforts.
Science vs Religion. The discussion will keep going for as long as people believe/prefer in fiction over fact. And just like the TV evangelists, money drives the religious factions.
John Darkos channel is useful to view when considering buying equipment, alongside other reviews on TH-cam and in the specialist press etc. On the one hand he does have a valid point with the water in that its what the gear sounds like that matters rather than how it measures, but on the other hand there is far more difference in audio gear than in mineral water and, fundamentally, the water is most definitely measured. It has to be analysed for content before being allowed to be sold! You are at odds with him because your channels validity is based on measurement. Nothing wrong with that of course. There are similarities with buying a new car. You check out the specs then drive it and if you like it, try to get a good deal. You don't rely of specs alone.
You can certainly analyze any electrical waveform using methods for measuring analog signals (I did it intensively as an electrical engineering student when the world was largely analog) and it does make it possible to understand it, you can do things with digital signals you can't do with analog signals. You can restore its shape using s Schmitt trigger. You can restore its timing errors after transmission using dejittering and reclocking circuits. You can turn it into a series of light pulses and send it through a fiber optic thinner than a human hair for thousands of miles without degradation. You can transmit data from beyond pluto yielding crystal clear images. You can send many hundreds of digitally encoded high definition video signals over long distances with a fiber optic and then a few hundred feet with a coaxial cable. With analog you'd be lucky to send even one NTSC analog channel much over a mile or two with a wire. And you can detect and correct errors in the rare circumstances they occur. Another advantage of digital signals is they almost always work perfectly or they don't work at all. Therefore I reluctantly had to admit that for many reasons signals in the digital domain could be far preferable to using the analog domain, especially for the transmission, storage and retrieval of analog waveforms. And one more thing you can do with digital that you can't do with analog, you can set arbitrary limits to performance that you can meet. One thing untrained audiophiles in the fields of electrical engineering including information theory and information theory don't understand is that there is a finite limit beyond which improved performance while technically possible is of no value to them and only adds to cost. Another is that in the process of converting analog to digital and digital to analog there can be variances in the analog domain that are audible and often correctable using the very powerful tool of equalization which can be performed in either the analog or digital domain. The analog methods of analysis using frequency response, noise, and distortion still are valid. Based on my analysis RBCD standards meet all these criteria for audiophile applications in the digital domain.
I used a RPi with an Apple dongle for my speakers. DSP room correction and equalisation. Works for me. With USB/network you usually know when there's a problem. It's not subtle.
This explains why high quality vinyl recordings on TH-cam still retains that beautiful "analogue sound" playing through my audio interface, to my vintage amp and speakers.
Bottled drinking water does taste different between different brands because companies put different minerals to make them taste different. This is measurable. Distill water on the other hand tastes the same no matter who sells it.
Love your passionate and competent work Amir, is a fortune there are competent and trusted people like you (and other moderators) and fora like ASR who can educate us in choosing the best gears (or simply learn how to evaluate the performance of our gears). Keep going on this way please. Best regards from Italy !
In the 70's we could find deep measurements in magazines, until shareholders stopped it. As long as Amir has no shareholders he is helping tons of people learn to not believe in b.sh.t marketing
Another good video. I can report that in my home system, I have a 10 meter (~30 ft) digital coax cable connecting one of my integrated amps to a source, and I can report that I never had any noticeable data error, even in that distance - after almost a year of regular use.
Thanks so much for educating us lay people on digital audio. It's amazing when one's experiences at simply listening to music does not jibe with audiophile notions. I constantly hear that computer audio is terrible and running it over USB just makes it worse. However, I can play my CD player using it as a transport and sending the signal to my SMSL SU9 DAC and then play the same song using on my computer from a FLAC file over USB to the DAC and guess what, each song sounds virtually the same. If computers and USB are so bad, shouldn't I easily be able to hear all the problems with noise, power supply, and jitter that my computer is giving off?
Here are the rules, turns out for Natural mineral water you do need measurements on the bottle. :) Natural mineral water and Spring waters are required to: Come from a specified underground source which is protected from any form of pollution Be bottled at source Be microbiologically safe without any treatment Comply with the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Water Regulations Natural mineral water must also: Have a guaranteed consistent chemical and physical composition Have the mineral composition on the label Receive no treatment (with the exception of filtration to remove sand particles)
Another very very interesting and full of enlightenment session. Bravo Amir!!! I am using the chance to raise a topic. Recently, I got an iFi Pro iDSD - it is a wonderful device, a superb dac, and has upscaling capabilities. I cannot decide if I should do upscaling or not. For example PCM audio file - is it good (better) to upscale to DSD512 or even DSD1024; what is the value of doing that if I am not sending the signal to another dac and I am listening with headphones from the iDSD? I can understand the upscaling of 'old audio files' that are just 16 or 20 khz but should I upscale 44.1 or 96 khz to DSD512/1024. Frankly, sometimes upscaling makes changes that are audible - smooths the sound or makes some tones more full of body or sharper. I think lots greenhorns will appreciate if you do a review on that?
The way I look at digital audio is that it is digital data with a real-time aspect. When you think about transmission of digital data generally, and you ask whether jitter is a concern with transmission of digital data generally, your answer is likely to be that it isn't a concern so long as it does not cause bit errors in the receiver. If digital audio is different, i.e., if there is more to it than correct reception of the individual ones and zeros, the reason is necessarily related to the real-time aspect of digital audio. It thus seems to me that as concerns the question of whether jitter is a problem in digital audio, this question should be resolved into two distinct questions, that must each be analyzed and answered separately from the other. Question 1: To what extent does jitter diminish the ability for a receiver to correctly interpret the individual bits? Question 2: To what extent does jitter diminish the ability for the receiving apparatus to perform as expected with respect to the real-time aspect of digital audio? While I'm thinking about it, I also will say that there should be published specifications for the required performance of data transmitters, and for the required performance of data conduits, and for the required performance of data receivers. Specifications for the required performance of each of the three elements are necessarily identified and published, because otherwise there would be little hope for success with interoperability of transmitters, conduits and receivers manufactured by diverse manufacturers. The need for interoperability demands that performance requirements for each of three elements be specified and published. As such, it seemd to me that the ideal way to assess the quality of any individual transmitter, conduit or receiver is by taking measurements that reveal the extent to which the apparatus conforms to the published specification.
I measure both aspects of data transmission in every digital product I review. I analyze the analog output of the DAC where noise, jitter and interference show up. Data error has yet to be seen but if it is there, it will create massive error. But yes, manufacturers need to provide such data so that we don't have Darko's of the world guessing (wrongly) which device has more or less jitter.
correction : we do ask for mesurement of water, we have the composition of each it helps us choose. I was drinking a water i really like then discovered that there was a lot of sodiuml in it wich could be bad in my case. I would have never known otherwise
5:15 It is usual to allow some tolerance in the voltage levels used; for example, 0 to 2 volts might represent logic 0, and 3 to 5 volts logic 1. A voltage of 2 to 3 volts would be invalid and occur only in a fault condition or during a logic level transition.
I am still listening to a Marantz 2325 , Klipsch k- horns, with Klipsch Belle’s running in back on B so I run A+B speakers and I’m sure everything comes out as analog . I can tell the better the source the better the sound but it is still coming out as analog ! Sounds fantastic, you can only hear so much anyway. I don’t plan on any up grades !
