I’ve been listening to operas and classical music for hours on end in vinyl, it feels effortless. That part of this argument is undeniable. Great debate and discussion.
One doesn't need test equipment to know that analog sounds superior to PCM, but I find it fascinating that there is such a test that shows increased stress factors. And it goes without saying that reducing ones stress, no matter how little, equates to better health. Although strides have been made in DACs and CD players, improving the sound of PCM, it never sounded as good to me as analog, that is until purchasing a DAC that converts PCM to DSD. Sounds like the chip developed for Mark Levinson's new DAC achieves similar results compared to DACs that convert PCM to DSD. I take my hat off to Mr Levinson for having the fortitude and integrity to speak out about his findings, despite the backlash he knew that might be headed his way.
Excellent. I record my vinyl to DSD for years now. I think the DSD is much much closer to the analog. I agree, there is something wrong with PCM. Humans have amazing senses and and the 20-20k is just blah. We can’t trust that anymore. PCM vs analog is another thing we need to look into. The problem is all these new albums are now PCM based. With respect to frequency ranges…Can you feel things outside of this range? Sure you can.
Goodness me. This guy doesn't understand how digital audio works at all, evidence by his description of it not being "continuous". He should watch Monty Montgomery video showing that stair-steps don't really exist in digital audio. Once the sampling frequency is filtered out biezier curves form between the samples reconstituting the original signal completely as a pure waveform. I could understand if they said that when working with digital having extended bandwidth particularly in the HF, led to fatigue especially with speakers that don't have very nice HF response - i could see that but this is just digital bashing by the usual ignorant analogue junkies. DSD PCM the result is still a pure analogue waveform at the output - no stair-steps. I listen to Spotify all day on decent monitors while i program software and work on electronic projects and i don't get fatigued ever. This was not any kind of properly conducted test and the results are coincidental at best.
I listened to the entire Pink Floyd Animals remaster two nights ago, streamed from Tidal and played through Kii Audio Three. I was mesmerized the entire time, surrounded by sound well outside the speakers. I do have the LP as well and have not listened to it in years. Maybe I need to fire it up and compare. But I am completely happy with the simplification of streaming PCM and the active Kii Three speakers. Very interesting topic, thanks for posting, Jason. I've never heard of C-Wave, so some reading for me in the future.
The sound without a doubt. It took me 20 seconds to be convinced the Maria was different to anything I listened to before (among which Mark Levinson gear from before and after Harmon). Don’t have evidence about the health benefits, but what Mark says about how health should be defined, matches the way I see it. Music is good for one’s soul, and indeed playing music on the Maria can take far longer than before on other equipment.
I did home hack test 2 jbl eon pro speakers one using reverb on in jbl app one off for year now .. The one with reverb on all that hear bring up how really good it sounds .. the other no one says anything. I also like the same one ! Also using ps audio direct stream dsd dac i can listen for 12 hours no fatige Compared to pcm dacs 😊 if pcm is truly cause it needs to be fixed 😊
True...as I mentioned with the commonality bias example, sometimes a test may show it's proving one thing, but it's actually proving something else. The key here though is that he pledges to do more testing in the future, so we'll see how things transpire on that issue, but I don't even think the health claim stuff is necessary.
There's some EQ too... It's all outlined in the patent for exact details. As for a "comparison", the best way is for YOU to listen to those options on a familiar system... Even better if you don't know which format is playing... And choose what you like best, if any. It's easy for every format to create a war of words based on technical things. The proof is seeing if you can hear those respective technical benefits. I personally think many people will choose the Daniel Hertz C-Wave over DSD, MQA and upsampling... but it doesn't matter what others think. If you can hear something better blind in any of those formats, then use it and don't worry about other people's comparisons.
@@AudiophileJunkie yes should of went further but . And i feel that it is the reverb. As i also play guitar and you know reverb is a must as sounds better . Glad to see you question him further and also i stream 4 to 5 k tracks a month always have music on my blood work fine after listening as much as i do i should be ill .. So i do say its not long term and as you said about repeat after hearing once and see ! This for sure needs more testing ..
