They're havin' a laff.

[discreet]

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1399469089' post='2444516']
Wow. I'll have an eighth of whatever he's been smoking please. It's obviously incredible stuff.
[/quote]

You won't be able to afford it if you buy a Quantum Clip!

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1399469916' post='2444529']
[url="http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/product/ccu/ccu.html"]http://pwbelectronic...ct/ccu/ccu.html[/url]
[/quote]

This is beyond a joke, surely!!?

Edited May 7, 2014 by discreet

[KingBollock]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399461007' post='2444404']


That is true, and why I would never recommend them to anyone, of course.
[/quote]
Of course! I would never think such a thing!

Incidentally, I saw a reference to the drug Molly, I didn't know what it was so I looked it up, turns out it is MDMA, the active ingredient in
ecstasy. Well, that's what it is supposed to be, but apparently only about 13% of the stuff found actually contains MDMA, the rest made up of synthetic crap. According to a CNN article about it anyway. This is from that article:

[quote]Molly is dangerous because of the toxic mix of unknown chemicals; users have no idea what they're taking or at what dose. Unlike MDMA and other illegal drugs that have known effects on the body, the formulas for these synthetic drugs keep changing, and they're manufactured with no regard to how they affect the user.[/quote]

[Leonard Smalls]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399470300' post='2444537']


You won't be able to afford it if you buy a Quantum Clip!



This is beyond a joke, surely!!?
[/quote]

At least Belt's tweaks were usually free or at least cheap - frinstance aligning all your screwheads to magnetic north, or placing 5p bits on the corners of your equipment (really!).
However, these chaps make believers in improvements through changing mains cables look positively sane:

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina60.htm

[KingBollock]

Now, to completely muddle threads up with pseudoscience and drugs, I shall add religion!

I can't remember who said it but it was an exchange between an atheist and a christian. The atheist said that they were both atheists but the atheist just believed in one god less.

This is how it seems to be with all this audiophile nonsense. Things like the teleportation con seem so ridiculous that you'd think no one could fall for it, but I bet people do. It's even pushing at being a Poe. Stuff like the power cable are [i]equally[/i] as daft. But how far do you go? How much will/can you let yourself believe?

[Big_Stu]

Another Richer Sounds story. I still have a small plastic disc with a rubber washer inside it that clamps your record to the turntable. I got it from the 99p bin at their Edinburgh branch. It makes ALL the difference!
At the same time - I also bought - but never tried out, a green marker pen, which - apart from the label on it - was identical to any other green marker pen that you'd see in WHS. BUT this one you were supposed to draw around the outside edge of your CD to (IIRC) stop the laser beam bouncing out of the side of the disc when playing and therefore pick up more of the data/sound
I think this was at around the same time that Tomorrow's World said that sticking a CD in your freezer over-night made it play better.

[Leonard Smalls]

If you really want to you can get your £10k Nordost Valhalla cables cryo-treated, or even better, "burned in" on a burning-in machine then cryo treated for ultimate foo-fidelity.
And you'd need ultimate hifi fuses to get the best from your mains lead:
[url="http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/net/net.html"]http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/net/net.html[/url]

[HowieBass]

That Peter Belt's a new [s]David Icke[/s] name to me; but just reading a few words of his not-even-pseudo-science babble is enough to make me steer clear of anything bearing his name, though I reckon the free sound improving techniques http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/Free_Techniques/Free_Techniques.html might constitute a fun party game for the next time I'm pissed with friends...

[discreet]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1399484869' post='2444719']
I think this was at around the same time that Tomorrow's World said that sticking a CD in your freezer over-night made it play better.
[/quote]

I saw that - didn't they spread a CD with marmalade or something as well?

[KingBollock]

He has to be a Poe, surely? Or a criminal or mentally ill.

[Leonard Smalls]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399491773' post='2444805']


I saw that - didn't they spread a CD with marmalade or something as well?
[/quote]

Aye, but only on the label side;).
But one of my favourite tweaks (at $299!) is the Clever Little Clock, "The Clever Little Clock's operation actually has to do with time itself - how the past catches up with us -- like a predator."
[url=http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina42.htm]Full technical explanation here![/url]

[discreet]

[url=http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina42.htm]Full technical explanation here![/url]

That's very interesting, actually. Completely barking mad, but interesting.

[KingBollock]

Here's a genuine question... What part can smell/scent play in the enjoyment of music?

I know memory is strongly linked to smell. I often burn certain scented joss sticks to go with certain music. This can help by reminding me of good times, it almost feels like deja vu. But it can backfire, I have albums that I absolutely adore but I can hardly listen to anymore because they remind me of sad times. Sometimes they remind me of really good times, times that I miss, which ends up making me feel sad, too.
I can listen to Björk's Debut album, while burning white musk incense, at any time of the year and it always makes me feel like Christmas.

