Category Archives: Rant

The Perils of Double Blind Testing

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

While in Japan I had an interesting discussion on whether or not one can hear the differences in cables. I am not in the ‘can hear a difference’ camp. To quote from one of my own articles: The first and … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Mysticism, Rant, Testing | 2 Comments

Elementary Arithmetic

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

You have 285,200 births in Australia in 2007, according to the radio this morning, of which an estimated 2,000 are home births. That, says the presenter, is ‘point zero, zero seven per cent of births’. A recent issue of a … Continue reading →

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A Decade of Tuning Tips (Part Two) – 1

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I suspect it was English high fidelity magazines from the second half of the 1970s, and especially the 1980s, that most fostered the irrationality which invaded the world of high fidelity sound. By the end of the 1980s this had … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysticism, Rant | Leave a comment

We’re All Going To Die

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

That’s the the title of a recent editorial in Geare magazine (#56, July/August 2009) from Jez Ford, one of my editors. If you met Jez, you’d learn instantly that he is most certainly not a doom and gloom kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Power consumption, Rant | Leave a comment

Over-rating our capabilities

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Subjective assessment of home entertainment equipment is important because there are characteristics of performance which aren’t well conveyed through measurements. I am not saying that these things aren’t captured by the measurements (thoroughly and carefully conducted); merely that few people … Continue reading →

Posted in Imperfect perception, Mysticism, Rant, Testing, Video | Leave a comment

Apple iTunes, a masterpiece of obfuscation

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Goodness knows when you will see this. Internet for me, at the moment, is thoroughly dead. New computer. Spent Thursday night loading stuff. Likewise Friday morning. During one of its reboots, its graphics card failed. The shop people actually came … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Portable, Rant | Leave a comment

Slander Sony through jumping to conclusions

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Thanks to reader James from Sydney for lending me The Fifth Element on Blu-ray. It arrived in the mail this morning. Thanks also to Theng from Perth, who also offered to make it available. The reason I wanted to examine … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Disc details, Rant | Leave a comment

Do these cables support HDMI 1.3?

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

On lots of Internet forums there is discussion about suitable cables for home theatre. In particular, people frequently ask about HDMI 1.3 cables. The problem is, despite labels on some cables, their capabilities aren’t as clear cut as simple versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, How Things Work, Rant | Leave a comment

Disclosures and subjectivity

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

This morning my attention was drawn to my disclosures page on this site (click on ‘Disclosures’ above). Having more or less forgotten about it, I went and had a read. Two things struck me. First, it was woefully out of … Continue reading →

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The Wall Street Journal on the re-ordering of the music recording industry

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

The Wall Street Journal today has an interesting piece on how international record companies are gradually accommodating themselves to the fact of digital technology. As it puts it: But after suing some 35,000 music fans for illegally downloading songs, music … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Compression, Music, Rant | Leave a comment