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From: rgaetz@hydra.unm.edu (Robert Gaetz)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Improving
Message-ID: <10340@uwm.edu>
Date: 19 Mar 91 13:46:43 GMT
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   Hello. Some months ago I posted a possible suggestion as to why
   certain types of black magic such as spray applications, green
markers, and damping rings could make a sonic difference in what
should, ideally, be a perfect data retrieval system. I had proposed
that it seemed possible that noise on the digital signal could get
through the DAC and end up bulrring its output just enough to be
audible. My only reply was a flame wondering how I could think such
a dumb thing since digital circuits rely on saturation logic and
so this can't be the case.
    Well, I suppose it's easier to simply write off all these
    reports of improved performance than to actually look into the
problem, but luckily one company did look into it. Recently, the
JVC XL-Z1010TN cd player was reviewed by TAS and the result was
surprising. In short, they felt it was _the_best_ cd player they've
ever heard. It seems JVC had their engineers look into these effects
based on the assumption that there was somthing making a difference.
Essentially, they found that noise on the digital signal seemed to
effect sound quality, so they built a circuit that took a quick
peek at the incomming digital signal to determine whether it was
a high or low then generated a completely new signal which went to
the DAC.
   Now, I'm not trying to say that everyone out there who comes up
   with a miracle cure for an alleged problem should be taken
seriously, certainly anyone who would spend $349.95 for a digital
clock (Douglas Adams would have a field day with this one!!) to
improve their stereo should think seriously about what they're
about to do. I tend to think there's overwhelming reason to think
there's some other factor contributing to the sound quality of
digital audio. In addition to the reasons I mentioned before, the
issue of 20th generation copies of digital material sounding
different seems to be a clear sign that noise is a contributing
factor to sound quality. If you listen to a 20th generation copy
of an analog signal, you'd probly find that, among other things,
it is a lot noiser than the original, so surely the data on a 20th
generation digital signal will contain much more noise than the
original.
   I may only be an undergrad EE, but I don't think it's fair to
   suggest that a person has to be a Physicist to be any good at
pool.

Robert Gaetz