What is earphone metaphysics?

The following are some of the contents of HIFI metaphysics that I have heard, one is more mysterious than the other.

1 CD player makes any noise under the mat. Later, it was extended to speakers. (what if you put shit? An enthusiast once told me that if you put a sponge under the digital mixer, the sound will be very soft ... (Later, I told a vocal music professional friend, remember, wearing high heels and flat shoes will definitely make a different sound ...)

The sound of the computer case is different when it is placed horizontally and vertically.

The same Wav file, placed on Seagate's hard disk, has better sound quality than that on Western Digital's hard disk. Even if it is the same hard disk, the sound quality on disk C and D is different. ..

The audio line has a direction, and it's not good to listen if it's connected backwards. Not only the audio cable, but also the power cable has a direction. Changing a good power cord can improve the sound quality. If the power cord is fitted with a magnetic ring (metaphysically called "Lord of the Rings"), the sound quality will be better. ...

5 There is a kind of "CD oil", which immediately increases the sound by several decibels after being coated with CD (God, Viagra? Then there is the CD magic pen, draw a picture on the side of the CD, and it will be immediate ... then there is the CD magic film, which will work as soon as it is posted (I pour it)

6 CD will sound better if it is frozen in the refrigerator. This is no longer a rare thing. At present, when the CD is irradiated by the strong light of the camera flash, the sound field of the CD will be widened and the sound will be improved by 3 decibels. If you think that "illuminating a CD with strong light" is very fresh, then you are really old-fashioned!

The following is a reposted article about metaphysics: Yesterday, I saw the following contents in the 2005 issue of Courage World 10: Hi-Fi/Hi-Vi Exhibition in Hong Kong in 2005. If you buy tickets at the price of 100 yuan, you will get a "JSMR" magic chip, as well as a selected CD recorded by LEO and a description of the JSMR magic chip mentioned in the Hifi Dragon and Tiger List. As long as it is placed on a CD player, the CD sound effect can be improved by more than 20% immediately. The editor-in-chief of this magazine thinks this is the most mysterious and effective audio accessory he has used in recent years. I hope that after using it, enthusiasts will be addicted to Hi-fi and cannot extricate themselves. (The author comments that if this thing is really effective, I think every CD player manufacturer will buy it in bulk, and the cost is extremely low. Is it not a big province? Why bother to study the matching of circuits and components? It's a great irony in the world! Similarly, Hi-fi Bible, the audio writer of "Fever Audio", wrote that if the sound quality of the system is smoother and clearer, it is also good to put a small piece of Hangzhou silk on the machine. If you want to add luster and texture to the timbre, putting a pin on the machine surface can improve its effect. Similarly, there are things like this, putting a little more life, jumping power and overtone slingshots, and putting a concave rosewood seat on the CD cover to increase high-frequency details, air and charm; Placing crumpled paper or cloth at the bottom of the machine can make the tone more round and smooth. Every time I see this kind of thing, there will always be a lot of emotions and grievances.

Like these pseudosciences, I don't know how they came up with them. I want to know where the theoretical basis of these things is, whether they dare to listen blindly to verify these tricks they say, and even publicly publish their so-called secrets in books and magazines. It's really a mistake to recognize their children. Whenever I see a similar article, I always dare not catch a cold with the author. Here are some fragments of the article "The Myth of Sound" to refute the above pseudoscience: "For example, in many magazines, many friends talked about" After adding three copper cones under the cd player, the sound is different from the original wooden cone! " And "the sound is much better after using a few rubber pads imported from the United States under the power amplifier!" "For example (omit some adjectives such as clear, transparent, sweet and cohesive). I admit that I am just a little ignorant and can't understand the truth, so I am completely convinced, clap my hands and admire my friends' ears. However, after reading many such articles, I found that all friends who burn only describe hearing without any theoretical explanation. Well, even if you haven't summed up the theory, why don't you let the facts speak for themselves? Friends who hold this view, have you ever done a blind listening experiment? Please sit a few so-called "golden ears" in a listening room, the speaker is in the listening room, the power amplifier and the cd player are in another room, and play the same track. You can randomly decide whether to put something under the cd player and the power amplifier by flipping a coin. Try 100 times to see what everyone's correct rate is. If it is only about 50%, I can guess it without listening to my ears. If 100 times is too much, 30 times is ok, but not too little, otherwise it will be too unexpected. If any expert has any changes to the equipment, has feelings and intends to write it out, I hope the article has the following points:

