Computer Audio Asylum: RE: 44.1 kHz shown scientifically to be inadequate by Phelonious Ponk Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

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Posted by Phelonious Ponk (A ) on July 29, 2009 at 06:42:30

In Reply to: RE: 44.1 kHz shown scientifically to be inadequate posted by Ryelands on July 28, 2009 at 11:09:45:

Well, I've skimmed the studies, read the HiFi Critic artcle, gotten, I think, a basic grip on what was tested and is being reported. And I have read more than I'll write.

My gut reaction is that the title of the original post has a bit of a time misalignment itself. Instead of reading...

"44.1 kHz shown scientifically to be inadequate"

...it should say...

"44.1 kHz shown to be scientifically inadequate."

I'm not being flippant. There appear to be so many things missing from these studies that have a profound effect on what is both measurable and perceived in a real listening experience that it is difficult to judge what, if anything, can be concluded from them. Just to name a few -- multiple drivers of different sizes and designs, crossovers, room acoustics and comb filtering effects, all of which have an effect on timing that is likely to be much more dramatic, or at least very different, than the deliberate misalignment of two identical ribbon tweeters.

But the most glaring gap, the thing that is missing that simply can't be taken out of the equation and leave us with anything that is meaningful is MUSIC.

I don't listen to square waves on ribbon tweeters devoid of crossovers, etc. I listen to music through a complex system in a complex listening environment where there are many components and environmental conditions capable of changing or masking everything these studies "heard."

Don't get me wrong. If studies like these can get the record industry to switch to higher resolution formats, more power to them. We certainly have nothing to lose by an increase in the absolute quality of our source material. But before any of us can conclude, or even responsibly imply, that 44.1kHz is "inadequate," we'll need to have audibility and preference confirmed in controlled listening tests in which people are listening to music on music reproduction systems. And we'll need a study that is at least attempting to ascertain audible differences between sample rates, not driver alignments.

This isn't that. The study I linked yesterday is. And it came to the opposite conclusions. Such is the ambiguity of science and art.

P

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