[Stratoscope]

Oh sure, your rips may be perfect at the bit level, but how do you know that they're free of sub-bit quantization that isn't detectable by electronic circuits but can be heard by the human ear?

This sub-bit jitter and interference can travel along with a digital file and sneak right past your ordinary bit-level error detection and correction, no matter how lossless you make it. That's because these errors aren't visible in the bits. They occur at a deeper and more subtle level, in between the bits.

Even if you prove mathematically that two files contain the exact same bits, you can't prove that the human ear won't hear any difference, can you?

[jboggan]

We've discovered digital homeopathy.

[oaktowner]

Funniest reply I've read all day.

[the_solution]

The decoder/player doesn't know how to read between the bits.

Same file -> same playback.

If you hear the same sound file twice (or two identical files) and hear something different, you software is broken or you're imagining things.

[Stratoscope]

Ah, well, the human ear is a much more finely tuned instrument than your decoders and players. Think of the feelings you get when you hear the ocean waves, the birds sing, a thunderclap!

Can you turn this into mere "bits"? Of course not!

That's why it is so important to protect against sub-bit quantization errors, and this can only be done with proper interconnects. Ordinary cables allow the bits to travel willy-nilly until they jam up against each other creating a brittle, edgy soundstage. Quality interconnects are tuned, aligned, and harmonically shielded to keep those precious bits - and the all-important spaces between them - in a smooth flow.

And then, we can hear all of the things that make us human.

[eric_h]

I'm very glad you stuck with the bit (har har) and didn't resort to just telling him he missed the joke. Well done.

[andybak]

Whooosh.

[golergka]

For a second I was terrified at the thought that you're being serious.

That comment is just perfect.

[psychometry]

Flawless satire.

[hueving]

Something about it being on HN also makes you assume a post isn't a joke starting out so I read for a lot longer before I realized what was happening.

[gpvos]

That's also between the bits. See?

[black2night]

Thank you so muuuuuuuch for the uncontrollably laugh i'm having now