Surely you don't believe what he is saying ? He should go back to school and learn about Fourier Transform and Nyquist sampling theorem ;) There are many other factors that may explain what he is saying such as extreme dynamic range, extended bandwidth, lower distortion and coloration etc none of which has anything to do with digital sampling but they always want to kick PCM for some reason. Sounds like another MQA money making racket :(
I brought up all the reasonable questions and told him that the evidence isn't there yet for me on the health side. He pledges to do more in that area. As far PCM, I can listen to it just fine for hours and many millions do so easily. However, it doesn't mean it's perfect or other have different experiences. Stay tuned for where I talk strictly about listening to the gear in Italy for more perspective, but I've given over 2 hours already of content, so people can decide for themselves based on the best information possible information I can give them from all sides.
@@AudiophileJunkie The old saying of "correlation is not neccesarily causation " applies here. There are plenty of examples of unlistenable analog recordings such as vinyl with prodigious amounts of inner groove distortion. Everyone had an album or two like that at one stage :(
Yes...that was part of my pushback...there are anecdotal reports of people not liking digital, but there's millions who voluntarily choose to listen to digital over vinyl each day as well. The mastering is often the "causation" of what one prefers on SQ metrics more than the format. It's important not to use primitive or anecdotal evidence for anything prematurely.
@@AudiophileJunkie Also to add to that if Mark says he cannot tolerate PCM recordings and prefers DSD then he should be able to pick one over the other in a double blind comparison. Should be the difference between chalk and cheese right ? ;)
Jason - Wow, way to go with grilling the guy with direct questions. He’s an artist and you almost brought the guy to tears. Constructive criticism - Perhaps you can work on your interviewing skills.
Lol ..he was just fine and handled my questions. We've become friends and actually talked for an hour on the phone just today. It doesn't mean I'll not ask tough questions when applicable of ANYBODY, and I think the interview clearly showed that there's more to the story, but also that the questions were all valid based on the information currently available.
I’ve been listening to operas and classical music for hours on end in vinyl, it feels effortless. That part of this argument is undeniable. Great debate and discussion.
This makes real sense, thank you for sharing this.
One doesn't need test equipment to know that analog sounds superior to PCM, but I find it fascinating that there is such a test that shows increased stress factors. And it goes without saying that reducing ones stress, no matter how little, equates to better health.
Although strides have been made in DACs and CD players, improving the sound of PCM, it never sounded as good to me as analog, that is until purchasing a DAC that converts PCM to DSD. Sounds like the chip developed for Mark Levinson's new DAC achieves similar results compared to DACs that convert PCM to DSD.
I take my hat off to Mr Levinson for having the fortitude and integrity to speak out about his findings, despite the backlash he knew that might be headed his way.
Great interview.
Thanks for preparing, presenting & posting this cool video
My pleasure
great interview
Excellent. I record my vinyl to DSD for years now. I think the DSD is much much closer to the analog. I agree, there is something wrong with PCM. Humans have amazing senses and and the 20-20k is just blah. We can’t trust that anymore. PCM vs analog is another thing we need to look into. The problem is all these new albums are now PCM based. With respect to frequency ranges…Can you feel things outside of this range? Sure you can.
Goodness me. This guy doesn't understand how digital audio works at all, evidence by his description of it not being "continuous". He should watch Monty Montgomery video showing that stair-steps don't really exist in digital audio. Once the sampling frequency is filtered out biezier curves form between the samples reconstituting the original signal completely as a pure waveform. I could understand if they said that when working with digital having extended bandwidth particularly in the HF, led to fatigue especially with speakers that don't have very nice HF response - i could see that but this is just digital bashing by the usual ignorant analogue junkies. DSD PCM the result is still a pure analogue waveform at the output - no stair-steps.
I listen to Spotify all day on decent monitors while i program software and work on electronic projects and i don't get fatigued ever.
This was not any kind of properly conducted test and the results are coincidental at best.
Did Steve Jobs understand computers?
I listened to the entire Pink Floyd Animals remaster two nights ago, streamed from Tidal and played through Kii Audio Three. I was mesmerized the entire time, surrounded by sound well outside the speakers. I do have the LP as well and have not listened to it in years. Maybe I need to fire it up and compare. But I am completely happy with the simplification of streaming PCM and the active Kii Three speakers. Very interesting topic, thanks for posting, Jason. I've never heard of C-Wave, so some reading for me in the future.
Yeah...I don't have problems with PCM like Mark, but like you with the Kii. I use DSP and Mark's C-wave uses DSP...so...