There is only one channel about audio playback that I trust implicitly; it is yours. Some are unenlightened jibberish using arcane jargon. They are the lay preachers. Some are by folks whose most serious foray into music is a stadium rock concert. I call that the metal head drive. Some channels are really intended to appeal to those who, on a substance high, once experienced something in music that they will die trying to reproduce. I call that the meth high audience. There are some who are forever striving to impress acquaintances with their shiny stack of costly equipment. I call that the Bentley bunch. Some are endlessly seeking some improvement in playback quality, valid or not. These are the OCDers. Some channels are in it entirely for the income; it's a living, or close to one. They are likely to have lots of sponsored links, and are patreon recruiters They are the panhandlers. Lost in the noise are those remaining who just want to hear music with minimum annoyances that distract from the evoking of a real musical performance. And, mostly obscure, are those who are tinkerers, the intensely curious, and the mathematicians, who live to get to the bottom of the well, not just drink the water. And then there are the carnival barkers. As Mark Twain once said, so well: “It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
19:40 thanks for talking about GPU noise I have been dealing with that with my topping DAC and AMP, i have been searching for way to deal with it without throwing away my setup
Thank you Amir. Yet another great presentation. In engineering we have simple paradigm : knowledge->methodology->discipline-> verification. You show expertise across all. Others sell voodoo based on subjective opinions, especially in HIFI.
Sadly, plenty of swamp water equiv. in audio is bought by consumers due to misleading/wrong marketing by companies and reviewers alike. A digital source cannot and must not have a taste by the way. That belongs to your speakers and headphones.
This educational series of videos is the absolute bomb (much more interesting to me than individual product reviews - though they have an important role too). I'd be interested to hear an explanation into more of the details of how digital audio is communicated over a S/PDIF connection, what bi-phase mark encoding is and that the samples sent over an S/PDIF connection are actually arranged into blocks with control words sent with each block. Such information is of no real practical use to the consumer, of course, yet it makes it much easier to realise what utter rubbish many (most) audio salesmen & industry apologists spout when trying to pull the wool over people's eyes.
Thank you for kind words. Thanks for the suggestion. Alas, that level of detail I think is way too technical for what I am trying to do. There are so many high level topics that I have yet to cover that i don't' see me getting to next deep dive anytime soon.
@@AudioScienceReview Thanks for your reply to my humble suggestion! That's fair enough and quite understandable. Maybe consider mentioning a few terms people can look into when there are deeper layers ? Kind of 'if you're interested, then look into X, Y and Z'. Anyway - these videos are great, I'm just a hobbyist and make all my own kit and while I've studied the topic for decades I _always_ learn things or gain insight from your videos. :)
@@HandbrakeBiscuit I’m afraid that level of detail stops with Amir indeed and answers should be found by communicating with well experienced audio engineers who design with the intention of improving sound quality. A journalist just performing measurements cannot help you.
@@peterzuiderveld2979 I know this stuff already, and the things I mentioned are actually built into the standard way a 'humble' Sony/Philips Digital Interface has worked since its launch. It isn't something that audio engineers are actively designing (a DAC designer couldn't just change what his device expects about the format of what a streamer or CD transport sends to it, could he?). The point of my suggestion was that if consumers _knew_ just how involved the pattern of hi/lo pulses really was, and why, it would help them see through the various marketing claims and salesman patter. Amir clearly knows about and understands such concepts too - it comes across as condescending for you to describe him as 'a journalist just performing measurements' then trying to infer that he doesn't know.
Another really good video just like being at school many thanks as always. I will say this I have some heavy well made gear but I still know that a cheap CD player used as a transport is not going to sound worse than a high-end transport, I do chuckle when reviewers say this transport sound better than that one...
I’m very grateful to this channel, and a few others, for providing objective measurements and explaining the science behind the technology of the hobby that I enjoy. This information was missing from the hobby space, mostly, until relatively recently, and even when a publication did provide measurements, it was done mostly, in my opinion, as a way to lend credence to the subjective opinions being offered. I don’t mind, mostly, the subjective reviewers, Some of them provide useful information, provided they tell viewers what their preferences and biases are, which a few do. But when they are hostile to science and measurements, or try to “debunk” the validity of measurements, then they open themselves up to rebuttal. I’m again grateful to Amir and others like him (not many!) who take the time to explain whether the criticism is valid or not.
Great explanation of the digital transport side of a DAC. But, I think where some room still maybe left up to interpretation is in the digital to analog conversion. Say for example the operational amplifier and associated circuitry driving the analog output of the DAC its self. Though I've not experienced a meaningful difference with it my self, there are those who say they have experienced a great deal of difference in the variations here; though, most commonly in input drivers to amplifiers and such. Though like you said that's really where the blind testing becomes necessary. What really gets me is an audiophile's ability to somehow work around our minds inherent tendency to "normalize" what we're exposed to the most.
19:55 I would say the bits are still bits, but the analog portion of the DAC (its in the name, after all) is still subject to the same issues as any other analog device. If noise bleeds into it, it will naturally get through to the audio. Stating it this way at least makes it clear that its not the data itself that is to blame per se as audiophiles might suggest, but poor analog design and interference via ground loops, PC bus noise, etc. In my mind I always segregate the two when diagnosing noise or interference since a PC always follows my speakers around, but the general audio community seems to conflate them together. Noisy DAC = Digital audio bad. Tubes and record player good! But the reality is designing quiet analog circuitry is a pain. Designing quiet analog circuitry that has to share real estate with a DC-DC switching converter and a bunch of digital circuitry takes that to another level. Of course there can be issues with the digital portion of the design as you elaborate on, but usually its the part where it turns into a squiggly wave that we can hear that most of the issues crop up.
Exactly this! There are so many dodgy products that are designed to a DAC's datasheet spec but lacking a clear understanding of the various ground paths (analogue and digital), how they induce noise in the DAC, in its PLL, in its references, or at its outputs. As a former PCB designer (but not for audio), I always told people "You need to understand where the electrons go". Thinking deeply about that can solve a lot of issues caused by system noise.
I agree. Bits are still bits. The noise may have been there when the analog was converted to digital at the start perhaps? What about the parity bit? Isn't that used?
Amir, well done on continuing to confuse the issues with the facts. I wonder though, how many lay people will pay attention. I love that ASR continues to educate people on the quality aspect of expensive “snake oil”. Keep up the great work, and thank you.
Thanks. I used to think this was a lost cause. But the more I do these videos, the more I get feedback from people who where going to buy this and that and no longer want to do so. And that they had their doubts but lacked the technical background to challenge the other side.
The more I follow audiophile channels the less I want to know about the subject. I play double bass for a living and I strive for beauty, expression and connection between the music and the listener. That’s what got me curious about quality audio…I want to hear music from my system that moves me as much as live performance. I can’t imagine what could be analyzed from the notes that me and my colleagues play but I’m sure it would be messy to say the least. Rooms, instruments, weather, audience, interaction, vibe…there are so many variables, infinite really, that go into a performance of music. Sometimes it’s transcendent and the audience walks away changed, sometimes it doesn’t. I certainly can’t measure or predict what will happen each night. I used to find it odd that most musicians I know were not that into hi-fi but the further I get into it I think I can see why.
Yeh, the world of audio seems to be inventing its own universe with its own laws. It used to be a fringe segment of the hobby but it has widely spread due to lack of oversight. Indeed, reviewers have joined the crowd to spread the misinformation, folklores and myth -- damn the science and engineering. Consumers instead of being critical, celebrate company marketing material with no proof points and reviewers repeating the same.
That’s exactly how I feel about audio. It’s about products and what they do to serve the music that is important and buzzing off making creative videos which ties into music as entertainment. Audio is and should be creative and linking to the artistic nature of music.
1:00 My father was a Chemist. Not needing to measure water is total nonsense. pH, surface tension, PPM, etc. are all useful stats to know about water purity. Just because taste is subjective does NOT imply that we should just blindly ignore the goal of trying to objectively measure water to help understand WHY and HOW water tastes the way it does. i.e. When you have water filtered through an Reverse Osmosis System it will taste a certain way. My father suspected that even the bond angle on water showed variation because he was getting a *non-associative property with different kinds of water* which demonstrated that there are large variations in water that we still don’t understand. Darko unfortunately completely ignorant about Chemistry. He should stick to topics he knows about.
