USB audio cracked... finally!

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

Are you referring to awe?

Scholarly articles for awe psychological benefits

Psychological benefits of a wilderness experience - ‎Kaplan - Cited by 503 Wildlife tourism: the intangible, psychological benefits … - ‎Curtin - Cited by 100 Some psychological benefits of an outdoor challenge … - ‎Kaplan - Cited by 88

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Though psychologists have studied virtually every human emotion, they have only recently begun to pay attention to the complicated and varied emotion of awe. ... Keltner and Haidt describe awe as an emotion “in the upper reaches of pleasure and on the boundary of fear.” It's an emotion that can have a tremendous impact.Sep 22, 2014

How Awe-Inspiring Experiences Can Make You Happier, Less ...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/the-psychology-of-awe_n_5799850.html

 

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The Emerging Science of Awe and Its Benefits | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/...awe/.../the-emerging-science-awe-and-its-benefit...

Apr 27, 2017 - The Emerging Science of Awe and Its Benefits. New research is exploring the vast potential awe holds for self and society. Seek out experiences that give you goosebumps. Such is the advice of Dacher Keltner, one of the foremost theorists and scholars of awe, a long-overlooked emotion.

The Power of Awe: A Sense of Wonder Promotes ... - Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/.../the-power-awe-sense-wonder-promotes-loving-...

May 20, 2015 - The researchers describe awe as “that sense of wonder we feel in the presence of something vast that transcends our understanding of the world.” They point out that people commonly experience awe in nature, but also feel a sense of awe in response to religion, art, music, etc.

The Benefits of Awe - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/awesomeness-is.../508775/

Research on awe (an emotion related to Edmund Burke's notion of the ... Alters Decision Making, and Enhances Well-Being” (Psychological Science, Oct. 2012).

The Benefits of Feeling Awe | Greater Good Magazine

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_benefits_of_feeling_awe

May 30, 2016 - We talk with a researcher and a veteran at UC Berkeley to try to understand the impact of awe on well-being.

The Amazing Benefits of Awe - The Brain Flux

thebrainflux.com/the-amazing-benefits-of-awe/

Learn how the benefits of awe are just as powerful as happiness. ... Until recently, it's been a largely overlooked area of psychology. So which emotion has been ...

How Awe-Inspiring Experiences Can Make You Happier, Less ...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/.../the-psychology-of-awe_n_5799850.html

Sep 22, 2014 - For many, the beauty of nature inspires a sense of awe, a powerful but understudied ... a need to assimilate the experience of vastness into one's current mental structure. ... It's an emotion that can have a tremendous impact.

Uncovering the Benefits of Awe | The Chopra Center

www.chopra.com/articles/uncovering-the-benefits-of-awe

You've probably experienced it: that feeling of awe as you gaze across ... and going over past interviews was psychological benefits in the area of altruism.

Seek 'Awe' for psychological, physical and social benefits - Exercise ...

exerciseright.com.au/an-urban-adventure-could-boost-your-life-expectancy-seek-awe/

Apr 21, 2017 - Don't think you need to travel the world, or live a lavish life to find this illusive 'AWE'. All you require is: 15 minutes & somewhere to walk.

What is Awe? A Definition And 3 Ways To Live An 'Awesome' Life

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com › Happiness & SWB

Jump to Benefits of Awe - There is only a handful of studies on awe and it is still considered a cutting edge topic in Positive Psychology (Mikulak, ...

Scientists Are Trying to Solve the Mystery of Awe -- Science of Us

nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/.../scientists-are-trying-to-solve-the-mystery-of-awe.ht...

 

 

[PeterSt]

1 hour ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

Are you referring to awe?

 

Yes, if I see this all (and a bit a week or so ago of the same) I am sure that is how I connected it to your nick name.

Now you only need to tell that you participate in these projects, wrote a few of those articles, or just have an interesting hobby.  Edit : ... way of living.

Great stuff for sure, but only really great if I start reading those articles !

[PeterSt]

OK, I am getting crazy now. @Audiophile Neuroscience, do you think that this sensation can bring you to sleep while still walking around ?

 

Sorry for the OT.

[Summit]

9 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

Thank you for this, Summit.

