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Do you believe in Magic?

Audio Magic, that is.

Let's say that Magic is any effect not explainable by known physical laws. Every audiophile is familiar with debates about Audio Magic, as evidenced by endless threads about power cables.

I recently had an experience that made me question my long held skepticism about Magic. On a whim, I bought some Stillpoints ERS Fabric. I installed it in my preamp (which is filled with noisy digital circuitry) and a reclocker (also noisy) and...

Something happened. I don't know what exactly, but something. Two things in particular seemed to change... the decay of notes, and instrument timbres. Both changed for the better. But where did this change occur? In my listening room? Or in my mind?

If the change was in my listening room, then Magic exists. If the change was in my mind, then Magic does not exist.

One of the great Ideological Divides in audio is the divide between Believers and Skeptics. I honestly don't know if I'm a Believer or a Skeptic.

Do you believe in Magic?

Bryon
bryoncunningham
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
if you can't explain a phenomenon, is that a reason not to believe it ?

are there not some some instances where there is no scientific
explanation for an event ? yet such events are accepted as facts.

so too in audio, some treatment may be a catalyst for a change in the performance in the stereo system. if the treatment can be studied rigorously and through a rigorous experimental design results in statistical significance, it should be accepted, regardless of how outlandish it may seem.
bryoncunningham OP
890 posts
 
08-05-12: Tbg
Audiophile rectal inserts, you need some.
Wow. What a comment. Where do I start? How about...

It seems like you're harboring some hostility toward me since our argument on the fuse thread. Maybe you should talk with someone about it. Help is available.

Might I also suggest that you look around for someone else to pick on. The last two times you tried to bully me, you looked foolish, to put it politely. I gather that, at some level, you're aware of that, which is why you just came out swinging for no reason whatsoever.

And "rectal inserts"? What the...? I don't even know what joke you're ATTEMPTING to make. It's not just unfunny, it's creepy.

Bryon
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
Have you tried a vacuum tubed hard drive?
tmsorosk
1,013 posts
 
Bryon, he likes to bug people that are easily bugged. He's probably chuckling right now.
Some folks don't have much of a life, so having a high school type mentality seems funny to them. You can't help but feel sorry for the guy.
bryoncunningham OP
890 posts
 
08-05-12: Almarg
Did you implement the software installation to the new internal SSD by installing everything from scratch, or by using an imaging program to restore a recently generated image file containing the entire contents of the original HDD, or by using a cloning program?
Hi Al - I cloned the old HDD to the new SSD using a cloning program. But in addition to the new hardware, the new SSD has an updated OS, which of course contains a variety of new software.
Did the volume increase seem like it might perhaps have amounted to 6 db?
Yes, that seems about right.
A 6 db increase would correspond to the bits in each digital sample being shifted up by one bit location. In other words, if at some point in the data path through the computer a 32 or 64 bit word length were being used, and the audio data comprises 16 or 24 bits, if the 16 or 24 bits were shifted up by l bit location toward the most significant of the 32 or 64 bits, that would result in a 6 db volume increase, corresponding to twice the voltage at any given instant.
Very interesting. That's a good theory. There's a fair amount of discussion of 32 vs 64 bit Mac's on the web, but I'm not sure how to make sense of it. My machine is an iMac 2011. I will do some reading and see if I can find anything that confirms your theory.

As always, Al, you are a great detective!

Bryon
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