There was no real issue of testing water, it was an analogy. That said you'd taste water to decide which had the best flavor. If you know a measuring device for flavor other than a human please share.
@@johnsmith1474 It's true that one would taste water to determine which one you like the most, but at the same time we can't rely on the subjective claims from any other person, sponsored or not. Not only that, it has been demonstrated that we can't even trust our own senses. E.g. in the British tv program "Eat Well for Less" where people have to live a week on food packaged in blank packaging, most swapped with alternatives, some their usual brand and type. It's almost every episode that people will say that they really don't like a certain food or drink, and then to be told it is not swapped but it's their usual (favourite) brand.
@@johnsmith1474 To add: many of the claims made by such reviewers are about objective parameters. If we can demonstrate no objective difference in the signal delivered by usb cable A and cable B through measurements, we know the claims to be false. And for (digital) audio equipment it's much easier to measure compared to water, because we know what changes in the signal are audible, but we can't measure or test for every possible aromatic molecule in water.
@@johnsmith1474 with high certainty, it is possible repeatedly to PRODUCE equally tasting water samples based on their identical chemical (and biological) components / parameters, that's how a science works 😀. Reproducible results everywhere and everytime, with precise methodical, non-biased, and measurable input and output parameters.
I just watched his video. I don't think he knows anything about anything, except selling snake oil. Therefore I think, in a way he is following your advice.
It took me many years to understand how the digital audio works mainly because there was so much bull going around. In addition to lots of marketing nonsense, and specially pay more you get more, perpetuated by the high end audio magazines. I wish stuff like you're producing had been around then.
You are right that information like this doesn't exist in one place. And what exist gets lost in a sea of misinformation. I should have produced these videos years ago but didn't get over the initial hurdle of getting on camera. :)
I always loved the super fancy CD players in huge copper milled cases that were an inch thick and cost like $10000 and when opened at the core of the machine would be...a $10 PC DVD drive.
@@jabezhane I never got one of those, even though they were so impressive. Drooling over the first ever Sony SACD-player, or the bling of the Oracle CD-transport. Looks and a tactile interface are still nice to have. Eventually I settled for a studio transport that could be clocked from the DAC. But when the Squeezebox arrived it was relegated to a very secondary role. Ripping and local streaming ruled.
Are you saying fortune cookies are worthless!!!😊😊😊😊 so good to hear a smart educated person talk about audio, I was thinking of getting the Onkyo TX-RZ70 I wonder if it’s as badly designed as the RZ50 that you mentioned… Thank you for your smart analysis 😊😊
That MOMENT at around 4:22~ ... instant realization of " WHY " Digital ... 0 and 1 ...on and off ... resilience LOL Amir i am certain you don't even realize how good you are at simply explaining things ... I seriously just realized WHY Digital is so good, simply watching you explain stuff that is probably very basic and low level for you . ( ok i'm late commenting sorry ..watched it the day it got out forgot to comment ) Again another superb video, with plenty of learning spread through it all. Thanks for taking time of making this !! Much appreciated !!! 👍👍👍
I have a question. But I would like to thank you first for finally putting a stop to all of the B.S. that's been thrown at audio consumers for too long. The Home Theater has been a very large and growing industry for a long time. Is there any way that you can measure how movie soundtracks are formatted onto DVDs ,from the original soundtrack we actually hear in the Theater ? The volumn imbalance between the monologues and sound effects has been an issue for many years.
Yes, the quality of soundtracks on movies can be so bad. Half the time neither my wife or I can understand what is being said! Studios need to perform some listening tests to make sure their mixes are correct. I could get into that kind of testing but it is a lot of work and not in the direction of what I am doing.
The key word here is transmission. For example, when an AES-EBU stereo 24 bit stream is carried by a twisted pair of copper wires, it is very much an analog signal which can be observed on any oscilloscope. The same goes for all formats in that the transmission of any signal on copper wires, or across space if picked up by an antenna can be immediately shown to be an analog signal. The meanings of ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ are frequently presumed to mean something they are not in actuality; a sinusoidal or square waveform. In the real world of transmission, it is all analog waveforms. If that waveform represents a digital word, that word is reconstructed by filtering and re-clocking at every juncture.
Thanks, I enjoy learning from you. Also, there are too many products for the average audiophile to evaluate, so I watch your videos to get an idea of which ones add value to my listening experience.
Darko's channel is useful for getting pictures of how equipment looks in a living room.
He’s winging it for sure
To muddle the analogy further, in the EU (where I presume Darko is filming), natural mineral waters are required by law to include measurements of their mineral composition on the label, which is precisely what gives the water its taste.
he is based in Berlin, Germany.
Of course ..are required by Law..
You cannot sell Mineral Water bottle without chemical and bacteriological Analysis in an Accreditated University..
This Is in Italy and i think in entire EU..
And those Analysis set the various Waters in different Categories..!!!
But who would want to measure water, those mineral measurements tell you *nothing* about how the water actually tastes like. And you can’t measure what I taste in my extra filtered and double mineralized balanced energy water. I can taste the sunshine and the love of the person bottling the water in every sip. There’s a night and day difference. Although, this one time I forgot I had filled one of my bottles with normal tap water, meaning to give it to my dog on a hot day (as no human would actually drink tap water, disgusting) and I ended up drinking it almost empty until my wife reminded me. Naturally, I had to go vomit it all out because I just then realized how bad it tasted. For some reason, before that I thought it was their best batch so far, but I think I had a heatstroke or something, as normally I would know the difference 100/100 times double blind. I just don’t have time to do that test, obviously.
@@alkestos Well...Analisys first of all assure that you are drinking a water that is authorized for Uman use, without any bacteris, poisons or heavy metals, and you don't die after drinking..!
Seconds..mineral types and quantities defines "Water Type" and terapeutics indications 'cause Minerals Waters was in the Past ( an also now) First globalized medicines and here in EU Princeps and Kings turned around most famous sources of water to cure their ills.
Thus mineral composition was fondamental.
Third...different Minerals and quantities give to Waters different tasting in the same way 'cause H20 is tasteless..
And waters with similar mineral compositions and similar quantities will have similar tastes.
This is certain and scientific.
Then everyone 'll have their own personal taste and will prefer one type to another but this is an absolutely subjective choice.
Analysis and Taste given't different response or deny each other ..
They are complementary to each other .. and the same is regarding measurements and listening in Audio..
@@alkestos Oh yes you can. One of many cases in point: Sodium rich waters, or Calcium rich. Etc.
I’m a computer engineer & IT director and I never find fault in your reviews and assessments. Love the work you are doing debunking false conspiracies in audio marketing. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much!
You're probably not very good.
@@TOM7952 You're probably never invited to parties.
@@TOM7952 Cable worshipers always lurking on ASR ready to attack anyone, who's not a member of their religion.
@@Bob-Fields it's unlikely you've ever been to a party
Biggest paradox of the purely subjectivist crowd for me that they said measurements are mostly irrelevant and taste is subjective. But their conclusion almost always is that more expensive equipment sounds better. So their logic is that objective measurements don't count but there is one objective parameter which determine sound quality: the price.
Beyond cognitive biases, I think the purely subjectivist crowd is entrenched in a level of neuroticism. At what point do they just say that they are happy and satisfied with the sound? At what point do they say "I don't want to delve in this new obscure tweak for my own sanity". I feel like a lot of their hobby is just an excuse to engage in rampant consumerism where the consumption of gear takes priority over the consumption of music.