 

So, this thread being about the Lush USB cable, I sure came up with the Beastie Boys myself, but it wasn't really in the context of the Lush. Still easy to think of the theorie and what the cable would do to the Beastie Boys and so I re-tried the Ill Communication album. And oh, do notice that I don't have more than two tracks from all their albums in my "demo gallery" just because of the ill sound. So as I said earlier, it really takes massive changes to a "hi fi" system before the Beastie Boys sound "nice". But I did not even try any of their albums with the Lush.

Well, yesterday I tried one ...

 

 

This is maybe especially for @acg, as I learned that we often have the same taste. So Anthony, this went all into my demo gallery from this album alone. Now you know what (not) to play. 

 

 

So this is what happened to me with this album. I played it in full but had a very hard time to get through the first three tracks. This is also how I often don't get further than one track - the first track, just because I think it is representative for the album and if that fails, then good bye.

But at track 4 it started to happen and as you can see in the list (screenshot) it kept on happening. So FYI, if I think a track is really good, I press a button and it is in a special "gallery" and later it can be played from there. And if more from one album, they appear in the playlist for only that previously made (like yesterday) selection. Well, I can tell you, this will be close to a world record of tracks denoted for the demo gallery. Thus I really must have had fun.

 

Side note : possibly someone can tell what kind of music type this actually is, because IMO it must be categorized in something "special" because of the "upsweeping" up-beat or whatever it is which gives it a unique drive (same as Fight for your Right).

So yes, when this album is played you get into some mood or awe or whatever happiness and it is super special. Now :

 

Because I was thinking of Audiophile Neuroscience's post (and mind you, I really try to listen and learn from everybody), when the album was finished, I thought to test myself for now having so much adrenaline (etc.) that I now could bear those first three tracks.

It-did-not-work.

This was to my surprise as I was fairly sure my mood changed so much that I at least could like those tracks now. But not at all. It was and it remained NOISE.

 

Crucial for the experience on this album was the fact that nothing was visible of the "noise" I referred to in that earlier post. So nothing remained of the noise I have no proper word for in English (but think the hardest metal (music type) to compare it with).

Nothing.

Not that the Beastie Boys suddenly became lush pussies, but it seems that a stupid cable can make the difference between unbearable and normally playable. And that including the punch which these artists require (and yes, they really carry some nice percussion with them - very good audible on this album).

Remember the actual subject from the past days : a poor recording ? NO WAY - the contrary. But if you had asked me a year ago, then ...

What a hobby.

 

Glad you liked it, or at least some of the tracks. I can recommend the album “The in sound from way out” if you mostly in to their groovy music. Yeah the noise on many track is added by purpose to get the rough sound. Many (too many) artist does so and the result is often pretty bad. I have not played this or any Beastie Boys in a long time so it may be time to hear how it sounds with my Lush cable.

 

I have listen to many audio system and all can play pling plong music pretty decent. Some are a bit better than others on clarity, transparency, inner details, deep bass etc, but what really separates a really good system from a HIFI system is the ability to also play more complex and almost aggressive sounding music with drive, flow and authority on high volume. This while still portrait all the very fine nuance in Tom Waits voice or the high note shredding then Miles David blow his trumpet.

 

Peter a test, try Damien rice album called 9 (really good music) in your best audio system and tell me how it sound with Lush and then with you other USB cable.  

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

10 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

Yes, if I see this all (and a bit a week or so ago of the same) I am sure that is how I connected it to your nick name.

Now you only need to tell that you participate in these projects, wrote a few of those articles, or just have an interesting hobby.  Edit : ... way of living.

Great stuff for sure, but only really great if I start reading those articles !

 

10 hours ago, PeterSt said:

OK, I am getting crazy now. @Audiophile Neuroscience, do you think that this sensation can bring you to sleep while still walking around ?

 

Sorry for the OT.

 

Hi Peter,

it is loosely connected to my work I guess but more an interest. Um yes, you must read the articles to know their content. You can and no doubt do experience awe with or without reading about it.

 

Sleep walking is a known condition and I see no evidence that you are crazy, a little kooky maybe, in a nice way of course

[PeterSt]

8 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

Sleep walking is a known condition

 

Yes. But maybe it is not so common that this happens during day time.

Envision PeterSt making dinner which takes him 2-3 hours, music always on. He hardly ever experiences this dinner himself, but he eats it without problem. People can see the abnormal state, but that is all. He never got a second from what was on TV, which TV replaces the music when dinner is ready.

