funk-o-meter said:
I mean "nicer" (I know, not proper grammar) stuff as in more "musical" sounding to my ears. Of course wide open to interpretation as you mentioned.
Unfortunately, human perception is prone to error. Therefor, listening to something in an uncontrolled set of circumstances and/or not attempting to measure and coorelate the response to known auditory perception research will result in conclusions with a high probability of error.
These are pieces that have become classics in the recording industry. And for good reason in most cases. In some cases they have very obvious effects on the sound that are very pleasing and unique to that unit. In other cases, they are simply transparent and accurate.
I don't see anything different about the general professional sector as compared to the general audiophile sector. Both are prone to the same perceptual error(s) and/or bias(es). It does not appear to matter if this concerns a $10 wire vs. $1000 wire in the audiophile world or a $200 mic pre vs. a $2000 mic pre in the pro world. Imagination(s) run wild.
It would seem that if you'd designed a EQ (or any other piece of gear) fairly well that it would sound like most any other EQ that was design fairly well, but in many cases, they sound different.
If they sound different, then they will measure differently.
In the case of the Behringer, I'm sure the audio is handled by some op-amp chips at some point in the schematic. These will usually have an affect on the tone. Small, but audible.
Virtually every piece of studio equipment that deals with an audio signal has op amps. But op amps are not a detriment. Modern op amps of high quality have signal performance that is nothing short of incredible. The Behringer units I specified use JRC4580 opamps as the ADC and DAC buffers. This is a standard, low cost and very high quality operational amplifier. BTW, no one has ever demonstrated the audibility of op amps when the measured performance was below known audible thresholds.
If you had a system which already employees similar op-amps such as lots of receivers, then you probably wouldn't notice any change at all in the sound if you add another one.
By this logic, then op amps should never be a problem. How many op amps do you think the signals travel through within the studio(mixer stages, ADC and DAC buffers, mic preamps, etc.)? Do you think that most studio equipment wastes money/design effort on discrete line signal amplification/buffering as opposed to cheap/simple solution op amps?
But if you were running a real high end system that was squeaky clean and clear as glass and you hooked that little guy up, you might very well be able to hear a difference as now all your audio is being feed through a few $4 op-amps and all kind of filters.
$4.00 is an outrageous price for an audio line level op amp. The JRC4580 is around $0.25.
I've got a few of the Behringer "Autocom" and "Composer Pro's" (compressors) that I use lots for live mixing in clubs and such and the "Autocom's" add quite a bit of background hiss when they're in.
I specifically limited by response of known well made Behringer products. I do not know the age or components used in these devices you are now referencing. Behringer, several years ago, had many problems in quality control and product reliability that have since been corrected. The devices I specified are recent and use known components. Also, if a product was specifically designed for P.A. or other non refined use(s), it is possible that a transparent SNR was not a much of a consideration in the design process.
The other component that almost always has a "sound" is ADC or DAC converters. If you've got a sweet rig and you throw one of those little digital EQ's in your chain, then you've just added a ADC, some software algorithms, a DAC, and maybe some op-amp chips to your chain. Definitely not something an audiophile could stomach in his/her wicked expensive tube mono block rig.
I have yet to read about a properly controlled blind test demonstrating the audibility of ADC/DAC chain that measured properly. The only audible attritbutes would be measurable(noise, distortion, etc.). I know of at least 2 blind tests that were carried out in the past that resulted in no difference detected when comparing ADC->DAC vs. direct analog bypass. These tests
[1][2] were from the 80's and 90's, btw, not using modern digital systems(which are technically superior).
But if your one of those guys who buy expensive interconnects for your $10,000 setup cause you like the way they "sound" then I wouldn't put those little op-amps and converters in your chain, you'll probably hear them.
If one buys expensive wires for the exclusive reason that they like the sound, then they are probably delusional. No evidence to back up audibility of any of these things when they are properly designed and used within their design parameters.
-Chris
Footnotes
[1]
The Digital Challenge: A Report by Stanley P. Lip****z
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario Canada
http://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/bas_speaker/abx_testing2.htm
[2]
SMWTMS ABX Test Results
Ampex 16 Bit Delay Line vs. wire
http://www.pcavtech.com/abx/abx_digi.htm