Category Archives: Audio

Is digital inferior to analogue audio?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Stephen Dawson

Linn Products is a very famous UK high fidelity equipment firm. It really came to prominence in the 1970s in making the argument that the turntable had been overlooked as a critical component in the playback chain. It’s contribution at … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Codecs, Imperfect perception, Testing | 3 Comments

Efficiency

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Stephen Dawson

Have you ever wondered how they get the sound so loud in cinemas, not to mention rock concerts? It isn’t by applying lots of power, although that helps. Mostly it is by using highly efficient loudspeakers. That is, loudspeakers that … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio | 1 Comment

Magic digits

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve just been thoroughly berated by the proprietor of a website called ‘The Advanced Audiophile Press‘. He (I assume) did not like my remarks on Peter Belt’s various nostrums for improving the sound of audiophile gear. I have responded to … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Imperfect perception, Mysticism | 6 Comments

[Re-post] Crushing Because They Can

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

[This is a repost of the original item. It’s unchanged, except for this intro. The reason for reposting it (and deleting the original) is that the original has attracted over 20,000 attempted spam comments. I’m hoping this action will stop … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Codecs, Music | Leave a comment

Another view: high res audio is a waste

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

If you want to know lots about how digital audio works, and a pretty damned convincing explanation as to why high resolution audio (24 bit, up to 192kHz sampling) is a waste, I can’t recommend too highly this piece from … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Codecs | 2 Comments

Interesting way of getting sound

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

Watch this video and see if you can see how it works: The Kaiser Baas product, called the ‘CONTACT’, is just under $60. My first thought was that it senses the vibration, or has a little microphone built in. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Portable | Leave a comment

Why do they do it?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

I was looking for fine music — multichannel if possible — to listen to earlier today. But I didn’t want to switch on the projector or a TV to navigate through menus, so that ruled out (sort of) DVD Audio. … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Codecs, Music | 3 Comments

½ a decibel louder

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

I rather like audiophile music brands. It’s nice to have recordings captured with integrity, often with higher than usual resolution, sometimes with surround sound. I like Blue Coast Records for just that reason. I’ve downloaded one of its DSD files … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, CD, Mysticism, Rant | 3 Comments

Hiding inside the audio streams

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

Well, here is where a blog post was supposed to go. But it got totally out of control, and turned itself into a 1,200 word article. A very interesting one I like to think. So interesting that I ought to … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Blu-ray, Codecs, Giveaway | 2 Comments

A bold, silly statement

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Stephen Dawson

UK Guardian writer John Harris says ‘The sound quality is way better than anything digital’. And he is referring to vinyl. He is a lefty and seems to be suggesting that listening to music on vinyl is, in the words … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Rant, Vinyl | 2 Comments