This state starts to be active more and more early, and these days he his "already able" to finish the last 30 minutes of the dinner making without him knowing a thing about it. He uses his playback software to see and prove how long the state has been going on because he can clearly see what music played and what track he noticed as the last one paying. Here too people will say "he's gone agaiaiaian". And whatever people do to get him out of there, it is totally impossible. Even ammonia(c) he inhales as if it were fresh air; he stays in the other world until after dinner.

For quite some time now he thinks it is related to the music in some kind of way.

When he is out for vacation it is plainly never happening.

 

Tomorrow I will check again whether the planned meat etc. or whatever goes in dinner last, is still in the fridge or that I managed as usual to know what to do.

 

9 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

you are crazy

 

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

9 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

I see no evidence that you are crazy,

[Vangelis]

Can anyone tell me what you paid for your Lush USB cable to shipped to the US?  Are there high International shipping or extra custom costs etc? The website shows 100cm (1meter) cable at €210.  Wondering what it all translates to plan whee I'm billed to my Pay Pal account. 

Thanks

[rickca]

13 minutes ago, Vangelis said:

Can anyone tell me what you paid for your Lush USB cable to shipped to the US?  Are there high International shipping or extra custom costs etc? The website shows 100cm (1meter) cable at €210.  Wondering what it all translates to plan whee I'm billed to my Pay Pal account. 

Thanks

Yes it was 37 euros!  Peter said that was his discounted rate.  It took a while for me to get over the shock.  No customs duty.

[PeterSt]

2 hours ago, rickca said:

Yes it was 37 euros!  Peter said that was his discounted rate.

 

Haha. Fire up UPS.com and see what comes from it, shipped from the US to the Netherlands. (Volume)Weight is 1lbs.

With  dozens sent at the same time (to different addresses of course), we are charged 39 euros. When only a few (like yesterday we shipped 7) it will be 49 euros.

For e.g. Hong Kong or Indonesia or Australia everything is 10 euros more. For more exotic European or Far East countries again 10 more.

 

3 hours ago, Vangelis said:

 Wondering what it all translates to plan whee I'm billed to my Pay Pal account. 

 

Should be 247 euros for the US. Of course it depends on the (wildly varying) EUR-USD currency rate, how much that will be in USD. Today this should be ~292.

 

And from that 247 euros about 9.50 is deducted by PayPal (that is what they charge for the transaction).

 

Now you know it all. 

OK, almost, because when you live along an Interstate or Highway, UPS thinks this is out of space and charges another whopping 20 euros. Barrows is an example. Alex C. another.

And of course 2.95 euros is added for private addresses which is almost everybody.

[rickca]

@PeterSt advised me that the shipping method he uses is the only one he has found consistently reliable.  It's just a fact of life that shipping from Europe to the USA is surprisingly expensive even for a small item.  At least we get the benefit of Peter's volume discount.

[austinpop]

If @PeterSt were a sales and marketing professional, he would have realized that 39 € is a psychologically startling number for shipping, especially when the customer's first exposure to it is after they've made a buy decision.

 

He would have been better advised to either:

1. publish higher pricing,  e..g. 239 € with free shipping
2. publish somewhat higher pricing, with psychologically acceptable pricing - e.g. 220 €, with 19€ shipping
3. or clearly publish the shipping cost with the price list. 

I have to admit, when I bought mine, the 39 € stuck in my craw a bit, so I had an email exchange with Peter. After he explained his true costs, I gave the go-ahead. I suspect he gets that a lot, and could save himself a lot of time by just going to option 1 or 2 above.

 

I notice he now has a web shop. I went through the flow, and you don't get shown shipping cost until you have entered all your info!

 

Peter, may I suggest you at least show the typical shipping costs on the main product page itself? It's just a friendly suggestion from an otherwise satisfied customer.

[PeterSt]

The good advices are really appreciated. But it is all not so easy as it appears.

 

Shipping locally is (From the top of my head now) 13 euros.

To Belgium (which is around the corner) 20 euros.

 

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

I suspect he gets that a lot, and could save himself a lot of time by just going to option 1 or 2 above.

 

So I'm afraid that can't work really.

 

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

publish higher pricing,  e..g. 239 € with free shipping

 

And that thus not at all. 

 

The only method where these things work is when something like this cable is priced, for example, 750 euros.

The actually thought-of price is still 210 but I just make it that 750 (like almost everybody in audio does). Now I would not care less.

 

But it is completely true : I am not a sales man. Not at all.

 

Thank you guys !

