[Harry Lavo]

"Audio Empire" wrote in message
...

[quoted text deleted -- deb]

My only real assertion here is that distortion on some level and of some
kinds cause listener fatigue. This is well known. CDs have LESS distortion
than analog sources and should therefore NOT cause listening fatigue. That
it
does for some people is a fact, that I don't even pretend to understand. I
don't think anybody does.

I have a hunch that it lies in "listening past" the "pre-ringing" on
transients that is pretty much part and parcel of the CD listening
experience. I note that the recent Meredian players that feature an
innovative digital filter that replaces this behavior with natures own
waveform (eg. steep initial transient slopes) with any ringing after the
fact, seems to get universal acceptance as perhaps the best sounding CD
player on the market with comments upon it's "natural quality". These same
sentiments have been expressed about SACD and (to a somewhat lesser degree)
DVD-A, both of which have much less to the point of disappearing
"pre-ringing". I wrote to Robert Harley at Stereophile about this after his
article appeared dismissing the pre-ringing argument; less than two years
later Stereophile is on record as saying the filter makes a (favorable)
difference. I suspect it does, and with good reason. How is it possible
for a brain as tuned to detect "unnatural" noises (a defense mechanism and
one of hearings main functions) not to be disturbed (at least subliminally)
by a distorted transient performance not found in nature?