Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio and the Milllennials . . .

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marcos Sueiro Bal" <mls2137@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> I like this idea, although I fear it may be more complicated than it 
> seems at first.
> I would also vote for a BLIND version of this. Even though it hurts 
> sometimes, I always find those useful.
> I used to be part of a group that would do blind wine tastings in 
> Chicago; invariably the amateurs would trump the professionals. Would 
> the same thing happen at ARSC...? Are we afraid?
> Mischievously yours,
> marcos
> 
Were participants required to poke their eyes out prior to their
participation...?!
:-)

> Tom Fine wrote:
> > If someone can provide me with CD or transfer audio of a source, I'd 
> > be happy to make files showing the effects of various tape media.
> > I agree that this would be a great ARSC seminar.
> > Perhaps also useful would be the following:
> >
> > 1. a similar comparison with some pure sine and square waves, showing 
> > what distortions are inherent to each type of media. Including, by the 
> > way, brickwall frequency limiting in the CD format.
> >
Okeh...having spent more years than I care to think about trying to
achieve the exact sort of "distortion" needed to reproduce the old
sound of a blues harmonica played through a dispatcher's microphone
fed into the cheapest amp in the pawnshop (WELL before transistors
and such...!)...I can comment on this...!

Square-wave...or even the "pseudo-square-wave"...distortion, created
by overdriving solid-state amplifiers, has a nasty, "squanky" sound
which is not pleasant to listen to...! It might be described as a
sort of "buzzy" sound...probably created by the sharp corners seen
on the waveform...! Most current audio devices create this when they
are overdriven...and it happens because an overdriven solid-state
amplifier simply amplifies up to its upper limit, and then stops
right there...resulting in a flat top for that output wave...!

"Modified sine wave" best describes the result of overdriving a
vacuum tube amplifier. The sound is amplified accurately up to
a given point...but thereafter the amplification process gradually
becomes less efficient; this results in waveforms which have
rounded tops, but are still distorted versions of the input 
signal. This is the "distorted" sound beloved of electric
guitarists and us blues harp players. From a listening 
standpoint, it has a distorted...but MUCH less aggresively so...
sound, which is still fairly pleasant listening (I achieve this
using vintage 5-watt tube amps and inexpensive mikes...!).

I hope that if "Pristine Audio and the Millennials" choose to
employ distortion, it is of the latter variety...?!

Steven C. Barr