Peter

[rando]

I forget which platform you use for the online store, but in this day and age adding a shipping calculator based on weight and destination is probably a built in feature you just need to activate.  

[Speed Racer]

I get stuff reliably from Europe all the time for a heck of a lot cheaper than that......

[elcorso]

3 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

I get stuff reliably from Europe all the time for a heck of a lot cheaper than that......

 

Hashish ?

Short-term side effect could be paranoia …!

Are trollers paranoid, or try to create a paranoid environment?

Dr. Mercola said YES.

 

Roch

[PeterSt]

11 hours ago, rando said:

I forget which platform you use for the online store, but in this day and age adding a shipping calculator based on weight and destination is probably a built in feature you just need to activate.

 

Rando, how is that related ?

(and FYI that is in there, so I don't understand the remark anyway)

[rando]

I see it is, which wasn't clear from the above posts, included in the web store.  All I was doing was trying to clarify the answer to Vangelis question.   Wheeeee for billing info!

 

On 10/11/2017 at 9:13 PM, Vangelis said:

Can anyone tell me what you paid for your Lush USB cable to shipped to the US?  Are there high International shipping or extra custom costs etc? The website shows 100cm (1meter) cable at €210.  Wondering what it all translates to plan whee I'm billed to my Pay Pal account. 

Thanks

 

[didge]

On 9/2/2017 at 4:33 PM, barrows said:

I would love it if you listed some of the other cables which you have tried.

A few days ago I received another USB cable for testing (I am on the hunt for the "right" one), The inakustik Reference USB from Germany.  So I was A/B testing vs. Lush.  First I used the first 40 seconds or so of Diana Krall's "Temptation" from the 24/96, The Girl in The Other Room album.  Although the differences were obvious (more meat, body with Lush, slightly set back soundstage, slightly warmer) i could not determine which was 'better".  The inakustik was resolving and presenting more detail in terms of air, and reaching deep into the background as reverb tails faded to black.  But the meat and body presented by the Lush was engaging.  Then I played track 3 from Karim Baggali's Douar album (wonderful guitar, and some oud, music).  This is a slower piece with lots of transient information and nice ambient information of the recording space.  Again the inakustik better resolved the reverb tails as they faded to black, better delineating the recorded space.  But, the meat and body presented by the Lush was still very attractive sonically.  Which is "better", it is tough...  I would suggest that the inaksutik is worth having a listen to.

I am beginning to think the Lush is just a bit forgiving compared to some others, and maybe missing some of the lowest level details.  Is this more accurate?  or is something like the inakustik more accurate.  I really like listening with the Lush, and certainly it may be able to tame some hot recordings (ooh, I need to try Sketches of Spain, to me it is on the hot side), but the detail presented by the inakustik is nice as well, is it hyped?  Hmmm.

And have you done some more listening comparisons between the Lush and the Inakustik? Any preference?

[George Hincapie]

I have left this thread alone for a while, but would be interested to learn what owners think of their Lush cable. As we say in England, does it do what it says on the tin?

[m3lraaHnevetS]

4 hours ago, didge said:

And have you done some more listening comparisons between the Lush and the Inakustik? Any preference?

judging by his signature @barrows settled for Nordost Tyr because Valhalla requires winning the lottery

[m3lraaHnevetS]

26 minutes ago, George Hincapie said:

I have left this thread alone for a while, but would be interested to learn what owners think of their Lush cable. As we say in England, does it do what it says on the tin?

Love the Lush but am in the process of buying an Inakustik Reference to hear if that brings a tasty flavor...

[barrows]

6 hours ago, didge said:

And have you done some more listening comparisons between the Lush and the Inakustik? Any preference?

This two cables are very different.  The LUSH is rounder, richer, and warmer, the Inakustik is more precise with transient edges, reveals more (real) detail, follows reverb tails farther into blackness.  Anyone who does not believe there are differences in USB cables would be immediately convinced of their error with a comparison of these two cables.  I want to have both the richness of LUSH, and the accuracy of Inakustik, that would be nice.  At RMAF our team compared both cables while dialing in the system, and we decided on the Inakustik, but at home I kind of preferred the LUSH.  And yes, now I am using at home the Nordost Tyr, which is providing close to the best of both worlds in my system.  

