I agree with the author and would also echo the sentiments of several readers who have posted comments to the effect that "yes, electrical noise is a thing, but it should not generally impact the integrity of data read from a digital storage medium". Digital data communication can be (and often is) very resilient to noise and other signal distortions that are introduced at the source or during transit. Especially when we're dealing with the more benign case of short range wired communications rather than long range or wireless communications where the signal can be attenuated and distorted heavily.
A minor technical quibble though. Digital modulation by itself isn't solely responsible for the "threshold behavior" we see in modern communications systems. The behavior I'm referring to is where the system (pretty much) either works 100% or not at all, like you might have experienced with newer broadcast TV. It's the inclusion of strong forward error correction (FEC) that transforms a gradual degradation in performance into a steep cliff. Generally it's a good thing because the system can operate at 100% reliability in conditions that would normally cause a noticeable degradation. Of course, FEC has been around for quite a long time - it's why audio CDs play flawlessly even with some minor scratches on them.
With that out of the way, if we give Sony the benefit of the doubt that they're touting a legitimate improvement instead of engaging in bullshit marketing (I lean towards the latter), it seems they must be referring to a reduction in noise picked up by the analog section of the sound system. This would be between the soundcard's digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and the speaker. Curiously enough, I once experienced poor audio quality on a computer where something innocuous (mouse scrolling or hard disk seeks) produced an audible sound in the headphones. This was a cheap machine with a bottom of the barrel motherboard and integrated sound, mind you. The problem, I think, was a failure to properly isolate the digital and analog grounds on the motherboard, something that printed circuit board designers know more about than me. Did you ever hear about or experience the problem of wired Xbox 360 controllers causing button presses if you the mic audio was too loud? This was the same problem but in reverse.
Anyway, if a company wants to make marketing claims like this, they should be obligated to provide some evidence. Shows us some audio quality tests on different mobo and soundcard combinations (or different phones). We're talking about something that can be verified by both signal analysis and listening tests. Until they're willing to do that, claims of an audio friendly SD card should be treated with a high degree of skepticism.
A minor technical quibble though. Digital modulation by itself isn't solely responsible for the "threshold behavior" we see in modern communications systems. The behavior I'm referring to is where the system (pretty much) either works 100% or not at all, like you might have experienced with newer broadcast TV. It's the inclusion of strong forward error correction (FEC) that transforms a gradual degradation in performance into a steep cliff. Generally it's a good thing because the system can operate at 100% reliability in conditions that would normally cause a noticeable degradation. Of course, FEC has been around for quite a long time - it's why audio CDs play flawlessly even with some minor scratches on them.
With that out of the way, if we give Sony the benefit of the doubt that they're touting a legitimate improvement instead of engaging in bullshit marketing (I lean towards the latter), it seems they must be referring to a reduction in noise picked up by the analog section of the sound system. This would be between the soundcard's digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and the speaker. Curiously enough, I once experienced poor audio quality on a computer where something innocuous (mouse scrolling or hard disk seeks) produced an audible sound in the headphones. This was a cheap machine with a bottom of the barrel motherboard and integrated sound, mind you. The problem, I think, was a failure to properly isolate the digital and analog grounds on the motherboard, something that printed circuit board designers know more about than me. Did you ever hear about or experience the problem of wired Xbox 360 controllers causing button presses if you the mic audio was too loud? This was the same problem but in reverse.
Anyway, if a company wants to make marketing claims like this, they should be obligated to provide some evidence. Shows us some audio quality tests on different mobo and soundcard combinations (or different phones). We're talking about something that can be verified by both signal analysis and listening tests. Until they're willing to do that, claims of an audio friendly SD card should be treated with a high degree of skepticism.