I. Measures taken

Second, the principle of change (that is, why this change will affect the sound quality and what kind of impact it will cause)

Third, the description of hearing.

Fourth, the proof of the scientific nature of the experiment.

No two leaves in the world are the same, and any change in conditions will affect the sound. Even if only a few pyramids are added under the cd player or power amplifier, it will at least change the spatial state of the listening room, but there is a very important question: can the human ear distinguish this change?

Speaker is the combination of speaker and box, speaker is the sound source, and box is the cavity. It can be understood that different brackets or legs will affect the vibration of the cabinet, because their contact areas and directions with the cabinet are different, and the manufacturing materials are also different. As we all know, the singer's body is a musical instrument and a big "loudspeaker", but if a friend says that Pavarotti sings in leather shoes and shoes with different "sound effects", I can hear it, I beg to differ.

If adding three pins under the cd player and power amplifier can really improve the sound quality, why haven't I seen manufacturers selling three-pin cd players and power amplifiers directly? It seems that no manufacturer sells foot nails as standard for cd players and power amplifiers.

I was afraid that because I was too superficial, I went to consult the owners of some equipment stores. They told me carefully: "I dare not say no, but 99% cd players and amplifiers have four legs." The most equipment with three-legged nails we have seen is the iron pot for cooking. "

Some friends also said that the foot cone was added under the cd player to prevent earthquakes. From my current knowledge, the home cd player can be placed on a basic horizontal surface, and there is no need for earthquake prevention measures (unless there is an earthquake or the cd player is doing strenuous exercise at the same time). The CD-ROM drive of an ordinary computer is put in an iron box with ordinary workmanship. At least one power supply fan and one cpu fan are rotating in the chassis, and at least one hard disk is rotating. For an optical drive working in such a "harsh" environment, every byte of the whole disk can be read correctly, which shows that the optical head does not need high requirements to read data. A friend suggested that the error correction methods of computer optical drive and cd player are different, so the quality of cd player turntable has a great influence on sound quality. I haven't done any experiments, and I have no right to talk nonsense, but can anyone find a white paper on audio CDs and see what the error correction principle of audio CDs is? Under what circumstances will an error occur? What is the specified bit error rate? Can the human ear detect it?

I am a clown, with no culture, and I really don't understand the so-called "time base jitter" phenomenon of cd players. Isn't it impossible to provide data for the decoder at the right time? What is the time range of the error? How many milliseconds? How many microseconds and nanoseconds? How many nanoseconds of error will lead to what results? What is the top machine jitter? What is the jitter of the ordinary machine? Do you have specific figures? Is the current technology unable to solve this problem, or does the manufacturer simply not want to provide a cheap solution to this problem? Of course, most friends can't test according to this standard at home, but cut off all kinds of channels of psychological suggestion, sit there blindfolded and listen to the sound, find a friend to switch back and forth with several sets of wires (even pretend that changing wires only makes some noise), and listen to it several times to see if you can hear the difference. Personally, I think that if a listener can't hear the difference between several devices, then there is no difference between these devices for this listener, so choose the cheap one. There are differences. You must be able to hear it to count.

Some friends have a high fever. They usually read magazines or chat online every day, so there are not many opportunities to actually contact expensive equipment. Even occasionally, there are few opportunities to compare at the same time. Once they have close contact with a certain equipment, they are "stunned" and talk about their feelings everywhere. It should be noted that the feeling of listening is not only related to the equipment and listening environment, but also related to the listener's mood, cultural accomplishment, aesthetic taste and physiological conditions. If it is not the on-site comparison, it is hard to say whether it is affected by other factors. Commenting on unfamiliar equipment is like commenting on unfamiliar people, which will inevitably be misunderstood.