@@ChildrenOfDesire I think you are actually spot on with this as I've had to start fighting the urge to want to upgrade my system on a constant basis. I've finally come to the realization that my current system sounds SO much better than my old one and that I'm satisfied with how it sounds just the way that it is configured and setup today. No more upgrades for me. Now on to the living room where I need to replace my old(ish) sound bar with a cheaper and better 2 channel system. The soundbar is a DefTech WStuio Micro, which uses DTS Playfi to create a "true" 5.1 system using some DefTech wireless cubes as the rear speakers. The problem is that DTS Playfi almost never works so after 5-6 years, I'm giving up on it. For movies and TV the soundbar does a really, really good job but for music it sounds incredibly thin. Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?
That's just a dumb assumption used to support your ignorant talking points.
@@Corwin74 To each their own. We all hear or discern what we hear differently.
@@motorradmike That is true enough, especially when you throw room acoustics into the mix.
Funny.
Both tap water and bottled water are continuously measured during production to ensure quality and the absence of biological organisms or other contaminents.
Regular tasting is done by some companies, but never before measurements (sensor readings and lab testing of samples) confirm it is okay to drink.
Excellent point. In that regard me reviewing audio gear with measurements plays the same oversight role that government safety boards have. And sadly, doesn't exist much among typical audio reiewer.
Surprisingly the analogy is just complete opposite of the point he thinks he’s making. The irony is as delicious as the tastiest mineral water.
(See what I did there? Mineral water is not very delicious at all, so I ended up making the opposite point I wanted to with my poor analogy, like the guy in the video and… okay I’ll show myself out.)
@@alkestos I just watched the first 10 minutes of Darko's video. His analogy indeed fails, the water is about subjective comparison, what does one like the best. We could extend that to music, what style does one like the best.
But towards audio gear, there is a demonstrable and measurable quality of reproduction that we can measure. We can objectively determine what gear has the best reproduction. Some might like the distortions created by certain equipment, like tube amps, and some might not. These distortions can be measured and demonstrated, it's not some magic ability of our auditory system that lets us differentiate between such systems and that supposedly cannot be measured.
I live in a desert. Our tap water tastes like chlorinated sewage. I am not so sure they are conducting these "tests" you speak of on our water.
At this point people need to realise that channels like Darko are just salesmen pitching to you. A lot of channels are like that now unfortunately, We have been duped into watching long adverts.
Outstanding and essential explanation. So many are confused about the differences, pros and cons, and basics of analog vs. digital that it has opened yet another window for the sale of pseudo electronics like "audiophile ethernet cables" and anti-jitter devices that cost a lot but do nothing. Thanks again Amir for adding to the education of your audio enthusiast audience.
Thanks for this Amir! It shocks the conscience that audiophile reviewers refuse to address all the cognitive biases and flaws of subjective reviews while listing so many reasons objective measurements are flawed.
Hey Fomo guy, keep wearing your white gloves to hide your chapped hands...
Wait, him drinking water at the start didn't convince you? Well if that doesn't convince you nothing will.
"Audiophile": one who is in love with his own subjective taste and unable to accept or understand science or fact.
@@GuteisFinger And you are a measurebator. Also known as a 50 year old virgin who still lives with his parents.
I can't remember when I last watched a Darko video. I never miss Audio Science Review and I'll leave it right there.
Why would Amir love this comment about someone not remembering the last time they watched a Darko video..classy
@@georgescookie well I would imagine because it's praise for his channel over another. Nothing wrong with that.
@@georgescookie are you a secret Wanko lover?
@@neetop1557 Two wrongs don't make a right, take your parents as an example
@@georgescookie that makes 0 fkin sense. Do better.
Darko’s channel (and most the others) absolutely relies on support from the audio manufacturers, and maintaining the illusion of some kind of mysticism in hifi. Luckily for the TH-camrs and hifi manufacturers, there are still enough gullible people with money burning a hole in their pocket to sustain this bullshit.
True, and it’s quite obvious in Darko’s case with the promotions. He’s not hiding it as such - his channel is corporate advertising in its purest form and nothing much else. That is what pays the bills for him.
Just like ASR rely on people dumb enough to believe that human hearing can be modelized entirely on a frequency response graph. Everything that you hear and that cannot obviously be seen on the graph is an hallucination
I think the funniest part of this is that you don't realize ASR is also sent free review units. You're just another naive mark.
I follow this kind of channels only for finding out the producers or new releases. Basically volunteering for ads lol. Not for a purchase decision though.
@Conor Hanley 10/10 punning there.
Great video Amir! My issue with Darko has always been that he takes money to advertise the same products he reviews which is a blatant conflict of interest not to mention money fueled confirmation bias. So no surprise that he always finds the most expensive brands to be the best performers.
Thanks for watching and kind words. What is even more amazing is that so many people are oblivious to this conflict of interest.
@@AudioScienceReview it depends whether the relationship he has with the brand sustains a bad review and I suspect with him it does because he is clearly a people person. How would it be that he has given the dac magic 200m a bad review but is then receiving further product from them if that wasn’t the case? He operates in a market in which it is hard to say bad of products for which he is sponsored, but wouldn’t that be the case in every commercial market, and judging what he earns from TH-cam with his following, even with just a few long terms sponsors he will make a good living, so adding to a sense of credibility.
Thank you for your effort, the clear presentation and the easy to understand visualization.
I once argued with darko in the comments about expensive usb cables... This guy seriously believes that 1k usb cables sound better than normal ones lol
He blocks his comments in instagram so we don't talk. It's how he avoids some confrontation about his claims
I just bought a $170 USB cable that arrived today. (To compare against my freebie I've been using for a while.)
They both sound musical when I play music through them. Other than that, I will be doing some more AB testing, and afterwards may gouge my eyes out with sharpened spoons. But hey, it's helping me pass the time through some tough life situations going on right now lol
He does indeed. I recently offered to go on his podcast and explain these topics and he turned me down.
@@AudioScienceReview that's disappointing as he recently had GoldenSound on talking about measurements. I would very much like to hear a constructive discussion between you and John.
@@1SourceAudio That's because GoldenSound is an even bigger shiller. You can replace all products he reviews with an apple dongle and I'm 100 percent sure he wouldn't be able to differentiate it in a blind test.
Love the great debunking Amir. As they say... "hater's gonna hate!" So many of us love what you are doing, helping to educate the massively fragmented HiFi community.
Haters are a waste of time, beteer things to do
Darko is a likeable salesman - to me anyway. He is also fun to watch. I don't take what he tries to sell seriously. Most of his review products are out of my price range. Production is very slick , so I think credit is due when earned. If I want real information beyond the subjective opinion I come to this channel . Thanks to ASR , I have learned a lot of good/useful information.
Right on all fronts. Can you imagine the positive effect he could have if he put those talents toward speaker the truth in audio technology? FYI I reached out to him prior to production of this video offering to get on his podcast. Sadly he turned me down.
@@AudioScienceReview I cannot imagine him giving deep solid scientific evidence based information. It's just not his thing and probably for most of his subscribers. He sells dreams...
@@AudioScienceReview I am disappointed he turned you down. We could really do with a coming together of subjectivist and objectivists trying to understand each others point of view. Or not, as the case may be
I guess graphs are not his cup of tea
This is exactly what snake oil salesman does. Likable, fun to watch, and etc. But all they said are completely BS.
As someone who's been sending digital data back and fore as my job since I left school, often over hundreds of metres of 20+ year old unshelded cable wrapped around 400 volt unshielded power cable buried in asbestos cladding that would make your grandmother cry, this video is a masterclass. Luckily for me I am still within the 30 day amazon prime return window on the 0.5metre £7543 Cat9dd ethernet cable so I think I will be sending that back for a no quibble prime refund. Thanks Amir if I ever meet you I would like to buy you a pint (and let you measure my 30+ year old Wadia DAC though I know I am not gonna like the measurement results!!) :D
Would be interesting to see an old Wadis component measured. Guessing to heavy to ship.