@@AudiophileJunkie It would be interesting to blind test Mark Levinson to see if he can actually pick PCM recordings like he says.
As one of the first users of the Maria 350, I can only confirm everything Mark Levinson says about his creation.
Are you talking about the sound or health benefits...or both?
The sound without a doubt. It took me 20 seconds to be convinced the Maria was different to anything I listened to before (among which Mark Levinson gear from before and after Harmon).
Don’t have evidence about the health benefits, but what Mark says about how health should be defined, matches the way I see it.
Music is good for one’s soul, and indeed playing music on the Maria can take far longer than before on other equipment.
I did home hack test 2 jbl eon pro speakers one using reverb on in jbl app one off for year now .. The one with reverb on all that hear bring up how really good it sounds .. the other no one says anything. I also like the same one ! Also using ps audio direct stream dsd dac i can listen for 12 hours no fatige Compared to pcm dacs 😊 if pcm is truly cause it needs to be fixed 😊
listen to good music, music that we love and well recorded , even in PCM it`s a joy, it`s healthy.!!!
Sure do more testing and peer review. I am reminded though that correlation does not equal causation.
True...as I mentioned with the commonality bias example, sometimes a test may show it's proving one thing, but it's actually proving something else. The key here though is that he pledges to do more testing in the future, so we'll see how things transpire on that issue, but I don't even think the health claim stuff is necessary.
Its just small amount of reverb added ! And guess no comparison of dsd n even mqa or upsampled .. 😊😊
There's some EQ too... It's all outlined in the patent for exact details. As for a "comparison", the best way is for YOU to listen to those options on a familiar system... Even better if you don't know which format is playing... And choose what you like best, if any.
It's easy for every format to create a war of words based on technical things. The proof is seeing if you can hear those respective technical benefits.
I personally think many people will choose the Daniel Hertz C-Wave over DSD, MQA and upsampling... but it doesn't matter what others think. If you can hear something better blind in any of those formats, then use it and don't worry about other people's comparisons.
@@AudiophileJunkie yes should of went further but . And i feel that it is the reverb. As i also play guitar and you know reverb is a must as sounds better . Glad to see you question him further and also i stream 4 to 5 k tracks a month always have music on my blood work fine after listening as much as i do i should be ill .. So i do say its not long term and as you said about repeat after hearing once and see ! This for sure needs more testing ..
Bello/Magnifico.😂✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️
Surely you don't believe what he is saying ? He should go back to school and learn about Fourier Transform and Nyquist sampling theorem ;) There are many other factors that may explain what he is saying such as extreme dynamic range, extended bandwidth, lower distortion and coloration etc none of which has anything to do with digital sampling but they always want to kick PCM for some reason. Sounds like another MQA money making racket :(
I brought up all the reasonable questions and told him that the evidence isn't there yet for me on the health side. He pledges to do more in that area.
As far PCM, I can listen to it just fine for hours and many millions do so easily. However, it doesn't mean it's perfect or other have different experiences.
Stay tuned for where I talk strictly about listening to the gear in Italy for more perspective, but I've given over 2 hours already of content, so people can decide for themselves based on the best information possible information I can give them from all sides.
@@AudiophileJunkie The old saying of "correlation is not neccesarily causation " applies here. There are plenty of examples of unlistenable analog recordings such as vinyl with prodigious amounts of inner groove distortion. Everyone had an album or two like that at one stage :(
Yes...that was part of my pushback...there are anecdotal reports of people not liking digital, but there's millions who voluntarily choose to listen to digital over vinyl each day as well. The mastering is often the "causation" of what one prefers on SQ metrics more than the format. It's important not to use primitive or anecdotal evidence for anything prematurely.
@@AudiophileJunkie Also to add to that if Mark says he cannot tolerate PCM recordings and prefers DSD then he should be able to pick one over the other in a double blind comparison. Should be the difference between chalk and cheese right ? ;)
Jason - Wow, way to go with grilling the guy with direct questions. He’s an artist and you almost brought the guy to tears. Constructive criticism - Perhaps you can work on your interviewing skills.
Lol ..he was just fine and handled my questions. We've become friends and actually talked for an hour on the phone just today. It doesn't mean I'll not ask tough questions when applicable of ANYBODY, and I think the interview clearly showed that there's more to the story, but also that the questions were all valid based on the information currently available.
Jason- it’s all good. I appreciate your perspective.