Best Of
Re: Noise.
Noise is easily visualized with appropriate toys tools (oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer) and thus straightforward to quantify and to qualify. I.e., both the left-brain and right brain or, perhaps better, objectivist/subjectivist perspectives are easily addressed. In other words, what is the source of the noise and what impact does any arbitrary, added gizmo have on the noise (and on what aspect of the noise spectrum is the gizmo having an effect)?
The crowning irony to me -- and the ship sailed so long ago on this that there is no turning back -- is that 40 years ago, when the circuitry used for reproduction of audio (EDIT: and the s/n or dynamic range of the readily-available sources) was inherently orders of magnitude noiser, the world (so to speak) was far quieter (in terms of electromagnetic interference). Today, WiFi, Bluetooth, digital devices, and switch-mode power supplies and PWM amplifiers have saturated "the aether" with noise. Much of that noise is locally created, too.
It is a danged shame that we have to add technological complexity to deal with problems that technology created.
The crowning irony to me -- and the ship sailed so long ago on this that there is no turning back -- is that 40 years ago, when the circuitry used for reproduction of audio (EDIT: and the s/n or dynamic range of the readily-available sources) was inherently orders of magnitude noiser, the world (so to speak) was far quieter (in terms of electromagnetic interference). Today, WiFi, Bluetooth, digital devices, and switch-mode power supplies and PWM amplifiers have saturated "the aether" with noise. Much of that noise is locally created, too.
It is a danged shame that we have to add technological complexity to deal with problems that technology created.
mhardy6647
3 ·
Re: Can I fix a mark Levinson 33 Monoblock thread
I can't work with pdf schematics on the 'putie anymore. I go to FedEx Office, print them in large format (one was 24"x36"), and highlight the circuit.
Didn't Ken post an inexpensive op amp tester a while back?
Didn't Ken post an inexpensive op amp tester a while back?
SCompRacer
1 ·
Re: What are these?
I highly recommend the Integrity tone arm lifter. That stuff in your pic Larry, hard no.
F1nut
1 ·
NextGen TV?
How many of you folks use an antenna to get local broadcast? If you do, have you been keeping up with the transition to ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV)?
If you haven't, you should probably read up. The new standard has added DRM encryption that has been problematic in many ways. That would be all fine if they kept the current ATSC 1.0 broadcast, but the broadcasters want to sunset those as soon as 2028. What would that mean? You need all new TVs and/or stand alone Tuners for each TV. Yep, there is currently a restriction on DVR/Gateway devices like the HDHomerun. They don't work with the DRM.
Other issues are cost. The licensing/certification is expensive. Remember how the there were $20 tuner boxes that you could get back when the Analog TV went off the air? Now the average tuner for ATSC3.0 with DRM will be more like $120 and that's for an HDMI output only for Live TV. No DVR, no pausing. What are we, back in the 80s/90s?
The reason for me posting today is the FCC has actually listened to some of the concerns from consumers and they have opened a public comment period. Now is the chance to be heard. If you value free OTA broadcast, watch this video and submit a public comment to the FCC. The Comment Period is only open until May 7th. The guy has a whole series on these devices and all the problems DRM causes so check out his channel for additional information if you need.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQGH08rams8
Another YouTube channel with similar content related to the DRM issues is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp782nRIGDQ
If you haven't, you should probably read up. The new standard has added DRM encryption that has been problematic in many ways. That would be all fine if they kept the current ATSC 1.0 broadcast, but the broadcasters want to sunset those as soon as 2028. What would that mean? You need all new TVs and/or stand alone Tuners for each TV. Yep, there is currently a restriction on DVR/Gateway devices like the HDHomerun. They don't work with the DRM.
Other issues are cost. The licensing/certification is expensive. Remember how the there were $20 tuner boxes that you could get back when the Analog TV went off the air? Now the average tuner for ATSC3.0 with DRM will be more like $120 and that's for an HDMI output only for Live TV. No DVR, no pausing. What are we, back in the 80s/90s?
The reason for me posting today is the FCC has actually listened to some of the concerns from consumers and they have opened a public comment period. Now is the chance to be heard. If you value free OTA broadcast, watch this video and submit a public comment to the FCC. The Comment Period is only open until May 7th. The guy has a whole series on these devices and all the problems DRM causes so check out his channel for additional information if you need.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQGH08rams8Another YouTube channel with similar content related to the DRM issues is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp782nRIGDQ
billbillw
3 ·
Re: You’re doing it wrong…
Never understood exterior doors with glass larger than the average person.
VR3
1 ·
Re: New TV recommendations
A disc is nice to have. Keep in mind that calibrating with a DVD will only adjust the Rec.601 color space. A Blu-ray or a USB loaded with HD files would be needed for the Rec.709 color space. UHD is BT.2020 color space, then there are others for Dolby Vision (DV) and HDR10 spaces. It can get frustrating because modern TVs will change the settings each time a different signal is received. Took me awhile to figure out why some things were blinding me when I finally got a UHD TV. It was the DV settings, which you can't access until it receives a DV signal.