@@michaelchaney1230 indeed. if I was in the same country I'd take mine to him. Shame I'm too many thousands of miles away.
I went the rounds with Darko over Ethernet cabling. His solution wasn't to provide better information, it was to delete the information I was providing.
He's 1/3 of the holy trinity of bullschiit artistry with Hans Beekhuyzen and Alex Crespi that prompted me to make my own series of videos debunking their claims about data networking as it relates to audio reproduction.
It is disappointing that he doesn't accept new information/counter points. I offered to go on his podcast to explain these things but he turned me down.
@@AudioScienceReview it would be great to have an open invitation panel on some of these topics at a show.
@@mnoble247 I just watched your video on goalpost moving. Very informative, good stuff.
Darko is toe-curlingly embarrassing. The water analogy was, in fact, one of his better attempts to pour scorn on anyone who thinks audio manufacturers should back up their claims. If Darko, or his sponsors, decide something isn't worth it, it's USELESS or DEAD (see hi res audio). If Darko, or his sponsors, have a new product to debut, then it's The Future of Hi-Fi TM. His highly polished, uber-professional videos are all gloss and preen, but if you dare to disagree, or even raise a query, it's like the Eye of Sauron has turned its wrath on you.
@@richardt3371 Well said.
Absolutely phenomenal work, a great service to all.
Amir certainly makes enemies from all other TH-cam influencers that have a vested interest in propagating BS marketing nonsense that goes contrary to basic measurement. Critical ears certainly help, but there is so much hype in high end audio products that it is super valuable to have objective measurement. Can there be rare circumstances where Amir might miss the mark? Sure, but that is science and he would probably be the first to admit a flawed test. That said, I wish there were more Amirs that really tickle my early electrical engineering training when I were a young pup. Solid vetted science usually wins the day. We need a handful more Amirs in this space to measure spectrums and 1's and 0's. Keep up the good fight, Amir!
Excellent conference. Learned a lot! BTW, the other day I had to laugh at an extremely expensive DAC because the manufacturer said that its design helped avoid digital problems that are so subtle that they can’t be measured. I asked myself: If the problems are so subtle that they can’t be measured, how can your “hear” them? As you implied and mentioned, they, as many other manufacturers, rely on the “if it is very,very expensive, then it must be much better” mantra. Thanks for your excellent service.
The best analogy I can come up with is imagine someone reading you a math problem. It doesn't matter if I tell you to add 10+4 or James Earl Jones asks you. You're still going to come up with 14. And at some point if the speaking is so distorted that you cannot understand it, you're not going to come up with 14.00001 or 13.9999, you're just not going to have an answer at all. That's VERY similar to how digital audio works. Sure, the voice itself is analog, but the answer isn't dependent on the precision of the analog signal until it becomes completely unrecognizable.
learn the difference between synchronous and isochronous data transfer in USB
usb audio has no data integrity check
These videos and explanations are absolutely great. You perfectly describe and demonstrate concepts I’ve internally understood but have been unable to communicate to others for years. Sharing your videos is my new go-to solution for dispelling audio woo and my new tool for reinforcing the concepts you discuss. Thanks!
Don't know if it's mentioned in the video since I didn't watch it all but modulating a digital value into an analog signal doesn't mean that noise or distortion will translate into the data getting corrupted, that's precisely the point of sending digital information in the first place.
Digital transmissions are not a flow of the raw data you want to transmit but they're encoded with error detecting and correcting systems. These are just mathematical tricks used to detect data corruption, like (in the simplest form) adding a parity bit: if one bit is flipped during transmission then the number of 1s won't be even anymore so it's clear that that package needs to be resent. There are much more complex codes that not only allow for error detection but also correction.
So a high number of transmission errors would result in a slower data rate due to more bandwidth being used to resend the same package multiple times. You can check this yourself by looking at the status information of a data connection: the lower the signal intensity is, the lower the available bandwidth. Low quality signal means more error rate, and thus a lot of retries that take time that could be used to send more packages with less tries per package. But the data is either valid or resent, not mistaken by valid when it's corrupted.
One additional point on where not all "bits are bits" is that streaming SERVICES usually have an automatic feature to throttle the data throughput on slow connections. And the client/server connection is often finicky: if there's some small hiccup or sudden burst of other network traffic between your device, router, or ISP and the service's cloud storage, it may to automatically switch, mid-stream, to sending you a worse-quality, smaller audio file (albeit still a bit-perfect copy of it). The same reason Netflix, Prime Video, and (especially) HBOMax go all blurry sometimes.
This might be user-defeatable, like on Spotify's phone and desktop apps there are multiple things to turn off in the settings, but you have to look for it. With some streamers, e.g. my AVR with Spotify Connect, there doesn't seem to be any way to stop it from throttling if something triggers the internal software to think it has a slow internet connection.
So, -sometimes- people are hearing legitimate-yet-subtle differences between streamers, but not for any reasons that the manufacturers advertise. And the real problem is probably that cheap little wifi router that Comcast gives you that's sitting on the floor on the far side of the house.
Yes, the concept of "streaming" can be very broad. In this case I am assuming you are streaming lossless music from cloud or your own home network.
First, yes I want my water measured to ensure it doesn’t have stuff it should not have in it. Yeah preferences vary but there should be no harm. Second, yes measurements of mineral contents etc can inform how water will taste if you know what the correlations are. Third, if the water claims health benefits, I want to know if there is any basis for it and if so if the water actually has the ingredients that cause that benefits.
All are analogous to why measurements are needed in audio.
Amazing introductory masterclass on digital audio Amir! You address all the important issues and questions that today's audio consumer will come accross when designing their digital audio sub-system in a very clear, concise and structured manner. All that along with a couple of slap downs at John Darko that naturally arise from the nonsense that he usually blabbers. Your video is a must watch.
Furthermore, the analogy that Darko makes about bottled water is more pure nonsense and the analogy with which Darko shoots himself in the foot. Water wells and spring water sources can become contaminated over time with dangerous toxins, which is why such sources are constantly tested and analyzed by governmental environmental agencies, i.e. MEASUREMENTS! Your subjective taste buds won't be able to tell in many cases when the water has become unsafe to drink.
About the Great analogy, Also wines have to be controlled. I would not make my choice based on the lab report though. Not shure Darko shoots himself in the foot 😜, are you?
@@peterzuiderveld2979 controlled blind taste tests would rock the world of fine wines.
@@mattsch21 You don’t have your own preference in wines either I guess.
Amir, Your educational videos are truly on target. Ethan Winer has also debunked much of the hoopla about jitter by simulating jitter in audio files to determine if you can actually hear it. He has posted the audio files on his website. Winer also wrote a recent article in AudioXpress on the topic. BTW, although timing errors seem to not matter much in terms of audibility, what about the DAC's interpretation of audio levels? The reason for R2R DACs is supposedly to eliminate this problem, which is probably also a non-problem in terms of audibility. Anyway, thanks for a very clear and technically accurate video!
Thank you for such an excellent overview and explanation. Clear, understandable, valuable information that addresses and corrects most of the misinformation being spread by audio component reviewers and bloggers.
Thanks for explaining jitter so well. I didn't really understand it before.
You opened my eyes with many videos as well as others who were deceived about what really is high-quality audio accessories. Thank you Mr. Amir
It's very helpful to understand where things start and how to remedy them if necessary. Keeping in mind there are still misconceptions and false myths.
