TRUTH in AUDIO

[rollo]

   It is time for an AN version of Truth in Audio thread. So what is it for you ? speak your minds do not hold back. Just be nice and respectful as this topic could ignite. Hoping not it can be a fruitful chat.
   Chat away.


charles

[Bob in St. Louis]

Too much talk about equipment.
Not enough talk about music.

Things in my life (equipment wise) haven't turned out like I planned, by no means. But the most enjoyment I get from listening to music comes from a $100 pair of used PC Planar speakers and a small sub.

As far as the five figure system I built....well....it kicks ass for home theater and gaming duty. Sucks for music. The "front end" has screwed that up and there's no sign of that changing.
I never saw that coming.

Bob

[Werd]

The truth is music playback is NOT governed by any electrical measurement tracked by an electrical measuring device like an oscilliscope. Measurements are in the aid of system building. They help tell what the electrical component may or may not sound like. Once the system build is finished up and running, the specs can be thrown out with the bath water. It then becomes up to the listener to sit back and equate their musical taste with their system they just assembled. Measurements mean F- all at this point.

The truth is there are too many manufacturers that say you can't hear this or you can't hear that. Your brain is too stupid to properly analyze a system sound. GIVE UP! Trust the manufacturer is basically the sales pitch. When the reality demonstrates time and time again that music lovers come to learn the sound of their own systems. Enough that a piddly lil 2 amp fuse can be used to tilt a entire sonic charateristic from a system that costs thousands.

Plenty more too

[tmazz]

When it comes to my audio system there are only two measuring devices that matter to me, and they sit right on either side of my head.

[BobM]

These guys Tom?

[richidoo]

Everything we know is just relative truth. We call it truth because it's the best current understanding, but subject to change after we learn something new that contradicts what we know now. Facts are relatively truthful, truth with good intentions, but they inevitably will be proven wrong. Because all knowledge is eventually eclipsed. This is a world of change. All human truth suffers entropy.

Absolute truth exists, but is not comprehensible by humans. We can accept that it exists, and even make constructive use of it by trusting it blindly, but we cannot understand, conceive, comprehend, or know it with a human mind.

The irony is that we crave absolute truth, and each disappointment with the changing world that offers no permanency strengthens the craving for real truth. In the quest to discover absolute truth we acquire wisdom, which eventually enough wisdom has been accumulated to allow the acceptance and trust of absolute truth. We can feel the truth without knowing it. That is the goal, and that's why we listen to music.

Truth in audio? Small potatoes. There is no real truth in audio, just ever changing facts and fads. There is truth in love, forgiveness, charity, friendship, grace. We listen to music to feel these truths in our heart. Audio technology can be a fun diversion from music listening, and at AN gear truth has been a secondary issue that we laugh at the meaninglessness of gear compared to priority of music. We charitably allow members to believe whatever gear truth and music truth they wish, and love them unconditionally whether they want love or not. Some fight the love, but they eventually come back and stay. I hope that continues in the future with the new owners of AN. The hobby does not need another bickering bulletin board.

"Truth in Audio" is itself a confrontational statement, implying that there is absolute truth to be found in this gear hobby, which is false. It is more likely that a person who is passionate about Truth in Audio is trying to market a business or build a cult following, or both. There are plenty who want there to be absolute truth in audio, buying a wire is easier than a lifetime of worshiping God through his beautiful music before acquiring wisdom enough to accept and trust the unknowable truth we crave.

If some authority expert engineer scientist egotist personality can tell me what is "TRUTH in Audio," then great! All the better, I don't have to read that 33 page thread!    Make it a sticky with the latest and best TRUTH printed right there in the first post, and keep updating it as the TRUTH evolves day by day. Secular scientists love consensus. Print the daily consensus on TRUTH on the first post, along with the consensus Global Average Temperature - in red bold. Make an RSS feed so our cellphones will ring when it changes.