But, i would say it is all down to system matching and sonic preferences as well, I have not heard a single USB cable which made me say: "That is the ONE" which is head and shoulders above all others.
Would love to try Nordost Valhalla sometime... I have heard reports from people I trust that it is "all that" but the price is beyond ridiculous for me, heck our Sonore Signature Rendu SE retails for less than the Valhalla USB cable, makes me think maybe we should charge more...  Haha, just kidding, we try to offer decent value.
 

 

 

 

[PeterSt]

I am not sure how many are helped with this, but if one only I am already happy :

 

So I have my own Lush in use now for quite some months. I quickly got used to its "sound" and am amazed each day again how albums I have known forever, now suddenly sound for the so much better. But ... this always has been with one consistent set of settings in XXHighEnd I was used to, hence, I never tried anything else, which I already shouldn't because of changing two things at the time (like USB cable plus settings). But a week ago I started with that, actually encouraged by a new XXHighEnd version with inherently better SQ to begin with and so automatically from one came the other. And what I now notice is that this cable allows for "infinitely" tweaking SQ by means of changes at the source (which is the playback software). The SQ suddenly is outrageous and the Lush is doing something quite differently from before : it carries another dimension. But let me quit being a commercial by means of this :

 

I started thinking about posting this because elsewhere I just posted about W10 Build 10074 and how this sounds like total crap now, while it has been my standard for 6 months or so. The difference ? the Lush. There is no single way that this OS can ever be made to sound satisfactory, so bad it is. There is just no mid, to name something. Bass is devastating, highs are thin as thin can be.

Point sort of is : 10074 always had a flavor which never is a good thing. But, I could like it, until a new (supported) build came about and that became the reference/standard for a longer time (these are matters all XXHighEnd users agree over easily). So, 10074 is wrong somewhere and the Lush brings that forward wherever it can. At least that is my reasoning now.

 

Yesterday it was Haloween. For me this meant that I found a couple of "Haloween" albums on Tidal, of which many appear to be up to hard core metal. It sounded gorgeous.  Now *that* is something (a kind of big victory that this can happen, right ?).

The other day we talked about Beastie Boys and how they now sound so good in a "hi-fi" system. But metal ?

 

 

[fas42]

19 hours ago, PeterSt said:

I am not sure how many are helped with this, but if one only I am already happy :

 

So I have my own Lush in use now for quite some months. I quickly got used to its "sound" and am amazed each day again how albums I have known forever, now suddenly sound for the so much better. But ... this always has been with one consistent set of settings in XXHighEnd I was used to, hence, I never tried anything else, which I already shouldn't because of changing two things at the time (like USB cable plus settings). But a week ago I started with that, actually encouraged by a new XXHighEnd version with inherently better SQ to begin with and so automatically from one came the other. And what I now notice is that this cable allows for "infinitely" tweaking SQ by means of changes at the source (which is the playback software). The SQ suddenly is outrageous and the Lush is doing something quite differently from before : it carries another dimension. But let me quit being a commercial by means of this :

 

I started thinking about posting this because elsewhere I just posted about W10 Build 10074 and how this sounds like total crap now, while it has been my standard for 6 months or so. The difference ? the Lush. There is no single way that this OS can ever be made to sound satisfactory, so bad it is. There is just no mid, to name something. Bass is devastating, highs are thin as thin can be.

Point sort of is : 10074 always had a flavor which never is a good thing. But, I could like it, until a new (supported) build came about and that became the reference/standard for a longer time (these are matters all XXHighEnd users agree over easily). So, 10074 is wrong somewhere and the Lush brings that forward wherever it can. At least that is my reasoning now.

 

Yesterday it was Haloween. For me this meant that I found a couple of "Haloween" albums on Tidal, of which many appear to be up to hard core metal. It sounded gorgeous.  Now *that* is something (a kind of big victory that this can happen, right ?).

The other day we talked about Beastie Boys and how they now sound so good in a "hi-fi" system. But metal ?

 

 

 

Yes, the general trends are: the more "debugging" is done, as in eliminating particular system deficiencies and weakness, the more intensely, glaringly obvious are the remaining issues - one is so much more aware of the sound being 'right', versus being 'wrong', depending upon almost anything. In the end, something like a single poor quality metal contact, somewhere, anywhere in the chain, can be the difference between audio hell, or heaven - the knowledge that is vital is being aware that such is just how it works ...

 

Powerfully driving, hard rock and similar tracks are excellent stress tests - they have been recorded well, it's now up to the playback chain to get its act together, and not be a total wuss when trying to reproduce them.