As I recall, several years ago there was something of a scandal when one of the great, French bottled waters contained clinically significant levels of benzine, despite the fact that the taste was not apparently affected. So the most important thing about testing is knowing what the test you are doing actually measures and whether that is relevant to the outcome.
👍. Good stuff as usual bud. One of the best parts of all your videos is that you truly don't make your particular perspective and/or critique personal. 👍 Moreover, your articulation of the subject matter is superb. 🏆
Thanks for your efforts.
Great explanation, thank you Amir.
Thank you for your time, prof. I'm very thankful and glad you make these videos. Your knowledge is very valueable and I appreciate it.
Science vs Religion. The discussion will keep going for as long as people believe/prefer in fiction over fact. And just like the TV evangelists, money drives the religious factions.
John Darkos channel is useful to view when considering buying equipment, alongside other reviews on TH-cam and in the specialist press etc. On the one hand he does have a valid point with the water in that its what the gear sounds like that matters rather than how it measures, but on the other hand there is far more difference in audio gear than in mineral water and, fundamentally, the water is most definitely measured. It has to be analysed for content before being allowed to be sold! You are at odds with him because your channels validity is based on measurement. Nothing wrong with that of course. There are similarities with buying a new car. You check out the specs then drive it and if you like it, try to get a good deal. You don't rely of specs alone.
You have admirable patience
Some very good stuff here, I'm already on the forums for 2 months or so and enjoying the discussions with people, subscribed...!
You can certainly analyze any electrical waveform using methods for measuring analog signals (I did it intensively as an electrical engineering student when the world was largely analog) and it does make it possible to understand it, you can do things with digital signals you can't do with analog signals. You can restore its shape using s Schmitt trigger. You can restore its timing errors after transmission using dejittering and reclocking circuits. You can turn it into a series of light pulses and send it through a fiber optic thinner than a human hair for thousands of miles without degradation. You can transmit data from beyond pluto yielding crystal clear images. You can send many hundreds of digitally encoded high definition video signals over long distances with a fiber optic and then a few hundred feet with a coaxial cable. With analog you'd be lucky to send even one NTSC analog channel much over a mile or two with a wire. And you can detect and correct errors in the rare circumstances they occur. Another advantage of digital signals is they almost always work perfectly or they don't work at all. Therefore I reluctantly had to admit that for many reasons signals in the digital domain could be far preferable to using the analog domain, especially for the transmission, storage and retrieval of analog waveforms. And one more thing you can do with digital that you can't do with analog, you can set arbitrary limits to performance that you can meet.
One thing untrained audiophiles in the fields of electrical engineering including information theory and information theory don't understand is that there is a finite limit beyond which improved performance while technically possible is of no value to them and only adds to cost. Another is that in the process of converting analog to digital and digital to analog there can be variances in the analog domain that are audible and often correctable using the very powerful tool of equalization which can be performed in either the analog or digital domain. The analog methods of analysis using frequency response, noise, and distortion still are valid. Based on my analysis RBCD standards meet all these criteria for audiophile applications in the digital domain.
Love this content; great work, Amir!
I used a RPi with an Apple dongle for my speakers. DSP room correction and equalisation. Works for me.
With USB/network you usually know when there's a problem. It's not subtle.
Brilliant vlog much needed in this muddied world of doctored sound
This explains why high quality vinyl recordings on TH-cam still retains that beautiful "analogue sound" playing through my audio interface, to my vintage amp and speakers.
Bottled drinking water does taste different between different brands because companies put different minerals to make them taste different. This is measurable. Distill water on the other hand
tastes the same no matter who sells it.
Love your passionate and competent work Amir, is a fortune there are competent and trusted people like you (and other moderators) and fora like ASR who can educate us in choosing the best gears (or simply learn how to evaluate the performance of our gears). Keep going on this way please. Best regards from Italy !
In the 70's we could find deep measurements in magazines, until shareholders stopped it. As long as Amir has no shareholders he is helping tons of people learn to not believe in b.sh.t marketing
Another good video. I can report that in my home system, I have a 10 meter (~30 ft) digital coax cable connecting one of my integrated amps to a source, and I can report that I never had any noticeable data error, even in that distance - after almost a year of regular use.
Thanks so much for educating us lay people on digital audio. It's amazing when one's experiences at simply listening to music does not jibe with audiophile notions. I constantly hear that computer audio is terrible and running it over USB just makes it worse. However, I can play my CD player using it as a transport and sending the signal to my SMSL SU9 DAC and then play the same song using on my computer from a FLAC file over USB to the DAC and guess what, each song sounds virtually the same. If computers and USB are so bad, shouldn't I easily be able to hear all the problems with noise, power supply, and jitter that my computer is giving off?
Here are the rules, turns out for Natural mineral water you do need measurements on the bottle. :)
Natural mineral water and Spring waters are required to:
Come from a specified underground source which is protected from any form of pollution
Be bottled at source
Be microbiologically safe without any treatment
Comply with the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Water Regulations
Natural mineral water must also:
Have a guaranteed consistent chemical and physical composition
Have the mineral composition on the label
Receive no treatment (with the exception of filtration to remove sand particles)
Another very very interesting and full of enlightenment session. Bravo Amir!!!
I am using the chance to raise a topic. Recently, I got an iFi Pro iDSD - it is a wonderful device, a superb dac, and has upscaling capabilities. I cannot decide if I should do upscaling or not. For example PCM audio file - is it good (better) to upscale to DSD512 or even DSD1024; what is the value of doing that if I am not sending the signal to another dac and I am listening with headphones from the iDSD? I can understand the upscaling of 'old audio files' that are just 16 or 20 khz but should I upscale 44.1 or 96 khz to DSD512/1024. Frankly, sometimes upscaling makes changes that are audible - smooths the sound or makes some tones more full of body or sharper. I think lots greenhorns will appreciate if you do a review on that?
I personally would not bother with any upsampling. Such a resampler can slightly filter the highs but that is not what I need it to do.
@@AudioScienceReview thank you so much for advice
Brilliant work Amir..
This video is brilliant. Thank you for explaining.
The way I look at digital audio is that it is digital data with a real-time aspect. When you think about transmission of digital data generally, and you ask whether jitter is a concern with transmission of digital data generally, your answer is likely to be that it isn't a concern so long as it does not cause bit errors in the receiver.
If digital audio is different, i.e., if there is more to it than correct reception of the individual ones and zeros, the reason is necessarily related to the real-time aspect of digital audio.
It thus seems to me that as concerns the question of whether jitter is a problem in digital audio, this question should be resolved into two distinct questions, that must each be analyzed and answered separately from the other. Question 1: To what extent does jitter diminish the ability for a receiver to correctly interpret the individual bits? Question 2: To what extent does jitter diminish the ability for the receiving apparatus to perform as expected with respect to the real-time aspect of digital audio?
While I'm thinking about it, I also will say that there should be published specifications for the required performance of data transmitters, and for the required performance of data conduits, and for the required performance of data receivers. Specifications for the required performance of each of the three elements are necessarily identified and published, because otherwise there would be little hope for success with interoperability of transmitters, conduits and receivers manufactured by diverse manufacturers. The need for interoperability demands that performance requirements for each of three elements be specified and published. As such, it seemd to me that the ideal way to assess the quality of any individual transmitter, conduit or receiver is by taking measurements that reveal the extent to which the apparatus conforms to the published specification.
I measure both aspects of data transmission in every digital product I review. I analyze the analog output of the DAC where noise, jitter and interference show up. Data error has yet to be seen but if it is there, it will create massive error. But yes, manufacturers need to provide such data so that we don't have Darko's of the world guessing (wrongly) which device has more or less jitter.
thanks for starting to clean up the German audio believer scene. About time some real engineering knowledge is used to tone this guy down a bit.
