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2 disks with identical data MUST sound the same.

I'm with Mountain on this one.

Actually I need to be careful here. The question isn't really what's on the disk, but what can be read from it. If a non-defective CD player (or other reader) extracts precisely the same data from the two disks then, except for time-domain errors (jitter) they MUST sound the same. The fact that many people have claimed otherwise for years is evidence that a sort of unexamined mysticism has invaded audiophiledom, to the detriment of the industry.

It's important to listen, and to keep an open mind. But it's equally important not to leave your brain at the door. You need it to examine and moderate your biases and the cultural influences we are all in thrall to.

An aside: the fact that you and others dismiss as "insulting" the suggestion that you're hearing things that aren't really there is strong evidence that you don't yet take this phenomenon as seriously as you should, that you don't respect it enough. It's not insulting to have your senses influenced by your mind (and, in turn, by cultural and environmental cues). It's inevitable...though we can, I think, moderate these effects with serious, concentrated effort. No matter how experienced you are (and I mean the general "you" here, not CJ in particular) you'll never be a reliable listener until you understand this and made that effort. Those who hear things the rest of us don't may have better ears, or better systems, but the reason may also be that they have less self-critical, less discerning minds.

Jim

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