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...he actually started hearing that one hard drive gives better bass and another gives better trebble. And he can hear that difference.

This guy (or a similar one) responded to one of my posts on a previous topic. (Holy shit, Google actually found it. O.o)

Anyway he was thought it was reasonable to claim that the sound coming out of his Hi-Fi system was audibly different when the computer was sitting on the floor to when it was on pads, among other things.

<flamebait>this will head asplode you</flamebait>

Audiophiles are the best example of the placebo effect. Just ask John Vestman...

Two other engineers (in session with me) heard the sound change when we raised the client's computer off the floor with soft isolation pads. The only thing that changed was what the computer was sitting on. We found that setting the computer on a hardwood floor made the sound more immediate and crisp, compared with setting it on soft isolators. On the floor, the snare sounded punchier, the kic more immediate, and the overall sound was tighter. A solid platform is even better when vibration isolators are used - and you'll be amazed at the difference a great power cable makes too

http://www.johnvestman.com/digital_myth.htm . Some other hilarious examples of audiophile stupidity can be found on his site.

And of course you need a $200 power cord plugged into a $2 power bar! http://nautiluspro.com/power_cords.htm

Ah, but what about the differenece between Seagate and Western Digital? About half way down

Those of your sitting smug with your all digital system should take note as well.

Just because your signals are digital doesn't mean that the sound isn't going to change because of the quality of your cable.

Even the brand of hard disk that you use can effect the quality of the audio you get from your system.

You need to check that your hard-disk is insulated correctly as well. Installing vibration isolators in your computer can effect the sound coming out of it.

Want proof? This guy is a sound engineer and has performed extensive tests on different hard drives and transport mechanisms. Did you know that the same file played from the CDR can sound different if it's played from a FireWire hard disk?

They distort the sound and make it sounds "warmer", much like an LP sound "warmer" the second time you play it because the needle has scratched half the vinyl out of the groove and it can't reproduce the high frequencies any longer.

Give me semiconductors anyday, I want accurate reproduction, not crap induced analogue distortion.

Meanwhile, these are the same people that think running a green marker around the edge of your compact discs increases the sound quality. For a real laugh, check out this. Rampant stupidity.

Tubes have their place, but it's not in high quality* audio reproduction.

* where high quality is defined as accuracy and audio reproduction as close as possible to the original.

CDR Sound Review tells us how various brands of CDRs stack up for different types of music:
"Maxell 700 MB silver top for more detailed highs, Maxell Music gold for a fatter, more solid mid-to-bottom."