Another great class. Thank you Amir!
Master class! Well done Amir!
correction : we do ask for mesurement of water, we have the composition of each it helps us choose. I was drinking a water i really like then discovered that there was a lot of sodiuml in it wich could be bad in my case. I would have never known otherwise
Fantastic video! Thank you, Amir! Keep up the excellent work!
5:15 It is usual to allow some tolerance in the voltage levels used; for example, 0 to 2 volts might represent logic 0, and 3 to 5 volts logic 1. A voltage of 2 to 3 volts would be invalid and occur only in a fault condition or during a logic level transition.
I am still listening to a Marantz 2325 , Klipsch k- horns, with Klipsch Belle’s running in back on B so I run A+B speakers and I’m sure everything comes out as analog . I can tell the better the source the better the sound but it is still coming out as analog ! Sounds fantastic, you can only hear so much anyway. I don’t plan on any up grades !
There is only one channel about audio playback that I trust implicitly; it is yours.
Some are unenlightened jibberish using arcane jargon. They are the lay preachers.
Some are by folks whose most serious foray into music is a stadium rock concert. I call that the metal head drive.
Some channels are really intended to appeal to those who, on a substance high, once experienced something in music that they will die trying to reproduce. I call that the meth high audience.
There are some who are forever striving to impress acquaintances with their shiny stack of costly equipment. I call that the Bentley bunch.
Some are endlessly seeking some improvement in playback quality, valid or not. These are the OCDers.
Some channels are in it entirely for the income; it's a living, or close to one. They are likely to have lots of sponsored links, and are patreon recruiters They are the panhandlers.
Lost in the noise are those remaining who just want to hear music with minimum annoyances that distract from the evoking of a real musical performance.
And, mostly obscure, are those who are tinkerers, the intensely curious, and the mathematicians, who live to get to the bottom of the well, not just drink the water.
And then there are the carnival barkers. As Mark Twain once said, so well: “It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
Dan Worrall also has a great audio channel.
GoldenSound has a great video about the MQA scam.
Amir you’re the audio reviewer we need but don’t deserve! 34:45
Another great video. Well done.
Terrific episode. Learned a lot. Is it possible to upload a sample of how exactly jitter sounds like?
Jitter has infinite spectrum so it can sound like anything.
Amir - friend and champion of the common man, most hated reviewer of most audio companies. Thank you again for helping us appreciate what is what.
19:40 thanks for talking about GPU noise I have been dealing with that with my topping DAC and AMP, i have been searching for way to deal with it without throwing away my setup
If anyone having the same problem topping usb isolater fixed the issues.
Thank you Amir. Yet another great presentation. In engineering we have simple paradigm : knowledge->methodology->discipline-> verification. You show expertise across all. Others sell voodoo based on subjective opinions, especially in HIFI.
Thank you. Very educational.
Should we drink distilled water or swamp water? Please Amir, save us!!!! Taste is subjective....so....
Sadly, plenty of swamp water equiv. in audio is bought by consumers due to misleading/wrong marketing by companies and reviewers alike. A digital source cannot and must not have a taste by the way. That belongs to your speakers and headphones.
This educational series of videos is the absolute bomb (much more interesting to me than individual product reviews - though they have an important role too).
I'd be interested to hear an explanation into more of the details of how digital audio is communicated over a S/PDIF connection, what bi-phase mark encoding is and that the samples sent over an S/PDIF connection are actually arranged into blocks with control words sent with each block.
Such information is of no real practical use to the consumer, of course, yet it makes it much easier to realise what utter rubbish many (most) audio salesmen & industry apologists spout when trying to pull the wool over people's eyes.
Thank you for kind words. Thanks for the suggestion. Alas, that level of detail I think is way too technical for what I am trying to do. There are so many high level topics that I have yet to cover that i don't' see me getting to next deep dive anytime soon.
@@AudioScienceReview Thanks for your reply to my humble suggestion! That's fair enough and quite understandable. Maybe consider mentioning a few terms people can look into when there are deeper layers ? Kind of 'if you're interested, then look into X, Y and Z'. Anyway - these videos are great, I'm just a hobbyist and make all my own kit and while I've studied the topic for decades I _always_ learn things or gain insight from your videos. :)
@@HandbrakeBiscuit I’m afraid that level of detail stops with Amir indeed and answers should be found by communicating with well experienced audio engineers who design with the intention of improving sound quality. A journalist just performing measurements cannot help you.
@@peterzuiderveld2979 I know this stuff already, and the things I mentioned are actually built into the standard way a 'humble' Sony/Philips Digital Interface has worked since its launch. It isn't something that audio engineers are actively designing (a DAC designer couldn't just change what his device expects about the format of what a streamer or CD transport sends to it, could he?).
The point of my suggestion was that if consumers _knew_ just how involved the pattern of hi/lo pulses really was, and why, it would help them see through the various marketing claims and salesman patter.
Amir clearly knows about and understands such concepts too - it comes across as condescending for you to describe him as 'a journalist just performing measurements' then trying to infer that he doesn't know.
Thank for making these videos! All thumbs up!
Another really good video just like being at school many thanks as always. I will say this I have some heavy well made gear but I still know that a cheap CD player used as a transport is not going to sound worse than a high-end transport, I do chuckle when reviewers say this transport sound better than that one...
I learn so much from your videos. Thanks!
I’m very grateful to this channel, and a few others, for providing objective measurements and explaining the science behind the technology of the hobby that I enjoy. This information was missing from the hobby space, mostly, until relatively recently, and even when a publication did provide measurements, it was done mostly, in my opinion, as a way to lend credence to the subjective opinions being offered.
I don’t mind, mostly, the subjective reviewers, Some of them provide useful information, provided they tell viewers what their preferences and biases are, which a few do. But when they are hostile to science and measurements, or try to “debunk” the validity of measurements, then they open themselves up to rebuttal. I’m again grateful to Amir and others like him (not many!) who take the time to explain whether the criticism is valid or not.
Thank for another great video I just love the way you explain things and debunk so many of the HiFi pundits.
man, i admire the length he goes to to make sure he is fair to any claim, no mater how ridiculus, that is impresive
Good stuff Amir! Good to bring Darko back to reality.
Great explanation of the digital transport side of a DAC. But, I think where some room still maybe left up to interpretation is in the digital to analog conversion. Say for example the operational amplifier and associated circuitry driving the analog output of the DAC its self. Though I've not experienced a meaningful difference with it my self, there are those who say they have experienced a great deal of difference in the variations here; though, most commonly in input drivers to amplifiers and such. Though like you said that's really where the blind testing becomes necessary. What really gets me is an audiophile's ability to somehow work around our minds inherent tendency to "normalize" what we're exposed to the most.
19:55 I would say the bits are still bits, but the analog portion of the DAC (its in the name, after all) is still subject to the same issues as any other analog device. If noise bleeds into it, it will naturally get through to the audio. Stating it this way at least makes it clear that its not the data itself that is to blame per se as audiophiles might suggest, but poor analog design and interference via ground loops, PC bus noise, etc. In my mind I always segregate the two when diagnosing noise or interference since a PC always follows my speakers around, but the general audio community seems to conflate them together. Noisy DAC = Digital audio bad. Tubes and record player good! But the reality is designing quiet analog circuitry is a pain. Designing quiet analog circuitry that has to share real estate with a DC-DC switching converter and a bunch of digital circuitry takes that to another level. Of course there can be issues with the digital portion of the design as you elaborate on, but usually its the part where it turns into a squiggly wave that we can hear that most of the issues crop up.
Exactly this! There are so many dodgy products that are designed to a DAC's datasheet spec but lacking a clear understanding of the various ground paths (analogue and digital), how they induce noise in the DAC, in its PLL, in its references, or at its outputs. As a former PCB designer (but not for audio), I always told people "You need to understand where the electrons go". Thinking deeply about that can solve a lot of issues caused by system noise.