Friends who often contact computers should think it is good to have an expert around them, but it is terrible to have a novice computer enthusiast. They are characterized by enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. Most of their knowledge comes from books, newspapers and magazines. They have a lot of so-called "secret skills" in their minds, and they have deep feelings for high-matching machines, even reaching the point of worship. When I see anyone's microcomputer, I feel that there is still room for optimization. I will not only say, but also dare to do. As for the consequences, it is often unexpected. If you ask them to assemble a microcomputer for you, nine times out of ten it will be the combination of his "dream lover". As for the actual effect, the key depends on luck.

Now there is this phenomenon in the fever circle: many friends are enthusiastic about helping others and are not "entrusted" by someone. Only one thing: lack of practical experience, lack of comparative and objective views. Calling the equipment below 10,000 yuan garbage is the pet phrase of these friends. From my observation, friends who are truly proficient and cultivated often speak very carefully and cherish words as gold for fear of making people laugh. Most of them are novices like me, always expressing their opinions casually (just like new drivers are always eager to drive), and they are a little tired of not being able to release them to the world. It's not just a fever, but also other aspects, which is why there are not many high-level articles in newspapers and magazines now.

My friend's mother is a sommelier, and the process of tasting wine is very strict. Many kinds of wine are packaged in a unified way, so it is impossible to distinguish the brand from the appearance, so as not to be biased. Before tasting, you are not allowed to eat this or that, and you are not allowed to catch a cold. It is very demanding. More importantly, it is all evaluated by the same group of people at the same time and scored according to the standard. Moreover, rinse your mouth with clear water after tasting one drink, and then take a rest before tasting the next one. In addition, you won't taste many kinds of wine a day, so as not to affect your judgment. Of course, these people's personal preferences and tastes will have an impact on the score, but because there are many people involved in wine tasting, the special circumstances of a few people have little impact and the conclusion is relatively objective. The situation of wine is somewhat similar to that of high-fidelity equipment. All kinds of wines have their own characteristics. After reaching a certain quality level, except for the same type of wine, there is basically no comparability in other cases. Who dares to say that liquor is better than beer? Yellow wine is better than red wine? "

I feel a little heavy after writing this. Many things are obviously pseudoscience to outsiders or rational lovers, but some people still believe it. What does this mean? It only means that some friends have gone crazy with fever. This is a typical fever for fever. If this article can awaken their normal fever reason to a certain extent, then I will be satisfied. Note: Hong Kong is the most popular bad style. Of course, I believe that most fans in Hong Kong are rational. Moreover, this article is not aimed at individuals, but at phenomena. Please forgive me if I have offended! I sincerely hope that everyone will join us in resisting pseudoscience in the audio industry, starting from me, and returning the audio industry to a clear sky. You can do whatever you want at home, even if you say that it is understandable to put a piece of tender tofu in the CD player, and it will be smooth and smooth from now on, but if you take it out to teach, you will bear the responsibility, otherwise it will be seriously suspected of misleading children!

What exactly is a fever? I think of an article published by Dan Yi Xuan, "The Story of a HIFI Lover". The hero's name is "Ade". That's the real enthusiast ... although he only has the most basic equipment and a broken horn. ...

1, a "master listener" who has never been to a concert hall.

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend a Hi-Fi equipment demonstration (actually a factory product promotion meeting) hosted by a famous "listening master" in the south. The master claimed to have listened to Hi-Fi for many years, paying special attention to positioning, sound field and analytical power. And warned enthusiasts to "practice their ear skills more." However, the "masters" used some "burning discs" on the spot, such as "vocal music" by Jacky Cheung, Cai Qin and Big Eye Girl, rock music in California hotels, and electric pianos that had nothing to do with Hi-Fi. I listened to a few of them patiently, and I felt that the equipment was ok in playing pop songs and electronic music, but I couldn't hear any serious problems.

