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| What's special about expensive "audiophile" amp/DAC? |
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| Calvin:
Hi, up to a certain price range You can expect better quality parts and generally more effort put into the device. Does this translate to better sound? Not necessarily so ..... sometimes yes, sometimes not. From a certain pecuniar level on the technical quality won´t rise any more ... in fact it is quite often the opposite. The ´value´ is typically to find in the ´chique´ and image. Optical appearance, design, haptic and brand name become more important than actual technical or sound quality. It should be kept in mind that audio is mostly a luxury and lifestyle market, where price and rationale are typically excluding each other. Also to be kept in mind is that in these markets the ´true users´ i.e those who are real listeners are probabely a small minority while the majority are rather proud owners. The problem beeing that hearing is a individual sense. Everyone has his /her own individual ´listening experience´ and taste which differs from other´s experiences and tastes. This is due to the fact that listening is almost exclusivly a brain activity, in gross contrast to the pure physical working of a microfone. As such it shows marvellous capabilities on one hand, but can also be easily tricked/fooledand is influenced by numerous non-physical, non-acoustic factors. The trick may be rather obvious like a shiny champagne coloured casing, or so subtle that it runs below the consciousness treshold. A listening sensation may be real even though there´s no physical difference. May sound strange but that´s the way humans function .. we are no logic controlled Volcanians. Audiophool´s failure is probabely only that they tend to generalize their listening experience, even if it are outrageous claims. regards Calvin |
| daqq:
--- Quote ---(As based on my very limited experience, I can't think of anything that will make BOM cost that much) --- End quote --- To be fair, some seem to use very expensive components, see: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/totaldac3/1.html Whether these components are actually contributing anything useful to the sound, in particular, when the core R2R DAC made up of Vishay 0.01% resistors seems to be driven by a mundane 74HC574 is another question. |
| rdl:
Calvin has a point in that appearance and style are important to many people. You could build a perfectly adequate house very cheaply using little more than concrete block, plywood, 2x4s and foam, but most people would rather pay more for something that looked a bit nicer. |
| ve7xen:
--- Quote ---I'm just curious whether if there's a good explanation technical wise. --- End quote --- The 'explanation' is that 'good enough' is never good enough for people seeking perfection. No, you won't be able to hear the difference, but you can chase that last incremental 'improvement' forever. Some audiofool equipment goes far beyond this, but there is certainly a significant difference in cost and engineering effort between a low-end consumer product and a high-end one that is designed on engineering principles to be as good as possible (and not just gold-plated power cable rubbish). That doesn't mean you'll necessarily be able to hear the difference, but that doesn't mean there's nothing different or that one isn't objectively better. I think an element of this is that it's virtually impossible to find normal consumer products with good quality audio implementations. It seems to be a low priority, and even if the BOM and engineering cost of doing a decent job is pretty low, they don't bother because consumers don't care. So if you want a decent implementation, it seems you almost have to go towards dedicated 'audiophile' products. There are certainly segments of this market that don't go too hard into the woo or crazy prices and try to just do things properly. |
| GlennSprigg:
It's not just the sound system, but the ROOM DESIGN !!! Anyway, us oldies will always rave about Heated Valves having the warmth/timbre. :) |
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