Sure, you could state it that way as well.
Implementation, implementation, implementation....
I agree. Bits are still bits. The noise may have been there when the analog was converted to digital at the start perhaps? What about the parity bit? Isn't that used?
Brilliant explanation.
Thanks again, an excellent thoughtful and informative presentation.
Many thanks! Well done. I've learned a lot from to very informative video. I'm looking forward to your next videos
A piece of equipment has to surpass certain measured benchmarks. Then you get a pool of equipment that you can subjectively choose from.
Precisely!
Amir, well done on continuing to confuse the issues with the facts. I wonder though, how many lay people will pay attention. I love that ASR continues to educate people on the quality aspect of expensive “snake oil”. Keep up the great work, and thank you.
Thanks. I used to think this was a lost cause. But the more I do these videos, the more I get feedback from people who where going to buy this and that and no longer want to do so. And that they had their doubts but lacked the technical background to challenge the other side.
"Darko" and "technical", two words that should never be used in the same sentence.
The more I follow audiophile channels the less I want to know about the subject. I play double bass for a living and I strive for beauty, expression and connection between the music and the listener. That’s what got me curious about quality audio…I want to hear music from my system that moves me as much as live performance. I can’t imagine what could be analyzed from the notes that me and my colleagues play but I’m sure it would be messy to say the least. Rooms, instruments, weather, audience, interaction, vibe…there are so many variables, infinite really, that go into a performance of music. Sometimes it’s transcendent and the audience walks away changed, sometimes it doesn’t. I certainly can’t measure or predict what will happen each night. I used to find it odd that most musicians I know were not that into hi-fi but the further I get into it I think I can see why.
Yeh, the world of audio seems to be inventing its own universe with its own laws. It used to be a fringe segment of the hobby but it has widely spread due to lack of oversight. Indeed, reviewers have joined the crowd to spread the misinformation, folklores and myth -- damn the science and engineering. Consumers instead of being critical, celebrate company marketing material with no proof points and reviewers repeating the same.
That’s exactly how I feel about audio. It’s about products and what they do to serve the music that is important and buzzing off making creative videos which ties into music as entertainment. Audio is and should be creative and linking to the artistic nature of music.
Thank you for bringing truth and science to audio. So much money is wasted on digital audio and trying to improve the chain
Darko is a 🤡. He made a video a few years ago in which he basically told people they should not question audio experts such as himself.
Excellent as always!👍🙏
I quite like measurements of water. So i dont die if they're poisonous etc
1:00 My father was a Chemist. Not needing to measure water is total nonsense. pH, surface tension, PPM, etc. are all useful stats to know about water purity. Just because taste is subjective does NOT imply that we should just blindly ignore the goal of trying to objectively measure water to help understand WHY and HOW water tastes the way it does.
i.e. When you have water filtered through an Reverse Osmosis System it will taste a certain way.
My father suspected that even the bond angle on water showed variation because he was getting a *non-associative property with different kinds of water* which demonstrated that there are large variations in water that we still don’t understand.
Darko unfortunately completely ignorant about Chemistry. He should stick to topics he knows about.
There was no real issue of testing water, it was an analogy. That said you'd taste water to decide which had the best flavor. If you know a measuring device for flavor other than a human please share.
@@johnsmith1474 It's true that one would taste water to determine which one you like the most, but at the same time we can't rely on the subjective claims from any other person, sponsored or not. Not only that, it has been demonstrated that we can't even trust our own senses. E.g. in the British tv program "Eat Well for Less" where people have to live a week on food packaged in blank packaging, most swapped with alternatives, some their usual brand and type. It's almost every episode that people will say that they really don't like a certain food or drink, and then to be told it is not swapped but it's their usual (favourite) brand.
@@johnsmith1474 To add: many of the claims made by such reviewers are about objective parameters. If we can demonstrate no objective difference in the signal delivered by usb cable A and cable B through measurements, we know the claims to be false. And for (digital) audio equipment it's much easier to measure compared to water, because we know what changes in the signal are audible, but we can't measure or test for every possible aromatic molecule in water.
@@johnsmith1474 with high certainty, it is possible repeatedly to PRODUCE equally tasting water samples based on their identical chemical (and biological) components / parameters, that's how a science works 😀. Reproducible results everywhere and everytime, with precise methodical, non-biased, and measurable input and output parameters.
I just watched his video. I don't think he knows anything about anything, except selling snake oil. Therefore I think, in a way he is following your advice.
It took me many years to understand how the digital audio works mainly because there was so much bull going around. In addition to lots of marketing nonsense, and specially pay more you get more, perpetuated by the high end audio magazines. I wish stuff like you're producing had been around then.
You are right that information like this doesn't exist in one place. And what exist gets lost in a sea of misinformation. I should have produced these videos years ago but didn't get over the initial hurdle of getting on camera. :)
I always loved the super fancy CD players in huge copper milled cases that were an inch thick and cost like $10000 and when opened at the core of the machine would be...a $10 PC DVD drive.
@@jabezhane I never got one of those, even though they were so impressive. Drooling over the first ever Sony SACD-player, or the bling of the Oracle CD-transport. Looks and a tactile interface are still nice to have. Eventually I settled for a studio transport that could be clocked from the DAC. But when the Squeezebox arrived it was relegated to a very secondary role. Ripping and local streaming ruled.
Nicely explained!
Are you saying fortune cookies are worthless!!!😊😊😊😊 so good to hear a smart educated person talk about audio, I was thinking of getting the Onkyo TX-RZ70 I wonder if it’s as badly designed as the RZ50 that you mentioned…
Thank you for your smart analysis 😊😊
That MOMENT at around 4:22~ ... instant realization of " WHY " Digital ... 0 and 1 ...on and off ... resilience LOL Amir i am certain you don't even realize how good you are at simply explaining things ... I seriously just realized WHY Digital is so good, simply watching you explain stuff that is probably very basic and low level for you . ( ok i'm late commenting sorry ..watched it the day it got out forgot to comment ) Again another superb video, with plenty of learning spread through it all. Thanks for taking time of making this !! Much appreciated !!! 👍👍👍
I have a question. But I would like to thank you first for finally putting a stop to all of the B.S. that's been thrown at audio consumers for too long.
The Home Theater has been a very large and growing industry for a long time. Is there any way that you can measure how movie soundtracks are formatted onto DVDs ,from the original soundtrack we actually hear in the Theater ?
The volumn imbalance between the monologues and sound effects has been an issue for many years.
Yes, the quality of soundtracks on movies can be so bad. Half the time neither my wife or I can understand what is being said! Studios need to perform some listening tests to make sure their mixes are correct. I could get into that kind of testing but it is a lot of work and not in the direction of what I am doing.
The key word here is transmission. For example, when an AES-EBU stereo 24 bit stream is carried by a twisted pair of copper wires, it is very much an analog signal which can be observed on any oscilloscope. The same goes for all formats in that the transmission of any signal on copper wires, or across space if picked up by an antenna can be immediately shown to be an analog signal. The meanings of ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ are frequently presumed to mean something they are not in actuality; a sinusoidal or square waveform. In the real world of transmission, it is all analog waveforms. If that waveform represents a digital word, that word is reconstructed by filtering and re-clocking at every juncture.
Thank you, Amir.
I really enjoy your videos. I would welcome a follow up to this video when it comes to Dante Enabled Interfaces, USB-C, or SPIDF interfaces.
Thanks, I enjoy learning from you. Also, there are too many products for the average audiophile to evaluate, so I watch your videos to get an idea of which ones add value to my listening experience.