This is actually a mildly distorted account of what that discussion has been about.
Many contributors, including myself, have simply asked whether the Melco rips were actually different from other rips, given that they were found to sound differently.
To the best of my knowledge, this question has so far not been answered altough it is the first thing to be checked: if the rips turn out to be different, it is actually not surprising if they sound differently!
Be very careful FB, if you are going to quote someone about what was said, please be sure you get the quote correct & you actually understand what was said.
Actually IIRC, the best conclusion at the time was that it was something other than the data rip itself that was causing a difference, e.g. to do with how the metadata were saved and that that might affect playing of the file (otherwise one would self-evidently not be an accurate rip). And also IIRC you were not interested in exploring the cause, and hence settling the matter in an understandable and logical manner and make it easy for anyone to seek solutions.
No that’s a windows only one I think you would need to transcode them with foobar 2000 but Minim with ffprobe (converter?) can output these for any media format, in json and other formats.
The technology for testing the identity of two files, be these stored on a local device or on remote devices, is actually extremely reliable.
If this was not the case, virtually nothing would work: backups would be worthless, installations would fail, airplanes would regularly crash …
The only problem is that a few users who are not willing to check if two files are identical or not have been suggesting that different ripping stations may yield identical rips that nevertheless sound differently.
This is quite senseless, in my view. On the other hand, if the rips are different, then it is not very surprising if they sound differently!
Yes is is subjective but others in my family prefer the D100 on a Melco rips. But bits are bits so I have no idea what is going on, perhaps something to do with jitter?
One up for Asset, over Minim! Though it would be intresting to hear if there as ddifference in sound between an APE file and a WAV, (and a APE to WAV transcode) they are both lossless.
“In rare cases errors can appear in the ripping. Different rippers may have different level of error control.
Primarily the errors are detected and fixed via CD-drive hardware and firmware. After it CD-ripping software may apply additional processing to error detection and audio data recovering.
The errors may be audible (even when error is not detected) and inaudible (error is detected, but there is no audible effect).
I suspect, that sometimes CD-drive may indicate error, but the error is fixed actually inside the drive.”
So perhaps the D100 is just doing a better job and sorting out errors, perhaps this accounts for the difference?
I have the D100 pluged into a windows laptop and I’m using dbpowerapm to rip I wonder if that will be different again…report to follow…
What if those rips were to be stocked not into a Melco?
I suspect they do play different because the Melco somehow organizes its rips to be better handled.
Bits are bits is just a part of the story, to me there’s hardware and hardware
I am still not interested by the cause. The only thing which interests me is if it sounds better or not. The same for Ethernet cables.
I trust my ears , not the specs.
I too the same Rips on a USB pen to a friends system who does not use a Melco but an ordinary NAS database with Minim Server - and it was exactly the same effect; the Melco rips are clearer with lower ‘grain’ noise and coloration. His system is NAC 272 -Snaxo- Active 2x250 - homemade speakers.
My local audio enthusiasts call it the ‘Melco Rip effect’ as it is apparent on all their Rips.
Mine does not use Minim - I removed it and use Twonky Server as it sounded better.
Another thing that was not meant to make any difference - the music server software.
Nothing to do with specs. Yes, the sound to one’s own ears is what makes someone decide what they prefer, but knowing why is one of the most powerful and useful things, helping people identify how to improve - whether that be manufacturers, software writers, or people searching for kit or assembling it.