My gear "TRUTH in Audio" this week is
Never use Texas Instruments LME47910 opamp in unity gain.

I can already see the future, and next week my "TRUTH in Audio" will be:
Never allow a computer to come between me and my music.

[tmazz]

These guys Tom?

Yeah, one saying "Buy it, you desreve one." and the other one telling me how the money would be better off being put in my IRA. 

[Response Audio]

The truth in audio is that there is no truth.  If anyone says they have all the answers, they are flat out lying. We do have some FACTS but most of them are subject to variables. Measurements don't tell us the complete truth, only what the component is doing under predetermined (by us) conditions. 
Music is about much more than the measurements of our equipment. Audio equipment is our hobby......music is the result which in turn provides us with enjoyment.  How much we enjoy the MUSIC depends on how well we do in picking out the components while enjoying our HOBBY.

It doesn't matter if your system is $500 or $50,000. As long as we enjoy having it and listening to the music coming from it, that's all that matters.
And that's the truth.

[S Clark]

For me the truth is buy less equipment and more hi quality music.

[rollo]

  Very well said gentleman. Yes Richidoo it is a confrontational subject.
   it is a true pleasure to read these comments as they are. To the point with no flame throwing. priceless men keep it up.
    The truth is it all is a reproduction from the mike to the pressing of LP or CD. My truth in listening to that reproduction are the little cues we get now and then while listening.
    When Jacintha sings Danny Boy her breathing and gulp for air air takes me away with emotion. When I hear Buddy Rich live I sit there with my "air drums" and play like heck. No clue but loving it.
   Emotional impact from the reproduction is key for our personal enjoyment. Dave Brubeck at Carnegie Hall is a perfect recording for that. With a transparent system one can hear the echo of the drums during his solo. You can hear Desmonds Sax bell blooming in space. Brubecks piano true to scale and hammering away.
     I will echo that there is "no truth" unless one is marketing a product then of course there is "Truth" yes Their truth according to marketing hype.
    I believe we all can agree on some "truth" we have discovered over the yea :duhrs setting up our systems.
    1.   Clean power from a dedicated circuit.
    2.   room acoustics
    3.   cables make a difference
    4.   garbage in garbage out, meaning the source is critical
    5.    mood matters for listening.
    6.    ones car radio can create emotion as well. It is the music silly.

charles

[Bob in St. Louis]

Out of (financial) frustration, and seeing the bigger picture of "that road" many of us are on, I'm pretty much finished buying large components.

That being said, I do greatly want to rewire my entire system, and DIY it, all the way. I want some "audio jewelry". I'm OCD and it doesn't look "right" to me, if you catch my drift. But I'm not doing it in order to make some kind of "sonic upgrade".

There's some more 'truth' from me.
I assume I get to keep my audiophile card after making my confession?

Bob

[rollo]

  Bob it is a lifetime membership.


charles

[jimbones]

I don't purchase the most expensive equipment and am a bit of a DIY person. But when i buy music (either vinyl or cd/Hi-Res downloaad) I buy the best recorded stuff i can find.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Charles, thank you! 

Jim, I'm with you buddy. 100%! 

[mlee]

For those who subscribe to the Biblical Truth, in John 18:38, Jesus says : “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth...”  To which Pontius Pilate asks : “What is truth?”  Jesus does not reply, and so we are forever deprived of knowing what is the truth.  Deal with it.

Define Audio : inappropriate request

Audio    -> natural sound and
           -> reproduced sound through electronic gear  

Music   -> what happens when natural sound and/or reproduced sound enters the ear canal and is converted into brain waves INTERPRETING Sound as Music


An audiophile is concerned primarily with reproduced sound.  That same person may go to a live concert, but he goes to a live concert as a music lover.  If he enjoys the quality of the amplifier gear at the concert, he does so as an audiophile.

So choose your poison.  And narrowly define your question; otherwise you will never get anywhere near the truth.