For Rec.709, AVSforum created set of free calibration files. I had them burned to a disc at one point, but I don't know what happened to it. I still have a Spears and Munsil DVD from 25 years ago, but I only use the color filters that came with it.
It might take some time to find the download, but here is the AVS thread for the 709 files.
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.948496/?nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#replies
For Rec.709, AVSforum created set of free calibration files. I had them burned to a disc at one point, but I don't know what happened to it. I still have a Spears and Munsil DVD from 25 years ago, but I only use the color filters that came with it.
It might take some time to find the download, but here is the AVS thread for the 709 files.
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.948496/?nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#replies
billbillw
1 ·
Re: Veri Fi SnubWay......don't listen to music, experience it!
Oh, I'd also like to point this out. The cable that was replaced was the same exact cable as the one that was previously installed. The ONLY difference between the two was the length.
Without the new cable even being broke in yet (compared to the cable that had been in his system for quite some time), the differences were immediately audible and when we first noticed what we did, neither of us were even sitting in the sweet spot, because the both of us were not really expecting to hear any change whatsoever.
The look we both gave each other (*off axis) after about 20 seconds of a song we had just played an hour or so earlier was priceless. We both knew what we heard, and we both had the same observations but that look...
That look summed up confusion, excitement, insightfulness, discovery and awe, to name but a few. It was very enlightening and pinpointed one of the exact noises I am referrring to here. FWIW.
Tom
Without the new cable even being broke in yet (compared to the cable that had been in his system for quite some time), the differences were immediately audible and when we first noticed what we did, neither of us were even sitting in the sweet spot, because the both of us were not really expecting to hear any change whatsoever.
The look we both gave each other (*off axis) after about 20 seconds of a song we had just played an hour or so earlier was priceless. We both knew what we heard, and we both had the same observations but that look...
That look summed up confusion, excitement, insightfulness, discovery and awe, to name but a few. It was very enlightening and pinpointed one of the exact noises I am referrring to here. FWIW.
Tom
treitz3
1 ·
Re: Veri Fi SnubWay......don't listen to music, experience it!
I'm wondering if I did not have a WOW experience because we don't have a lot of this noise to begin with?
Sounds logical.
We are in a rural setting with very few homes within a square mile of us, does that make a difference?
Oh, yeah!
It would obviously make a lot of sense if there isn't a lot of noise to begin with that nothing in the circuit should make a big improvement, right?
I cannot argue that. It makes perfect sense (at least it does to me).
We do not have any noise filtering in our system other than what perhaps may exist in the Panamax outlet/surge box.
Now here is where we differ, and this may go to help explain the inquiry of your first question. I have many products utilized within my rig that directly attack noise from entering the system, both in the room and outside the room. Each product seems to attack different things. Some of these are very subtle in noise abatement, while others are flat out undeniable and absolutely wonderful in what they do and how they affect the system's performance.
I'd like to point out that in no way am I an expert on noise. Heck, I just started discovering it when I noticed that my streaming rig started to sound much quieter than my Reference Marantz SA-7S1, with a separate DAC. One of the revelatory times was when I was at Trey's house years ago. It took me a while to remember where this post was made, but here I am talking about "noise". Not even on my system! It is very audible, as you are about to read...
So, I was privately speaking with Trey about these "unwanted artifact(s)" and we started talking about what options he would have to do/what he could possibly do to change it. During this discussion, Trey looks down at his phone and jumps up like he just won the lottery or something. After a mad dash out the door, he comes back in with this little box. I'm thinkin', what's he so excited about?
Apparently, he had ordered a 1.5 meter digital cable. Little to my knowledge, apparently the length of the cable is just as much, if not more important than the metallurgy or build quality because of feedback issues. Who knew? Well, apparently he did. So, we unbox and unwrap this cable, shut the system down and within 5 minutes, the system was back up and running, new digital cable installed.
We didn't know what to expect but man, that cable made a pretty remarkable difference in Trey's rig. From top to bottom, the clarity, texture, detail, definition increased in spades (not a subtle difference) and it removed "unwanted artifacts" that were present in the midrange drivers, so you were able to hear things that were always there, but masked. Much more musical information was now easily heard and we both heard things that we did not hear just an hour or two before (or ever on his system).
Everything I was relaying to Trey that was in need of attention got taken care of within 5 minutes. Now, everything is in crystal clear focus with great clarity, texture and definition. Up and down the spectrum of frequencies, there was a noticeable difference.....but that critical midrange issue? Gone. *Poof*. Like it was never there. Now I really wanted to stay!
Now, I have since learned that what the cable swap out did, was reduce the reflections within the cable itself. I didn't know at the time that what I was describing was this "noise" that I am talking about here. 1 cable is all that changed that day. But it helped, very effectively might I add, to thwart what I used to describe back then as "unwanted artifacts". This very thing is part of what I am trying to point out as noise in a system.
Tom
treitz3
1 ·