Anyone recommend a portable FLAC player ?

[tufty]

http://gizmodo.com/dont-buy-what-neil-y ... 1678446860
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/it-was-one-o ... 83039.html

Echoes of http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72347, anyone?

[zip accident]

http://gizmodo.com/dont-buy-what-neil-y ... 1678446860
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/it-was-one-o ... 83039.html

Echoes of http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72347, anyone?

I believe human hearing is variable.

Some people can hear more than others, there are probably people for whom CD is less than good enough. There are probably a lot of people with average or below average hearing who get ripped off by audiofool fashions, but there are probably one or two for whom some of this stuff works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Part ... tone_scale

Hearing twelve notes in an octave is called having perfect pitch, I'm sure I don't have that. Being tone deaf is probably hearing less than eight notes in an octave. What about hearing more than twelve notes in an octave? or only a few less? The less difference, the more things would tend to mess up, so hearing exactly 8 notes is probably a lot better for music than hearing eleven notes in an octave, probably nobody hears sixteen notes in an octave, and I suspect only the profoundly deaf hear less than six.

Music player makers for the masses have to aim to satisfy the majority, and for them, CD is probably good enough.

For all of us, it's down to what is in the cochlea, and that varies between people, probably entirely independently of intelligence or wealth.

This guy's website may be interesting to anyone who takes Partch seriously:

http://x31eq.com/

[Ollie]

Hearing twelve notes in an octave is called having perfect pitch, I'm sure I don't have that.

No it isn't. Perfect pitch means being able to identify (or sing, if you have a decent enough voice) any given pitch without having to hear it (or another known pitch) first. It has nothing to do with how many notes you can hear in an octave. Neither does tone deafness, which is to do with being unable to hear how different pitches relate to each other.

A person with perfect pitch would probably be able to identify at least 24 notes in an octave - the 12 usual ones, plus 12 in between that they would know were off-key.

[Chontler]

Quarter tones are quite common in composition and not necessarily off key.

This is a good article regarding the audiophile phenomena and hairy cochlears and such.

http://xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

Neil Youngs must be old and ragged, there is no way he has access to the higher ranges his hideous gadget reproduces.

[tufty]

I believe human hearing is variable.

It is. It varies mainly by age, sex, and damage one might have encountered along the years. However, even the best of us (girls under 9) can't hear above the nyquist frequency of a standard CD.

Neil Young, as a 70 year old who's spent a huge amount of his life in front of massive speakers, is unlikely to have good hearing. http://www.roger-russell.com/hearing/hearing.htm would suggest getting on for 40dB of attenuation at 8KHz even without his toneless droning on stage.

No, I'm not a fan :)

[zip accident]

Hearing twelve notes in an octave is called having perfect pitch, I'm sure I don't have that.

No it isn't. Perfect pitch means being able to identify (or sing, if you have a decent enough voice) any given pitch without having to hear it (or another known pitch) first. It has nothing to do with how many notes you can hear in an octave. Neither does tone deafness, which is to do with being unable to hear how different pitches relate to each other.

A person with perfect pitch would probably be able to identify at least 24 notes in an octave - the 12 usual ones, plus 12 in between that they would know were off-key.

The hearing thing may be a requirement rather than a definition, but if you can't hear that many, you can't have perfect pitch.

However, while 24 notes might work, 23 would be a complete mess. Then there's the blue note, with african-americans saying white men can't hear or play it (which is certainly racist, and probably sometimes mistaken in my opinion)

[gumboot]

However, even the best of us (girls under 9) can't hear above the nyquist frequency of a standard CD.

Can't hear but can detect, thanks to various distortions.

[VNVObit]

http://gizmodo.com/dont-buy-what-neil-y ... 1678446860
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/it-was-one-o ... 83039.html

Echoes of http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72347, anyone?

Just not quite so expensive though I'd take issue you need to spend hundreds of dollars on headphones. That only holds true if you are listening to music with little/no background noise.

That said the hardware is only the lure (which many have already taken) and the real money would be on the downloads where PonoMusic are looking for their 30% cut on higher priced downloads (Apple emulation!).

Suspect their is some merit though in the approach to sourcing original analog masters and looking to redigitise with the latest technology which is a more likely contributor to an improved listening experience rather than simply having a higher bit/sample rate.

I feel it would be irresponsible to give my clients digital files as their permanent masters, knowing they would eventually disappear or become unusable, so I won't do it.

from
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/why-is-the- ... alog-tape/

[gumboot]

Generally, the grossly unnecessarily high bitrates and sample rates are a means to getting a good safety margin from people who are inclined to cock it up.

We should at least have some vague awareness of this in this forum.

If you look at the work people do (graphically) with 8-bit micros now, here, in the modern world with modern techniques, they demonstrate that you can do some pretty high-quality stuff; while a lot of stuff from back in the day actually looks pretty awful in comparison. Care and attention makes a big difference.

On a retina display, care and attention means fuck-all.

192kHz is retina for your ears.

[Deckard]

Well just got a few DTSCD files for a few Vangelis albums so later a serious listen on my home setup (Fiio X5 and Sennheiser IE800) between the flac albums and these new wav ones - They are roughly double the size at 460mb each but I am still unsure what they actually bring to the audio as how would my earphones support multi-channel sound ? Fuck me just seen a 3.15 gig file for Oxygene in DSD128 - cripes and then seen several head-fi members say DSD is snake oil

[(o)(o)]

...while 24 notes might work, 23 would be a complete mess?

