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In Reply to: Frank, I am also curious about your answer to this one... posted by Eric LeRouge on January 29, 2003 at 12:32:41:
This is particularly the case with brushed cymbals in jazz. I can name at least three discs off the top of my head. Frank hears a somewhat more general problem. In any case, you can easily predict this by looking at the S/N ratio over 10 kHz of actual SACD players in Stereophile's lab tests.
Follow Ups:
...no reviewers at TAS or Stereophile, or any other reputable magazine (for that matter, neither I nor anyone that I know) have noticed what you claim is "clearly audible". Please provide specific examples to support your case.
These reviewer even fail to recognize simple harmonic distortions generated by the SET tube amps they review.
...trying to reconcile the listening impressions with the measurements. Just because it generates some distortion, doesn't mean the reviewed equipment sounds bad. In fact, SET amps often sound extremely GOOD. Our ears are fairly tolerant of harmonic distortion, but very sensitive to some distortions produced by early (and many more recent) SS amplifiers. I'd take an SET over a Phase Linear amp or a typical receiver amp section any day.
Objectionable distortions that can be easily removed with a sane amplifier design are much more harmfull than any of the dsd or watermark artifacts.It doesn't sound more musical. If it does to you you should attend live concerts a bit more often.
...but neither do I insist that low THD SS amps are better-sounding (or even more accurate overall) for that reason alone. THD figures are close to worthless for judging the sound quality of an amplifier, IMO.P.S. Most of the concerts I attend are of the non-amplified, classical variety. : )
...the timing.
My ears, my system. DK, When I Look Into Your Eyes, "I've Got You Under My Skin", brushed cymbals throughout the track. They are more clearer and more detailed on the CD as played back through my Marantz SA-14. Just bear in mind, I don't think this is a big deal - just as I don't think the watermark thing is a big deal. Nothing is perfect.
the last time you quoted this as an example, not only can't i hear what you claim, but i appear to be hearing more resolution on sacd than what you are hearing on your system (sacd or cd), so whatever the limitation is it's not in the medium.
Christine,
Yes, but not now because I'll need to cite track and time on Waltz for Debby and Know What I Mean?. By the way, sarcasm aside, my conclusion was that you could well be getting less resolution on CD on your system than I am on mine. How you could conclude that you were getting better resolution on CD (where I indicated that I was hearing far more detail in the brush strokes than on SACD) and SACD is beyond reason. Since we would each need to spend 48 hours on planes to do an A/B (and my aural memory wouldn't survive 48 minutes) this will remain a mystery.
it's quite simpleyou say you can't hear hiss unless you turn up the volume. i can hear hiss even at low volume levels. i can even hear a slight wow and flutter characteristic on the hiss.
you say the brushwork sounds like hiss on sacd
it sounds nothing like hiss on either sacd or cd on my system
ergo, i am hearing more than you (this is not intended to be sarcastic or condescending, although i appreciate it sounds a bit blunt)
also - my advice to you was to listen to the disc on another system to see if your impressions can be replicated. have you done so?
since then, i have heard the disc on a high end system (xa777es, krell preamp, halcro dm58, b&w signature 800) and i can confirm all the detail that i quoted are present and even more on a higher end system - far higher than yours or mine.
As I recall, your normal listening level (SPL) is higher than mine. I said that the hiss was lying at about -70dB and the brushwork at about -60dB. I said that turning up the volume made the tape hiss objectionable, not audible. I don't think that the dynamic level of the hiss should change appreciably from system to system. Actually, I said that the brushwork sounded like hiss on my brother's 670. I have no doubt that the CD replay on my Marantz SA-14 is significantly better than your Sony's. Why don't we let Methos listen for himself?
i "turned up" the level to match what you quoted (above 80dB) in your post. that does not imply that is my normal listening level.by the way i said the hiss was detectable even at low listening levels, an observation which you chose to ignore again and again. this clearly shows your system is not resolving the hiss when *you* (not me) listen at levels below 80dB. and it's not tape hiss - it probably comes from the mic.
and you did not say the brushwork sounded like hiss on your brother's system. from memory, you said you couldn't hear the brushwork on your brother's system. you took extraordinary trouble to correct a poster (twice!) who *correctly* noted that there was hiss on the track, which strongly indicates *you* did not observe the hiss.
*** I have no doubt that the CD replay on my Marantz SA-14 is significantly better than your Sony's ***
more sarcasm again?
i would be very interested to hear on what basis you are saying that. have you actually A/B'ed cd replay on the sa-14 vs xa777es? i have, on more than one system.
ps - i don't see how my posts are impeding methos' ability to test for himself. all i am saying is that you have yet to convince me.
Yours as I recall is more like 75dB. On my brother's 670 you can't distinguish between the brushwork and the hiss, even though they are a good 10 dB apart. The poster had a low end Sony as well.
it ranges from 70-90dB (!!!) depending on the material for critical listening, and also whether i am reviewing or not. but typically lower than higherfor background listening of course it is much lower
i don't know where you got the impression that my listening levels are higher than yours - i have never stated that, all i said was i tried matching the level to the level you quoted in your post.
anyway the point is that the hiss is clearly audible on my system even when the material is played at 60-70dB SPL - maybe even lower than that. i certainly don't have to crank it to 80dB like you do just to hear it.
I filter out hiss until it becomes objectionable. However, I can't hear hiss recorded at -70 dB when playing at 60 dB on any system.
.
nt
As soon as my stereo is re-assembled (I just moved), I will listen for this. I may just hook up my preamp for a headphone session first.
nt
the most likely conclusion to this test will be that one party says he hears something bad on an SACD and the other party says he doesn't. I have seen this type of thing happen in the same room with two people listening to exactly the same material. Disagreeing about what they are hearing. So across the world, with different systems, is agreement likely? Not at all. There will never be one right answer to these kind of questions anyway.
Furthermore, even if there is limited dynamic range in SACD relative to CD and DVD-A above 10 kHz, it would be easy to get around this through careful engineering.
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