Yup, James. You read me right- with eyeballs, not a laser. Steve ========================= Steven Smolian 301-694-5134 Smolian Sound Studios --------------------------------------------------- CDs made from old recordings, Five or one or lifetime hoardings, Made at home or concert hall, Text and pics explain it all. at www.soundsaver.com ========================= ----- Original Message ----- From: "James L Wolf" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 3:33 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] CD writing programs > Here's my take on this exchange. Science is great. Science is > useful. Long live the science of sound. But any science is only as good > as its concepts and tools of measurement. For audio science those tools > have developed greatly in the past decade and I assume they will > continue to. Steve's anecdote that many techies saw no problem with > early digital illustrates that they did not have the tools to "see" what > the audiophile and engineer could hear, that it sounded like poop. > Similarly, Steve seems to be suggesting that there could be other > factors in the conversion from wav. to CD-audio that aren't picked up by > the current tools of measurement, but which he can hear. Or if he's not > suggesting that, I am. > I don't think that's all that outrageous. > I've heard stories about the early days of hi-fi and the > measurements used by technicians and advertisers of equipment. THD, was > a big one, still is I guess. But manufacturers found ways to make their > measurements look good usually at the expense of sound quality. Tested > great, sounded terrible. > The ear, while subjective and not quantifiable, is a very subtle > instrument, especially when it's connected to a trained nervous system. > The ear's findings, especially when they are considered carefully, > should never be dismissed out of hand. They point the way to better > science. > > James > > >>> [log in to unmask] 03/20/03 12:39PM >>> > > I remember the early days of digital at the AES when certain people > reappeared regularly to tell us that "bits is bits." Then jitter, least > significan bit and other digital ills were discovered, analyzed, > understood and measuring equipment designed to quantify variations. I > suspect the same will prove the pattern with CD writing programs as > well. > > Steve Smolian > > > > > > > ========================= > Steven Smolian 301-694-5134 > Smolian Sound Studios > --------------------------------------------------- > CDs made from old recordings, > Five or one or lifetime hoardings, > Made at home or concert hall, > Text and pics explain it all. > at www.soundsaver.com > =========================