Later, at the request of the audience, several western classical music records were played, such as Beethoven violin concerto and chorus fantasia brought by fans. This hi-fi equipment is not hi-fi at once: the piano sound is obviously distorted; The "Steinway" with hundreds of thousands of dollars in the record has been degraded several times, which is quite fruity for domestic low-grade pianos. The violin has obvious sound dyeing, which is nice but not true. The bow of the "Guanelli" piano seems to be coated with honey instead of rosin. The sweet feeling made the fans of several symphony orchestras here shake their heads.

What is even more ridiculous is that the left and right channels of the whole set of equipment are reversed, and the violin group and cello group have undergone a big transposition. It can be said that the sound field is in chaos and the positioning is completely reversed. The "master" has no idea at all, and is still talking about how to accurately locate this equipment. It is said that this "master" has good ears and can recognize the size of the actor's mouth: the mouth shape of ×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

In the process of listening to the "listening master" presiding over the demonstration, I feel that he is full of experts in equipment. I can only understand one technical term after another. The problem is that this "master" has never been to a concert hall or an opera house, but he plays pop songs and rock music with high-end equipment, learning to talk on paper and being too subjective and arbitrary, thus making a big joke that the left and right channels are indistinguishable. The reason is simple-he stays away from music.

2. A "folk prescription doctor" attending "intractable fever"

An old comrade-in-arms of the author, who settled in Hong Kong for business in the early 1980s, recently returned to China to visit relatives. The comrades-in-arms met happily. Now that we have installed daring machines and soil cannons in the army, the topic naturally falls on the fever classics. Comrades listened to my "substandard" set of "foreign guns and local guns mixed equipment" (Sangya Gongfang, Jin Lang speaker, marantz CD player), and immediately gave me several "remedies" to upgrade the equipment to three levels.

One of the prescriptions: use a brick on the wall of the old city of Ming Dynasty in Fengyang County, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, and press it on the marantz to immediately overcome the shortcomings of too many digital sounds;

The second remedy: put three crystal nails under the power amplifier, one of which is placed under the transformer to ensure that the power amplifier rises to level 3. Although it is not as good as Mark Levinson, it is no problem to catch up with Golden Voice.

The third remedy: illuminate the CD 15 times with the camera flash, and then put it in the refrigerator for three hours. The bit of 16 becomes 20, and the piracy exceeds the genuine one;

The fourth remedy: beat the speaker from back to front and from bottom to top with a rubber hammer. The treble is sweet, the midrange is rich, the bass is strong, and the speaker is comparable to B&; W80 1 match.

The fifth folk prescription: the 60-year-old "dacron" military uniform is torn into strips and wrapped with iron wire. Sound stage is wider, more accurate in positioning and more beautiful in timbre.

The five folk remedies each perform their duties, and the monarch and the minister complement each other, saving money and effort. Why not do it?

After listening to an old comrade-in-arms, I was dumbfounded. My comrade-in-arms from Hong Kong businessmen is a close relative of electro-acoustic major-professional radio background, but judging from the prescription he gave me, this gentleman is possessed and far from science.

3. where is the hi-fi

There is an unwritten rule in the world, such as symphony, opera and ballet. Amplification with any electro-acoustic equipment is not allowed in regular concert halls or opera houses. Therefore, what the audience hears in this listening environment is only the sound of musical instruments, human voices and noise from the stage; Audience noise and reflections from all directions (there is less audience noise in the recording studio). This is the true "high fidelity". Rock music and pop songs can only be beautified, modified and amplified by electro-acoustic equipment, and that deafening sound has no fidelity at all in the scene. Japan, South Korea, China (including Hongkong and Taiwan Province) and some countries with high level of civilization in Southeast Asia are the largest markets for Hi-Fi equipment in the world. Music lovers in these areas cannot enjoy live concerts in Europe and America at any time. Some small and medium-sized cities, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, may never have the opportunity to "taste" the "authentic western music feast" of live symphony concerts or indoor concerts. Most people can only "taste" through records and equipment. Under the condition of modern technology, it is probably just a fantasy to move the first-class symphony orchestra or chamber orchestra from Europe and America home. Suppose your equipment and records can achieve 100% hi-fi, but at the same time you add the reflection and noise of your environment when playing, and "Hi-Fi" has added "additives", which is impossible. Therefore, I think hi-fi is in concert halls and opera houses. The deafening rock music and pop songs amplified by electroacoustic can only be "high security" in their scenes. There is no high fidelity, so many manufacturers and friends are pursuing it. This is the greatest charm of Alegre.

