That being said, there are some general rules of thumb as to what does sound good on average. And the averages says most aren't gonna hear a single bit or byte of difference in whatever cable was used on the SATA drive in the computer. But a small handful can and do- so don't put those delusional fools down ok???

Ok, first off I have to admit I am an audio nutcase. That being said, I also am an engineer, and try to look to they whys and whats a bit more than most do.

So in theory the cables can have an audible effect on the sound

He has written articles on CD ripping, on how the sound quality varies between offerings (EAC and my Ripper were mentioned), the winner happens to be a £4K audio device, and more here:

http://www.hificritic.com/forum/default.as...p;t=207&p=2

Now these two threads are peoples questioning of the article, the actual articles are in audio publications so cannot be linked.

This, however, afforded me the opportunity to compare the quality of rips made by the HDX and those produced by exact Audio copy on my PC, to those of the less expensive RipNAS.

I preferred the first two to the latter. If one were not listening critically then the RipNAS might seem acceptable, although a highly discerning colleague and I both felt that its rips did not appear as involving or exciting: they were just about on a par with those you'd hear through a Mac laptop and an inexpensive DAC, a combination that is fine... for casual listening only.

A prime example of this was Academia from the Sia albums. The timing on this track seemed lethargic on the RipNAS rip, while her delivery sounded half-hearted and uninspired. Her phrasing is particularly dextrous on this number, her vocal weaving sinuously around the band's playing to great effect, but this nuance seemed to escape the RipNAS.

In the Hi-End world everything has a effect on Sound. I wonder why nobody is building and selling rooms with controlled air pressure and chemical composition to that morons! 

The timing on this track seemed lethargic on the RipNAS rip

What's the bet that a bit comparison of the ripped files would show they're identical [if offset correct]?

do the same as I did and buy yourself an HDX/XPS2 and forgive me if I prefer to spend my spare time with my wife and children rather than producing rips to help those who presumably wish to pour scorn on the way I and other subjective reviewers have worked for, in my case, three decades.

Quote from: Dennis_near_portland_or on 2010-08-26 01:06:25

So in theory the cables can have an audible effect on the sound

Data cables cannot have this effect.

If the bits that go in on one end are different in any way from the ones that come out the other end, then your computer will cease to operate entirely.

The possibility exists that both the signal bits and the error correction bits are flipped in such a way that they are different from the intended signal, but still agree.  However this is statistically insignificant and will (extremely extraordinarily amazingly) very likely not happen (AT ALL, let alone) more than once during audio playback.

Even if the ECC bits do agree with the data bits erroneously, it probably won't bring your computer down, it may just cause errors.

But none of this is happening, obviously, and we're on the same page about data cables having no influence to speak of on the data transmitted, so

if I were to add a $1000 Ethernet cable in there instead of useless 802.11n wi-fi.

Quote from: SCOTU on 2010-08-26 17:06:38

Even if the ECC bits do agree with the data bits erroneously, it probably won't bring your computer down, it may just cause errors.

Errors may happen at any point in any kind of datastream. It could change a pixel's RGB coordinate by 1, or it could undermine a fundamental OS component.

But none of this is happening, obviously, and we're on the same page about data cables having no influence to speak of on the data transmitted, so

Even if a cable were to flip a bit or two here and there, how many wrong bits would there have to be before it was audible?  Has anyone tested this?