John Regehr

like one million years ago, one of the funniest pages on the internet was a collection of links to bogus audiophile gear. this seems to be only in the internet archive now, and it's not the same without the pictures and working links. anyone know of a good modern replacement?

https://web.archive.org/web/20070113104930/http://www.ilikejam.dsl.pipex.com/audiophile.htm

Audiophile @ ILikeJam

ILikeJam - Attaching the electrodes of knowledge to the nipples of audiophiles since 1999

Feb 16 at 2:49amWeb
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16

while we're at it, let's make sure everyone has read the audiophile memcpy post

https://www.audioasylum.com/messages/pcaudio/119979/

RE: A revolution in audio rendering - SBGK - Computer Audio Asylum

RE: A revolution in audio rendering - SBGK - Computer Audio Asylum

Show threadAlex RussellFeb 16
@regehr The hell did I just read?
Show threadSun Microdevil Pte LtdFeb 16
@regehr I'm getting a 403 there?
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@koakuma no idea-- works for me!
Show threadSun Microdevil Pte LtdFeb 16
@regehr IA archived copy seems to be working at least
And that was a hell of a read 
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@koakuma people are amazing, sometimes
Show threadtj usiyanFeb 16
@regehr Ok shame on me for not reading the toot before clicking and reading I guess. “Hard edges produced by memcpy” indeed
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@griotspeak it's so good
Show threadashFeb 16

@regehr

> also most players use malloc to get memory while new is the c++ method and sounds better.

the audiophiles have spoken and we must listen, down with C, all hail C++

Show threadTobin BakerFeb 16
@regehr not only does optimized memcpy sound better, new sounds better than malloc!
Show threadThalia ArchibaldFeb 16
@regehr Someone should make a Herbie for audiophiles, to optimize for audio quality and replace those pesky memcpys with higher fidelity alternatives.
Show threadPer VognsenFeb 16
@regehr With stuff like the memcpy thread and the DMA reply I'm reviving my conspiracy theory that every audiophile is secretly a troll who thinks everyone else is sincere. It's just a bunch of trolls trolling each other. It's trolls all the way down.
Show threadDan PiponiFeb 16
@pervognsen @regehr There's a word for that. "Religion".
Show threadPer VognsenFeb 16
@dpiponi @regehr No joke, I originally had an anecdote about in my draft of that comment--I was baptized, confirmed and went to a Christian boarding school one year but I still thought religion was basically just one of those things adults (except for maybe some frothing fanatics) pretended to believe in.
Show threadPer VognsenFeb 16
@dpiponi @regehr Also in that year at the boarding school we studied Plato in philosophy class and we were introduced to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_lie which felt like confirmation if I ever needed it. Especially since the teacher of that class was the most pious-seeming person at the school, so I took it as a wink and a nod.
Noble lie - Wikipedia

Show threadJosh SimmonsFeb 16
@pervognsen @regehr please check out my 'gold plated' standard library implementation, licencing only costs 1000usd and you can overlay it on existing audio software to improve the clarity and soundstage.
Show threadPer VognsenFeb 16
@dotstdy @regehr 'soundstage' is one of my favorites
Show threadJosh SimmonsFeb 16
@pervognsen @regehr I like how there's two approaches, the "science" approach, where they wack out bamboozling numbers for everything, and then in contrast, the homeopathic approach, where they talk about the sound beyond the sound which defies measurement.
Show threadBrandonFeb 16
@regehr we just learned this week that audiophiles can’t reliably discern sound played through high end cables from sound sent through a trough of wet mud, and now they expect me to believe the allocator has an effect on the sound? Legendary
Show threadknutafFeb 16
@regehr this is art, somehow
Show threadcliffleFeb 16

@regehr I'm trying to think of a plausible reason someone might have this experience... I think the best I've got is

When playing a stream that's too much for the computer's transfer bandwidth, you can get audible artifacts from buffer under runs that can sometimes manifest at consistent frequencies. (This has happened on some DSP systems I've built.) So, like, in theory, messing with optimizations and memcpy *might* have changed the sound in subtle ways?

I mean, it's probably placebo nonsense, but

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧Feb 16
@cliffle @regehr the bandwidths involved would not cause this to happen even on a 2000's PC
Show threadcliffleFeb 16

@whitequark @regehr I had some issues getting 2000s era NT boxes to keep up with multiple DV streams for nonlinear editing, but other than that I basically agree.

Unless something is horribly wrong, of course.

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧Feb 16
@cliffle @regehr oh I wouldn't argue about video at all, it's audio specifically I mean above
Show threadJohn de LargentayeFeb 16

@cliffle @regehr interference between the memory bus (or something) and analog output, where the regularity of memcpy bursts would cause audible interference/noise in the output?

I mean, PC audio outputs have been of poor quality & isolation for a long time before they got better. Think "cell phone buzz"

Show threadDarryl ShpakFeb 16

@regehr @jlargentaye @cliffle I did once use a computer where you could hear the location of windows on the screen through the speakers. Move the window around and the buzz would change.