There is a western humor that is very intriguing: when manufacturer A promoted his food assembly line, he claimed: "My assembly line is extremely advanced. I drove a cow in through the front door, pressed the button and all the delicious canned beef came out through the back door! " Manufacturer B declared: "My assembly line is more advanced. If you think the canned food is not delicious enough, you can go back through the back door. Press the button and the cow will come out of the front door! " If the promotion of manufacturer A is compared to the process of making records, it is completely possible from the perspective of modern technology, but it is completely impossible to compare the promotion of manufacturer B to restoring music through equipment at home. Anyway, the cow can't come back, and it is "bragging" to come back. Enthusiasts' pursuit of Hi-Fi, to put it mildly, is actually processing this box of canned beef. Painters, like painting, pursue beauty and re-create art. There are both science and art in the audio craze, including acoustics, electroacoustics, electronics, materials science, architecture, physiology, psychology and many other art-related disciplines. Friends should be sober and rational, learn more and practice more, carefully cover their wallets, use good steel on the cutting edge, spend the least money and get the greatest enjoyment.

4. Master some music knowledge and go to the concert hall to practice your ears.

To pursue high fidelity, we must first know "original flavor" (this word is also inaccurate). The purpose of fever is to listen to music, spend tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan on equipment, and listen to broken glass and bottles at home every day. It is better to go to the waste collection station, where the bottle sound is definitely Hi-end.

My experience is:

First, we should look at some music history, understand how music evolved from the mouth and palm of ancient people to the modern symphony concert hall, and understand the creative background, experience and style of masters in various historical periods;

The second is to understand or master the elements, texture, structure and form of music;

The third is to understand the specialties and styles of contemporary famous orchestras, conductors and performers (singers). The above is the process of "watching music", which may not be fully understood, but it is interesting to read. Through these, we can know why classical music is enduring and pop music is short-lived.

Fourth, listen to the scene and go to the concert hall to feel "high fidelity". Friends who have never heard of the scene don't imitate Hot Blood to listen to a live symphony of Destiny. That kind of thrilling shock is beyond the reach of any art form. Through live listening, you can also intuitively feel what timbre the stringed instruments, wind instruments, percussion instruments and keyboard instruments are, what timbre the whole band is, how the symphony orchestra and chamber music band are arranged on the stage, what is dual control and what is four control, how the different arrangements of the symphony orchestra achieve the overall sound balance, and what are the so-called sound field, positioning, analysis, penetration and dynamic range. University acoustics

5. Transform the listening environment and build your own concert hall.

World-famous concert halls and opera houses all meet the requirements of architectural acoustics, and attach great importance to sound absorption, diffusion, sound insulation and earthquake prevention. Under normal circumstances, symphony concerts, operas, and indoor concerts do not need any sound reinforcement equipment, and the sound delivered to the audience does not include "electroacoustic".

Experts often warn enthusiasts that a good sound system must be in a room with suitable acoustic characteristics to achieve good results. Well-known domestic audio experts don't have a fever, but the equipment is very good, mainly because the room has a fever.

