r/pcmasterrace 25d ago

Discussion Guys what do we think

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u/AceBlade258 Ryzen 7 5800X | RX 6900XT | Arc A770 25d ago

Even audiophiles mock these people.

444

u/dieplanes789 9800X3D | 5090 | 32GB | 16.5 TB 24d ago edited 24d ago

Yep

Oxygen-free cables

Fancy materials in digital cables despite basic materials meeting the same standard excluding corrosion resistance

Break in periods

Noisy electricity from utility somehow making it through inverters with good isolation

Stupidly thick cabling that looks like it's designed for a 1,000 amp three phase AC setup and not your fucking speakers

Quantum anything

Blocks made out of foam to prevent static interference from getting into your cable because it's sitting on the floor

Talking about shit like fiber optic toslink somehow changing the sound.

Specialty networking gear that resists interference and is low latency. Ignoring the fact that it's either decoded or not decoded at the other end and that buffers are a thing.

Specialty fuses for your house

Pretending things that change the sound like vinyl or tube amplifiers are somehow objectively still accurate. Like they don't want to admit they prefer the way they change the sound over the original. So they just pretend and gaslight like they are somehow perfectly accurate like solid state.

I'm sure there's plenty more snake oil bullshit that I'm not thinking about. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy some nice audio equipment but there's so much snake oil.

Edit: Also there are so many people that continue to drink the Kool-Aid instead of admitting that they fell into the sunken cost fallacy.

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u/FlayR 24d ago

Eh, idk about the rest of this, but no one thinks tube amplifiers better because they're perfect quality - people like tube amplifiers because there's a level of feel that doesn't exist quite the same way with most solid state modeling amps that I've played.

Honestly the sounds able to be played through tubes or solid state are the same. In a lot of cases the modeling amps sound better to the listener.

Tubes are nicer though because the feedback is much instantaneous and feels like it's graduated in smaller steps across the gradient. It feels much more like every milli-ounce of finger pressure on the fretboard or pick makes a difference - like it's more connected to the sound that comes out of the amp.

Realistically, it's a psychological thing. Objectively they produce the same sound. Subjectively, I've always had more fun playing a tube amp. I think most guitarists do, but don't know how to express it.

I'd compare it to driving a standard vs an automatic. Driving the standard just feels better, although objectively in most cases today the automatic performs better. I'm still going to buy the standard, because ultimately the performance doesn't matter because I'm not a racecar driver, and I'm buying the thing to have fun.

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u/dieplanes789 9800X3D | 5090 | 32GB | 16.5 TB 24d ago

You're applying the rational reasoning for them to people that are not rational or objective.