[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Mark Waldrep vs. "CD Illumination"

[Julf]

Some of you might have seen the most recent blog posts from Mark Waldrep
(who runs AIX Records). He showed an open mind and tried to evaluate the
offering of an Australian outfit called 'CD Illumination'
(http://www.cdillumination.com/cd-illumination-1.html) promises to
"vivify" your CD collection by a magical copying process that
improves/enhances musicality, tonality, dynamic range, soundstaging,
imagining and clarity, while reducing listener fatigue.

The results are not very surprising, but neither are the 'reactions'
(http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=4678) of the person/company behind the

So I can make three deductions about your evals: 1. Your equipment
somehow equalises the differences; 2. You are physiologically or
psychologically unable to appreciate the improvement; 3. You are
desperately trying to cover up the differences you have already heard so
as to protect your bits and bytes argument. Which by the way most
audiophiles have already moved on and see it as a ‘flat earth’ dogmatic
stance.

Sounds familiar?



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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[Mnyb]

Yes they moved on to la la land :) , but why even try the site just
screams scam at you .

Thanks for reminding me of AIX mr waldrep has made some nice recordings
in the past I own a lot of his dvda's ,but productivity is not that high
I'll check if something new been added to itrax ...



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[Julf]

Post by Mnyb
Yes they moved on to la la land :) , but why even try the site just
screams scam at you.

Indeed. But that's kind of the point - even when you try to approach
with an open mind, you will be accused of being a "flat earther" as soon
as your results don't agree with the claims.



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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[Mnyb]

Post by Julf
Indeed. But that's kind of the point - even when you try to approach
with an open mind, you will be accused of being a "flat earther" as soon
as your results don't agree with the claims.

That's so open minded indeed .

And the tiring accusation of " bits are bits " arguments ? No objective
audiophile really makes such a simple assumption .
But indeed bits are bits when everything else within the digital
transfer chain is within reasonable parameters ;)



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sub.
Bedroom/Office: Boom
Kitchen: Touch + powered Fostex PM0.4
Misc use: Radio (with battery)
iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad
(spares Touch, SB3, reciever ,controller )
server HP proliant micro server N36L with ClearOS Linux

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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[Archimago]

Post by Mnyb
That's so open minded indeed .
And the tiring accusation of " bits are bits " arguments ? No objective
audiophile really makes such a simple assumption .
But indeed bits are bits when everything else within the digital
transfer chain is within reasonable parameters ;)

Ah yes... The old "bits is (not) bits" pithy statement.

And it doesn't take long for that '\"flat earther\" meme to pop up as
well' (http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=4678). I've always found this one
fascinating! Let's see, at least in Western thought, the spherical earth
was ascribed first to Greek philosophy, specifically Pythagoras. A man
who is best known for the science of geometry, for which the "Theorem"
bears his name. Not so much that he was necessarily the first to use it,
but it's his "school" that was the first to produce the PROOF of the
theorem.

So, why would anyone call "objectivists" flat-earthers?! Attempts at
"observational knowledge" as Mark Waldrep has done with his copy of the
gold CD obviously is something that anyone interested in actual science
would appreciate as steps towards finding "proof" one way or another.

I'd love to hear under what philosophical principle a subjectivist feels
it's justifiable to call objective thinking "flat earth"...



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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[Julf]

Post by Archimago
I'd love to hear under what philosophical principle a subjectivist feels
it's justifiable to call objective thinking "flat earth"...

The "I am right and you are wrong" principle, perhaps? :)



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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[andy_c]

Post by Julf
The "I am right and you are wrong" principle, perhaps? :)
OK, more seriously, I think it stems from the 'Galileo_Gambit'
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_fallacy#Galileo_Gambit)
variation of 'association fallacy'
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_fallacy)
The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who
are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at
Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown.

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[ralphpnj]

Post by Julf
The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who
are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at
Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown.

So someone else besides me called them "clowns" :) (By "them" I'm
referring to the editors and writers of all the high end audio, aka
audiophile, magazines and web sites.)



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[andy_c]

Post by ralphpnj
So someone else besides me called them "clowns" :) (By "them" I'm
referring to the editors and writers of all the high end audio, aka
audiophile, magazines and web sites.)

I see that line of argument a lot. Here's a
'*_funny_example_of_a_sarcastic_response_*'
(http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/39/392764.html) by
tenor saxophonist/composer Rick Wald to a poster implicitly comparing
Peter Belt to Copernicus :D.


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[arnyk]

Post by Archimago
Ah yes... The old "bits is (not) bits" pithy statement.
So, why would anyone call "objectivists" flat-earthers?!
I'd love to hear under what philosophical principle a subjectivist feels
it's justifiable to call objective thinking "flat earth"...

Schoolyard style name-calling, pure and simple.

In the days of rec.audio.opinion, I used to call it "The radical
subjectivist prerequisite personal attack".


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[arnyk]

Post by Julf
Indeed. But that's kind of the point - even when you try to approach
with an open mind, you will be accused of being a "flat earther" as soon
as your results don't agree with the claims.

When your opponent has nothing left to add to the argument but
name-calling, you have won the argument on points in the eyes of
everybody who is thinking rationally. Move on!


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[Wombat]

Post by Julf
Some of you might have seen the most recent blog posts from Mark Waldrep
(who runs AIX Records). He showed an open mind and tried to evaluate the
offering of an Australian outfit called...

Terrific! It must be a common phenomenom happening Down Under and may
happen because the bits hang upside down there!?



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