If you put a set of top equipment in the bathroom or cotton warehouse, it will definitely be greatly discounted. Burning friends spend a lot of money on nailing wires. Why don't you change the acoustic environment of the room as follows? This is the late stage of fever, and the size of the room is not easy to change. But if you use hardwood floors and the walls are gray, you can get twice the result with half the effort by properly adjusting the position of furniture, hanging oil paintings and tapestries in appropriate positions, and adding or subtracting one or two decorations.

6. Set up a "mini" symphony orchestra with reasonable equipment.

It is actually impossible to copy a symphony orchestra with only dozens and hundreds of musical instruments with three pieces: speakers, amplifiers and CD players, but it is also the dream of friends. Indeed, the more advanced the equipment, the closer it is to Hi-Fi.

However, the problem is two-sided. Some people say that some equipment is good, others say it is not good. There is not only the problem of "ear strength", but also the problem of personal preference. Therefore, various "collocation principles" are popular in the fever world. I think it is ok to call it collocation skill, but it is not appropriate to call it "principle". It's obviously commercial speculation, the agent. After a long time, it becomes a principle. A few years ago, some people called Sirius and Golden Voice a perfect match. A few years later, they called "Li Zhuo" and "Golden Voice" a perfect match. Since they are all called "perfect match", how can there be a "new match"? I don't think there is a unified principle. On the premise of practicing ear skills, I think it is good enough.

I often read some articles saying that the improper collocation of xx equipment leads to unpleasant sound, and the "metallic smell" is too heavy or the "wood smell" is too strong; With proper equipment, Xx can make velvet-like sounds and jokes. The instruments of the symphony orchestra are made of wood (or synthetic) except metal. Who has heard the velvet sound? Is it that the curtain is singing?

If I have to talk about principles, my principle is "a good horse with a golden saddle and a blind donkey with a broken mill." A set of equipment is like a barrel. How much water you can hold depends on the shortest piece of wood. In the whole system, the shortest board is the speaker. From the technical indicators, the speaker is the worst. In western musical instruments, the lower limit of the low frequency of piano and bassoon can reach about 27Hz, and the organ is lower, but it is good that the home speaker can reach 40Hz. So it is scientific to match some senior friends around the speakers.

For example, Rogers 3/5A, which has been hyped by merchants for many years, can't show the grand momentum of the symphony orchestra with any advanced amplifier. When the listening environment and economic conditions permit, try to choose high-quality floor boxes (but then again, even the most advanced floor boxes are artificial, reflecting the designer's own music literacy, listening hobbies and business orientation, and it is impossible to achieve 100% Hi-Fi. Then choose the power amplifier and CD player according to the requirements of cost performance equivalence and your own hobbies.

7, scientific rationality, away from metaphysics and myths.

Some deep-pocketed fans in Hong Kong and Taiwan are still not satisfied after buying hundreds of thousands of equipment. In order to find out the exact location of each piece of the broken bottle, to judge the exact age when Cai Qin sang, and to "fist to meat" and "ear to oil", they began to establish a brand-new discipline-"acoustic theology" or "high fidelity metaphysics".

Various papers came into being, such as the influence of bricks in Qin dynasty on improving the sound channel separation of CD players, the change of speaker skin color on impedance curve, the effect of rosewood nails on increasing power amplifier current and so on. Some "fever tricks", "technologies" and products have been introduced one after another, and some shock-proof bricks, CD oil, CD magic film and CD magic pen packaged in silk have also been introduced. What records freeze, power amplifier eavesdropping, wire irradiation; What kind of directional printed circuit board (even the left and right channels are reversed) can hear the directionality of the circuit board? ), and so on, these things that have nothing to do with science and art, some people do believe. I don't know what the purpose of the people who created the audio myth is, but unfortunately, people who believe in the audio myth have to spend thousands of dollars on shockproof bricks, CD players, oil films, etc., but what these have to do with Hi-Fi may only be known to them.

I am not a scientist or an artist, but I firmly believe that a fever philharmonic should be a combination of science and art, not practicing Qigong or soaring. I hope that friends who are possessed by the virus can come out of the misunderstanding and go back to the shore to have a fever from the perspective of science and art.