Tinkling glass, cat, door latch…………… The TRUE audiophile !

5 second silence at the start of every ECM record.... ahhh... wait.... might be too long though....

Miaow!

G

So glad I’m not a “true audiophile” :-)

I think the most (in)famous of these noises were Roy’s (in)famous “three tings” on an Elvis track that were supposed to indicate whether your system, especially your mains, was in proper shape.

I tried. I did everything systematically possible. I strained every auditory thingy I possess.

I never heard them.

Sigh.

Adam Zielinski posted:

5 second silence at the start of every ECM record.... ahhh... wait.... might be too long though....

No static ? good point !

No RF interference ? good point !

The beginnings of a true audiophile

GraemeH posted:

Miaow!

G

Ah ! yes Graeme. I forgot the cat !

Eloise posted:

So glad I’m not a “true audiophile” :-)

Not everybody can reach the required skill level Eloise.

Try not to despair. Mind you, you do hide your despair rather well 

Nick Lees posted:

I think the most (in)famous of these noises were Roy’s (in)famous “three tings” on an Elvis track that were supposed to indicate whether your system, especially your mains, was in proper shape.

I tried. I did everything systematically possible. I strained every auditory thingy I possess.

I never heard them.

Sigh.

I'm intrigued Nick.....

Roy ? (George ?)

Which Elvis track and how many seconds into the track ?

Seems like you USED to be a true audiophile, but it's a perishable skill that needs constant honeing !

Perhaps you'll have to re-establish the Tonbridge Well Riders (?)

I think Nick is referring to Roy K Riches' CD that did the rounds some years ago.  

However, the less said about some of his (not strictly to code) mains solutions the better...

Bonzo’s squeaky pedal on “Since I’ve Been Loving You” on LZ III. Once you know it’s there you can’t unhear it.

Sorry.

It was dear old Roy Riches, banned of this parish for misdemeanours of the mains kind, Though in fairness his guides to setting up mains spurs were very effective (though over the top in some ways). He was a pioneer and helped inspire me to solving my (serious) mains issues.

He made some of us a demo CD (to which I made a small contribution in a Dreadzone-stylee) that featured a live Elvis track. And on that track, in a near-silence between phrases, one could apparently hear three ting-like sounds (fingers the left hand letting go of guitar strings?) that I couldn’t even pretend to hear. I may have it somewhere...

Richard Dane posted:

I think Nick is referring to Roy K Riches' CD that did the rounds some years ago.  

However, the less said about some of his (not strictly to code) mains solutions the better...

Roy’s basic mains ideas were strictly legal. They then took a turn for the “exciting”. What he did do is point me and my very proper electrician at the use of 10 mm sq mains wire and 15 amp round pin fuseless plugs (and the appropriate RCB elements) that were much better than 13 amp fused versions.

I politely turned down the more “exciting“ versions. 

" You look good to me" Oscar Peterson. " we get Requests ".

That bit at the start after playing sitting down with the bow, puts it on the floor, stands up and plays with fingers.

It’s a mystery to me.....

Listening to Roger Waters’ Amused to Death, I find it uncanny and a bit unnerving to have an old soldier sitting on the sofa right beside me recounting his tale from WW1. The first time I turned to ask how he got in my house, though now it is so normal now that I almost offer him a drink.

Not a hidden gem, though I find I have to be sitting dead centre for maximum effect.

Innocent Bystander posted:

Listening to Roger Waters’ Amused to Death, I find it uncanny and a bit unnerving

Indeed. The QSound effect used in Amused To Death (original CD) is astounding for projecting sounds in three-dimensional space. You sit there thinking "wow, I didn't know my system/speakers were capable of that kind of imaging!". Not just side-to-side, but depth and height as well. So scary good at times, the subtle projections may actually catch you looking behind yourself to see who or what just entered the room. The barking dog does actually sound as if coming from outside. The thunder somehow manages to roll across the room as if from above. The Qsound technology probably has little to do with musicality, rather pure hi-fi spatiality. An incredible accomplishment for a redbook CD as I typically only find this level of imaging in vinyl replay.

Few years ago the clever marketeers in the US coined a new trademark 2C3D (2 Channel, 3 Dimensions) which denoted a system with incredible imaging. The system was based on Avalon speakers, Spectral Electronics, MIT cables and a forest of Tube traps. In this system, the barking dog you mention came from behind the listening position.  Neat trick. Unfortunately, while the system could throw a huge soundstage, musically it was incredibly boring with no sense of that drive and rhythm so loved by Naim aficionados.  I took a few CDs to the demo. One that had practically bounced me out my chair 2 days previously left me entirely unmoved through the 2C3D system. 

I only know that in Amused to death you must expect, at the beginning, to hear a dog's bark some ten/fifteen mt. at your right, like coming from the neighbors' patio. Since I actually have neighbors on the right with a patio and a dog, I will never know if it's the real thing or the trick. Too bad. M.

Don Atkinson posted:

 

What other BITS of track do you know exis, that others, with far lesser systems, 

There was a wonderful cartoon in (IIRC) Punch many years ago.  Two middle-aged men standing near a very large loudspeaker.  One says to the other "If you listen closely you can hear the 3rd trombone dropping his handkerchief just here"

Pink Floyd at the time of Final Cut were playing with what IIRC was called holographic recording - I assume that QSound is a development from that. However, it works on all sorts of equipment and doesn’t have any negative effect on the sound: indeed, Amused to Death is one of the best quality recordings I’ve heard (though I’ve only heard digital versions), and it certainly grips me every time I play it.

Its been a while since I played Amused to Death,  not something I go to for 'music' TBH.   Yes the effects are ..... lets say 'amusing'.  Some of it is amazing considering its 2 channel & the speakers are in front of me.    The one that catches me out every time is the very loud section at the end of track 5 (if I remember the right number)  each time it makes me fear for the speakers survival & I go to grab the remote volume control.       I'll give it a run tonight.   

Mike-B posted:

Its been a while since I played Amused to Death,  not something I go to for 'music' TBH.   Yes the effects are ..... lets say 'amusing'.  Some of it is amazing considering its 2 channel & the speakers are in front of me.    The one that catches me out every time is the very loud section at the end of track 5 (if I remember the right number)  each time it makes me fear for the speakers survival & I go to grab the remote volume control.       I'll give it a run tonight.   

One of my mainstay regular plays - for the music, the effects being incidental, things like the dog just creating an ambient atmosphere. Having the old veteran soldier sitting next to you just adds to the realism of the tale he is telling.

I don't normally listen for such things but now and then it's fun.

There's supposedly a 'cha cha cha' said by one person on Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. I think HiFi Choice Mag had a list of all these oddities at some point in a feature article I read.

I remember QSound. Bomb the Bass - Winter in July was also recorded in it. I also remember Tomorrow's World doing a feature about it.

There was another Punch cartoon:

This CD's for real hi-fi buffs. It reproduces with total accuracy the sickening crunch and sizzle of a stylus hitting an old-fashioned vinyl disc

An unintended additional sound on some classical recordings is the rumble of underground trains below the recording venue, Kingsway Hall. Odd when you first hear it, but adds to the ambience once you realise what it is.