Food for Thought ........some more 'Ethanism' !

[RCHeliGuy]

Ethan is a Facebook friend of mine. I own a copy of his book and I believe it was well written. He is also is involved in some interesting projects that I enjoy following like his null box project.

This thread was started because of a video that Ethan was in where he tried to debunk some audio myths. Obviously he is not 100% successful.

I consider his type of educating the masses nothing short of a public service and I stand by that.

Crossing a line??? Gordon, we tend to agree on politics, but I still consider "snowflake" to be a negative attribute.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Good morning Mark,

We both know where we stand. I will let others discuss the pros and cons of EW.

FWIW, I have no idea what you mean by your "snowflake" comment. If you are calling me a "flake" for my position on EW, that's fine with me. This isn't the first time that has occurred.

Best,

Gordon

 

[Speedskater]

I too have enjoyed reading Ethan's pages over the years. But he rubs some people the wrong way.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Gordon, I thought the snowflake comment was obvious by it's context about you thinking I've crossed some arbitrary line of decorum. The only reason my support of Ethan's work bothers you is because you don't agree with him.

You have also fished persistently for apologies to comments that appear to have hurt your feelings.

Yes Ethan rubs "some" people the wrong way, but frankly I think being provocative is an asset in this snake oil infested market.

 

[Gordon Gray]

No Mark. It wasn't obvious to me.

Thank you for your passive - aggressive honesty.

Trump is also very provacative.

Gordon

 

[RCHeliGuy]

No Mark. It wasn't obvious to me.

Thank you for your passive - aggressive honesty.

Trump is also very provacative.

Gordon

I thought I was being pretty straight forward. Sorry I wasn't obvious enough for you.

Being provocative is simply a tool that can be used by anyone. Your comparison is sad, very sad

Anyway, let's call it quits on this train of thought.
I'll respectfully let you have the last word if you want. There is nothing more to be said.

 

[RyanB]

Anyways.... So...... how about this weather we have been having?

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Anyways.... So...... how about this weather we have been having?

mid- 80's in October ? ugh! I'm looking forward to it cooling off, but it's not cooling down any time soon.

 

[Pneumonic]

Any update on Ethan's project?

Chiming in (late) on the measurements debate. Life in the sub 20kHz audio world is well known and has been cited and understood for eons. Nothing complicated here; it's just electrical voltages and boils down to this:

1. Do you believe frequency, amplitude and phase completely describes an audio voltage signal?
2. Do you believe we have test instruments that are fully capable of measuring frequency, amplitude and phase?
3. Do you believe we know what the limits are of human hearing relative to said frequency, amplitude and phase attributes?
4. Do you believe Scully and Mulder were onto something?

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Any update on Ethan's project?

Chiming in (late) on the measurements debate. Life in the sub 20kHz audio world is well known and has been cited and understood for eons. Nothing complicated here; it's just electrical voltages and boils down to this:

1. Do you believe frequency, amplitude and phase completely describes an audio voltage signal?
2. Do you believe we have test instruments that are fully capable of measuring frequency, amplitude and phase?
3. Do you believe we know what the limits are of human hearing relative to said frequency, amplitude and phase attributes?
4. Do you believe Scully and Mulder were onto something?

I just asked him for an update. I'll let you know what he says.

BTW I wish it were as simple as what you mentioned. That gray mushy stuff can really screw with reality. On some days my stereo sounds fantastic. On other days it sounds a bit dull. Given similar humidity and barometric pressure the only variable is me. When I have recently exercised it sounds better. If I'm excited about something it sounds better. The key being that my perception is quite variable and dependent on a large number of variables.

The problem is not that we can't measure a signal. The problem is that we can't remotely guess how a person will perceive that exact same signal on a day to day basis. If I happened to change something on a day where I was more receptive to it sounding better, than I might falsely assume that what I changed actually changed something even if it measured as the same.

 

[Speedskater]

4. Do you believe Scully and Mulder were onto something?

Is that from the 'X-files' ?

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Yes, X-files.

Ethan estimated that it is still a few months out.

He said he is only getting to test on weekends and he a number of talented people helping, but they are not being paid for their work so he can't push them.

 

[Pneumonic]

I just asked him for an update. I'll let you know what he says.

BTW I wish it were as simple as what you mentioned. That gray mushy stuff can really screw with reality. On some days my stereo sounds fantastic. On other days it sounds a bit dull. Given similar humidity and barometric pressure the only variable is me. When I have recently exercised it sounds better. If I'm excited about something it sounds better. The key being that my perception is quite variable and dependent on a large number of variables.

The problem is not that we can't measure a signal. The problem is that we can't remotely guess how a person will perceive that exact same signal on a day to day basis. If I happened to change something on a day where I was more receptive to it sounding better, than I might falsely assume that what I changed actually changed something even if it measured as the same.

Thanks.

BTW, an audio device has no sense of emotion or feelings .... all it does is process an electrical voltage. All of the emotions and feelings are added later, by your brain; the audio device has nothing to do with that.

We can absolutely measure the electrical and acoustic signals that make up the sounds that constitute a musical performance we hear. And we can do so down way below picosecond accuracy and < 0dB SPL. We can measure with accuracy and precision that surpass the human ear and brain by orders of magnitude, and we can absolutely measure the signals that make up a recorded and replayed performance, to 100% accuracy in both signal level and timing.

It really is just about Mulder and Scully

 

[RCHeliGuy]

FYI, A quote from Ethan

"I'm pleased to announce that the second edition of my book The Audio Expert was just released. I worked on this for about six months, clarifying existing content and adding much new information. The book now totals 808 pages! The good news is the publisher, Focal Press, didn't raise the price. This page on my web site has links to buy the book on Amazon, and to my web store where I sell signed copies with additional content:"

 

[Speedskater]

I wish the sub-title was:
"Everything You Need to Know to be an Audio Expert'

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Apparently Ethan put a picture of his Null Tester on the cover of his 2nd Edition book.

However it's still in progress.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Ethan has officially got his Null Tester working "fabulously" and is currently taking on high end RCA cables for testing.

One guy offered to send him some Matrix HD23 cables, but others are coming.

Should be interesting. He has simplified the box quite a bit from the picture above.

He will be testing with baseline $2 RCA cables and all the way up.

 

[Speedskater]

Is there a link to the 'Null Tester' ? I didn't see anything on his page.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Is there a link to the 'Null Tester' ? I didn't see anything on his page.

I see his updates on Facebook. He just has the one testing unit right now and hasn't put them into production.

 

[Speedskater]

If it's only on FaceBook, then I'll never see it.