Not because it's a "funny number". 23-TET may have virtues.

BTW 19 is the next temperament up from 12 that can approximate triadic harmony well.

In 12 equal tone scales - as rammed downed westerners throats daily so what we are soft wired for - each note is impure.

A 'true pitch perfect' musician might hear microtones where you hear equal temperament notes in fact they hear in pitch not notes.

Anyway here's what 23 TET sounds like... NOT a complete mess.. it's fucking awesome IMO

[zip accident]

...while 24 notes might work, 23 would be a complete mess?

Not because it's a "funny number". 23-TET may have virtues.

BTW 19 is the next temperament up from 12 that can approximate triadic harmony well.

In 12 equal tone scales - as rammed downed westerners throats daily so what we are soft wired for - each note is impure.

A 'true pitch perfect' musician might hear microtones where you hear equal temperament notes in fact they hear in pitch not notes.

Anyway here's what 23 TET sounds like... NOT a complete mess.. it's fucking awesome IMO

I don't do Flash, that was an "install plugin please" for me.

I'm not saying a 23 note scale would be a mess. I'm saying that if such a case existed, hearing a 24 note scale with ears that naturally heard 23 notes in an octave, would leave more of the notes ambiguous than would be the case with ears that heard 22 notes in an octave. It's a matter of theoretical arithmetic and practical physiology, but if anyone's done science on it, it was probably psychologists.

[(o)(o)]

...while 24 notes might work, 23 would be a complete mess?

Not because it's a "funny number". 23-TET may have virtues.

BTW 19 is the next temperament up from 12 that can approximate triadic harmony well.

In 12 equal tone scales - as rammed downed westerners throats daily so what we are soft wired for - each note is impure.

A 'true pitch perfect' musician might hear microtones where you hear equal temperament notes in fact they hear in pitch not notes.

Anyway here's what 23 TET sounds like... NOT a complete mess.. it's fucking awesome IMO

I don't do Flash, that was an "install plugin please" for me.

I'm not saying a 23 note scale would be a mess. I'm saying that if such a case existed, hearing a 24 note scale with ears that naturally heard 23 notes in an octave, would leave more of the notes ambiguous than would be the case with ears that heard 22 notes in an octave. It's a matter of theoretical arithmetic and practical physiology, but if anyone's done science on it, it was probably psychologists.

Wow

I literally haven't got a clue what that means.

There definitely is cultural learning

Some of it is genetic too

[Chontler]

Perfect pitch shouldn't matter. It auditory photographic memory, a form of eidetic memory.
If someone with that ailment heard an 81 temperament they should still be able to recall any pitch from it.

[Chontler]

Looks like the successor to the Colorfly C4 is out there ladies and gents - introducing the Luxury & Precision LP5





Yet more steampunkish, though maybe not as much as the C4, it sports a whole bunch of crazy specs:

• Straight from the creator of the Colorfly C4 comes the Luxury & Precision LP5 Music Player, a portable audio solution capable of making your lossless files truly shine. Available in two different versions with different internals and approaches to presentation, both the Silver and Gold LP5 bring true 32-bit sound supported by a host of high quality components.
  
  Precise Components
  No matter which model you choose, the LP5 comes loaded with an AK4414 DAC chip, a low resistance chipset, an ALPS volume potentiometer, and a 6-layer gold PCB, ensuring great sound no matter the genre or conditions. Bringing as much detail to the style as the sound, the LP5 has an immediately distinctive wood and aluminum case with a circular LCD for easy navigation. If you want an audio player that resembles a futuristic flask, you’ve just found your new best friend.
  
  Luxurious Sound
  While either the Silver or the Gold LP5 will work wonders with your music, the Gold is slightly better for detail-rich classical music and the silver better matches EDM and other modern music. Both versions deliver clear, highly detailed presentations with an expansive soundstage and enough extension to cater to the entire range without a worry, making the Luxury & Precision LP5 Music Player an excellent companion for any audiophile.
  
  Specs
  Luxury & Precision
  AK4414 DAC chip
  Supports up to 32-bit, 192 kHz playback
  ADI ADP1614 low resistance chipset
  ALPS volume potentiometer
  6-layer 3U Immersion Gold PCB
  1812 A single crown amp chip
  Digital Murata X7R MLCC
  Pure brass electromagnetic shield
  Multiple selectable languages
  Aluminum-lithium alloy shell
  THD: 0.0015% @ 32 Ohms

Gold
Champagne and rosewood case
64 GB capacity
High frequency part Polythioether SMD film capacitors
Ultra low phase noise XO < 160 dB, 0.3 picosecond jitter
Alloy inductors 4.7 UF 4040
18120 double crown op-amp

Silver
Silver and red shadow wood case
32 GB capacity
High frequency part Murata C0G MLCC
1.5 picoseconds TCXO
Taiyo Yuden fully enclosed inductors 4.7 UH 4040
18120 single crown op-amp

They've improved the hideous interface and have added a touch-screen.
They also cost a hideous amount - the gold one is £730.

I want one. I can't have one.

Dammit

http://www.luxuryprecision.net/lp5product.html