I assume all of us have some sort of volume control that we can use to control the volume of our systems. Some members of the digital generation eschew old-fashioned preamps/line stages and go for the “straight-in” approach meaning they plug the output of their digital source straight into their amplifier(s) and bypass all of those nasty colorations added by an additional gain stage. However, the purpose of this thread isn’t to debate the merits of using a preamp or going “straight-in,” I’m just saying that we all have some method of adjusting the volume of our systems.
I think we have come to the realization that all recorded music has a playback level that makes that makes each recording sound the most realistic in our systems within the confines of our systems and rooms. The more you turn up the volume, the sound typically gets better up to the point where your system/room hits the wall. darTZeel’s volume control is actually labeled as a “Pleasure Control” with the clockwise arc labeled “more.” In the old days, I used to think that systems that fell apart as the volume control was rotated to the right were what separated the men from the boys. I now realize that is just one indicator of a good system.
In reality-or at least my reality, there is third dimension to the sound we hear and that is the amount of realism we can portray/extract from our recordings. So imagine that if in addition to your volume control, you had another knob to turn and that knob was labeled “Realism.” And now this is where things are going to get a little dicey…
If you have the capability to play back multiple sources, you already have an invisible realism knob. If you are married to the digital world and have no other sources you can or will play back in your system, your realism knob is stuck and can’t be adjusted until further improvements in digital playback hit the market. However, if all you listen to is digital and you spend your time arguing back and forth on forums whether PCM sounds better than DSD and you have a statue of Nyquist on an alter in the corner, it doesn’t matter to you. In your subconscious, you may already think your realism knob is pegged to the right.
For those of us who enjoy having multiple sources, we have a different experience with regards to realism. When I switch from digital to playing LPs, even though the volume knob hasn’t been touched, the realism knob is definitely cranked to the right and we are just on a different level now. Insert tape into the system and hit the play button, and the realism knob is now fully cranked and we are experiencing sound on another level entirely.
I find all of those different levels of realism exciting in their own way. I can certainly understand why people who strictly play back digital in their systems love the sound they are achieving. I certainly enjoy listening to my DSD files. I prepare for every listening session by turning on my system and letting it play for two hours with JRiver on “Play All” mode. I would be lying if I said there weren’t times when I entered my room that the DSD sound was so captivating that I just sat down and let the music pour forth.
If you don’t have different sources to compare in your system (for whatever reason), you will have a fixed version of realism and it will only be altered based on the quality of recordings you are playing back within the source you have chosen. I enjoy traversing the different levels of realism contained within different sources. What say you?
I think we have come to the realization that all recorded music has a playback level that makes that makes each recording sound the most realistic in our systems within the confines of our systems and rooms. The more you turn up the volume, the sound typically gets better up to the point where your system/room hits the wall. darTZeel’s volume control is actually labeled as a “Pleasure Control” with the clockwise arc labeled “more.” In the old days, I used to think that systems that fell apart as the volume control was rotated to the right were what separated the men from the boys. I now realize that is just one indicator of a good system.
In reality-or at least my reality, there is third dimension to the sound we hear and that is the amount of realism we can portray/extract from our recordings. So imagine that if in addition to your volume control, you had another knob to turn and that knob was labeled “Realism.” And now this is where things are going to get a little dicey…
If you have the capability to play back multiple sources, you already have an invisible realism knob. If you are married to the digital world and have no other sources you can or will play back in your system, your realism knob is stuck and can’t be adjusted until further improvements in digital playback hit the market. However, if all you listen to is digital and you spend your time arguing back and forth on forums whether PCM sounds better than DSD and you have a statue of Nyquist on an alter in the corner, it doesn’t matter to you. In your subconscious, you may already think your realism knob is pegged to the right.
For those of us who enjoy having multiple sources, we have a different experience with regards to realism. When I switch from digital to playing LPs, even though the volume knob hasn’t been touched, the realism knob is definitely cranked to the right and we are just on a different level now. Insert tape into the system and hit the play button, and the realism knob is now fully cranked and we are experiencing sound on another level entirely.
I find all of those different levels of realism exciting in their own way. I can certainly understand why people who strictly play back digital in their systems love the sound they are achieving. I certainly enjoy listening to my DSD files. I prepare for every listening session by turning on my system and letting it play for two hours with JRiver on “Play All” mode. I would be lying if I said there weren’t times when I entered my room that the DSD sound was so captivating that I just sat down and let the music pour forth.
If you don’t have different sources to compare in your system (for whatever reason), you will have a fixed version of realism and it will only be altered based on the quality of recordings you are playing back within the source you have chosen. I enjoy traversing the different levels of realism contained within different sources. What say you?
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