Quote:
Originally Posted by RJH[_4_]
Not sure where to start with this. Audioquest:
$10,000 Ethernet cable promises BONKERS MP3 audio experience • The Register
On their web site, they do a 'Computer audio demystified' report:
Computer Audio
page 24:
"More CPU processing power and more RAM make your music playback sound better. Additionally, newer 64-bit operating systems like Windows 7 and Mac OS X tend to offer better sound quality than older 32-bit operating systems. Whether the hard drive you store your music on is internal or external, the quality of the hard drive and how it's connected to your computer impacts your computer audio sound. Higher transfer speeds sound better, so faster spinning hard drives sound better. A 7200RPM drive offers better audio performance than a 5400RPM drive. Solid-state drives with no spinning discs sound better still, but before purchasing a solid-state drive check the specifications for speed and get the fastest transfer speed you can afford."
And it goes on.
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Cheers, Rob |
When I played CDs it would've been inconceivable for me to connect my computer to my hi-fi system and use its disc player for CD replay. Instead, I purchased a dedicated CD player hi-fi component. Likewise, now I'm playing FLAC files I have a dedicated network audio player. I did have a go at using the wife's laptop as a network audio renderer into an external USB DAC. This was my first attempt at playing FLAC files through my stereo. I decided instantly I wouldn't be purchasing a dedicated laptop for the purpose, and proceeded to investigate network audio players.
I like the way Audioquest end their 2012 article with the statement, "The computer audio future is now." Talk about slow on the uptake! I'd been collecting and playing FLAC files on my computer for around about 10 years by then. I've never used MP3 myself, but I assume others have been replaying those types of files for even longer.
It's just plain weird to still read on the web today how network audio is somehow complicated requiring specialist attention. Call me a cynic, but I guess there must be money passing hands somewhere. I'm no computer expert but even I know it merely involves connecting a few components together, no different from any other piece of hi-fi equipment, and I'm an old codger to boot!
To me, it's not the cable which costs £7,000, it's becoming a member of an elite which costs £7,000. It would be completely impractical for everyone to own a country mansion and a Royce, but human nature being what it is, for the price of a small car you too could be a very special person. This striving for publicly acknowledged achievement in a pretty shallow, and somewhat ignorant, world is a godsend for those in marketing.
It really doesn't matter what the item is, simply bumping up the price until fewer and fewer people are willing, or possess the disposable income, to purchase whatever product is being promoted will always find those daft enough to be parted with their money. We all have our weaknesses, this case just happens to be preying on the insecurities of uncertainty, or if you prefer, ignorance.
You'd think education would be our saviour, but it doesn't take long reading around the web to realise pomp and ceremony are valued way above fact on all rungs of society's ladder. It's a bit scary really how something as vulgar as a £7,000 interconnect cable could possibly be perceived as possessing an authentic value, never mind the intellect which attempts to qualify a deserved personal ownership. Yuck! As I say, we all have our foibles, and none of us are immune from ourselves.