I love the idea that someone is so far down the rabbit hole that they’re testing the sound quality of different allocation syntax, but is still using the crappy onboard audio.

Show threadMans RFeb 16
@cliffle @regehr In real-time processing, sure. These guys believe passing the audio data through different variants of memcpy and writing it back to disk somehow alters the sound when those files are played back later.
Show threadpenguin42Feb 16
@mansr @cliffle @regehr Well...there was that x86 memcpy that used x87 registers and the emulator I was working with didn't do 80bit maths...
Show threadSnoopJFeb 16
@regehr oh NO
Show threadLindsey KuperFeb 16
@regehr what in tarnation
Show threadHeath BordersFeb 16

@regehr in a blind test audiophiles couldn't distinguish memory copied from a banana or mud compared to memory copied from a ram disk

https://www.tomshardware.com/speakers/in-a-blind-test-audiophiles-couldnt-tell-the-difference-between-audio-signals-sent-through-copper-wire-a-banana-or-wet-mud-the-mud-should-sound-perfectly-awful-but-it-doesnt-notes-the-experiment-creator

In a blind test, audiophiles couldn't tell the difference between audio signals sent through copper wire, a banana, or wet mud — 'The mud should sound perfectly awful, but it doesn't,' notes the experiment creator

Who knew listening to a banana sounded so good?

Tom's Hardware
Show threadJason PattersonFeb 16
@regehr the best audio apps use gold plated Monster heaps
Show threadRob RicciFeb 16
@regehr visiting that post every so often is a sort of a pilgrimage now
Show threadLRFeb 16
@regehr i love how audiophiles expose nothing but their own subconscious prejudices.
Show threadMans RFeb 16

@regehr You think that's bad? Take a look at Machina Dynamica.

https://machinadynamica.com/

Machina Dynamica Web Site

Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@mansr "INVISIBLE and not amenable to absorption by ANY color" amazing
Show threadChris SiebenmannFeb 16

@regehr You might be interested in the classic 1982 Frank Van Alstine discussion of magic speaker cables. It's in the 1982 issue of Audio Basics but you can only download them as a set of PDFs², so the most convenient form is an old Usenet article¹. Basic version: making cables is very expensive, so all small volume magic audio cables already exist for some other purpose and weren't designed with specific audio qualities.

¹ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.audio.tech/c/HjLVIESoBDs/m/z4KdgD2ubpsJ
² https://avahifi.com/pages/audio-basics-newsletters

Do speaker cables "improve" the sound?

Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@cks love it!
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16

@cks I have no audiophile bones in my body, but a long time back, during the earlier days of lossy codecs (the 90s), I had a few test songs that had so much going on in them, that I could generally tell the difference between an mp3 and a WAV, even giving the mp3 encoder a pretty decent bit budget. I believe this was one of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGRgAULYgWE

since then, encoders have gotten a lot better and I no longer bother with this sort of activity

Dream Theater - "Pull Me Under"

YouTube
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@cks (I also had a good set of Grado headphones. still do, but I mostly don't bother with them, either. I also used to have a really good external DAC, and don't bother with that either -- the Macbook Pro headphone DAC seems absolutely adequate)
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@cks also I now have pretty significant tinnitus and while I still love to listen to music, I'm better off not thinking about my hearing very carefully, since that makes me extra aware of the ringing noise
Show threadAlaric Snell-PymFeb 16
@regehr I remember that site! And I'm nostalgic for web sites hosted at pipex 😥
Show threadandrew blinnFeb 16
@regehr i feel """real'""" audiophile gear exceeded the parody along every dimensions
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@disconcision but I don't think it was a parody at all, it linked to stuff that was actually for sale
Show threadandrew blinnFeb 16
@regehr :/ :/ :/
Show threadPhilippa CowderoyFeb 16
@regehr @disconcision either way I want a midi-controllable 303 with GaN diodes just because
Show threadTom VerbeureFeb 16

@regehr It’s tempting to suggest the CD Shaver as a replacement, but it doesn’t qualify because it was a real product… 🤦‍♂️

https://youtu.be/f-QxLAxwxkM?si=iRlvfL7ovKeSniR2

Shaving Compact Discs to improve the sound (?!)

YouTube
Show threadJohn RegehrFeb 16
@tom_verbeure I believe the original web page was all real products! for some definition of real
Show threadJona 🐳Feb 16
@regehr Archimago is good on the subject. Scroll down to the YouTube video here as an example. http://archimago.blogspot.com/2026/02/more-audio-potpourri-whats-best-sample.html
More Audio Potpourri: What's the best sample rate converter? The other father of MP3 (James D. Johnston "JJ"). Are measurements important? And TAS' "objective" confusion.

A blog for audiophiles about more objective topics. Measurements of audio gear. Reasonable, realistic, no snakeoil assessment of sound, and equipment.

Show threadRupert ReynoldsFeb 16

@regehr That was the proper, steam Internet :-)

I kind of like the confession at the end "years ago I could be found polishing the mains plug pins on my amplifier with Brasso", when in truth there is some vague possibility that doing this might cure noise on the power supply, or a nasty habit of detecting AM radio signals :-)