An odd one, not related to smell: I love Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction album, but I can't listen to it while lying down else it makes me feel sad. When I got the album I had just moved away from home, which was rather abusive, and moved in with my fiancé's brother and his girlfriend, both of whom I got on really well with. It was a glorious summer and I was finally in a place where I wasn't constantly in fear of being assaulted at random. I was really, really happy, for the first time in my life. I had no worries and the future looked bright. I would lie on my bed with the windows open and the sun blazing and listen to that album. Bliss. If I try to do that now it tears me apart. I'm fine if I am in my armchair, at my computer or in the car, but I can't listen to it while lying down.

I sometimes wonder if because smells can trigger responses, such as the smell of rotten food, smoke (ironically) or even the presence of a predator, by filling the room with pleasant smells, does it help in being able to relax and enjoy the music more, because it removes a potential worry?

One day I would love to try a sensory deprivation tank (the kind where you float in/on salt water the same temperature as your body, so while it supports you you can't actually feel it), but rather than deprive all senses, use it to listen to music. Eat a pot brownie and float away into the music. Perhaps use it to experiment with sound and smell combinations.
I am not sure how you could listen to the music, though. I can't imagine a tank being terribly good acoustically, but head/earphones would have to make contact with your ears. Perhaps a specially moulded set that was really comfortable and light?

[discreet]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399555670' post='2445267']
One day I would love to try a sensory deprivation tank (the kind where you float in/on salt water the same temperature as your body, so while it supports you you can't actually feel it), but rather than deprive all senses, use it to listen to music.
[/quote]

I've floated many times and it's brilliant. The tank has speakers built-in. I never actually get round to taking a CD with me and they usually play a bit of bloody new-age music, but only for the first part of the float. Then you're into the sensory deprivation bit, which is a real trip. I think you'd enjoy it, with or without music.

Er... I can't tell if the speakers are connected up with expensive silver cables or not...

Edited May 8, 2014 by discreet

[KingBollock]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399556026' post='2445270']


I've floated many times and it's brilliant. The tank has speakers built-in. I never actually get round to taking a CD with me and they usually play a bit of bloody new-age music, but only for the first part of the float. Then you're into the sensory deprivation bit, which is a real trip. I think you'd enjoy it, with or without music.

Er... I can't tell if the speakers are connected up with expensive silver cables or not...
[/quote]
I didn't realise they had speakers. I like new-agey, twinkly type music. A nice soothing CD, burn a pleasant scented joss stick and just lie back and relax. Normally with a ton of painkillers, paracetamol, ibuprofen and dihydrocodiene, otherwise, even lying still in the most comfortable position I can, I hurt all over.

I would love to try a tank.

The stand up comedian, Joe Rogan, talks about them a lot on his podcast, which is how I became interested. Maybe I'll get to try it one day.

Though I do have one problem... I'm afraid of the dark. Actually, more specifically, I am afraid of waking up in the dark. I am fine being awake in the dark and I can happily go to sleep in the dark, but I panic if it is dark when I wake up. I actually have a night light in the bedroom because of it, it's actually a wall mounted bug zapper, so it serves two functions during the summer. This only started three or four years ago, and I have no idea what caused it.

Edit: I've just remembered what it was that triggered my fear of waking up in the dark. It was a hallucination. It was so vivid it was incredible, but it was so obsured that I knew it couldn't be real. I tried closing my eyes, but it was still there when I opened them, I tried turning away but it persisted when I turned back. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, turning away and pretending it wasn't there, even with the implied threat. The oddest part, though, is that even though it triggered this fear of the dark, it happened in broad daylight, no shadows or anything, it was just there.
If I was more credulous, or gullible, I might well believe it was a ghost, but I know it wasn't. Oh, and there were no drugs involved, I put it down to stress.

Edited May 8, 2014 by KingBollock

[discreet]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1399557235' post='2445287']
I didn't realise they had speakers. I like new-agey, twinkly type music. A nice soothing CD, burn a pleasant scented joss stick and just lie back and relax. Normally with a ton of painkillers, paracetamol, ibuprofen and dihydrocodiene, otherwise, even lying still in the most comfortable position I can, I hurt all over.
[/quote]

You won't feel pain in the tank - there's no pressure on any part of your body. You won't go to sleep, either - you enter a different form of consciousness - or at least I do - YMMV.

First time I tried the tank I realised I must have been in all sorts of pain that I didn't even notice previously.
It's amazing what you can get used to if it happens gradually.

Edited May 8, 2014 by discreet

[dmccombe7]

Haven't read all the replies yet as i'm at work but would the mains lead effect not be dependant on whether the amp has a transformer or not. A transformer will act as an isolator from the original supply therefore rendering the effect on the amplifier itself and its tone invalid would it not. Not sure about the new lightweight amps with mains switching. Could maybe agree to some effect with these but what an ear you would need to pick up on that level of change.

Its definately an interesting theory though

Dave