evolutionOriginally Posted by Alien_Shore
Well, not really, but let me explain.
Until I started listening to Altecs, I was happy. Content with all my recordings. MP3s, no problem - didn't even notice all those artifacts and loss of imaging. CDs, loved 'em - couldn't really hear all those anomalies, over-compression, and hyper use of limiters. Now, I have model 14s in my upstairs man cave. In the garage, I have 816s loaded with 416As, 511Bs driven with 802-8Gs. I'm working on an enclosure for my 604E. I've designed and built new crossovers for all of them. Now, I hear things I never heard before. I'm hearing all kinds of CRAP in signal path. I'm hearing defects and errors made in the mixing and mastering. I'm starting to LOATHE MP3s and compressed music. I'm starting to think about buying a turntable. What the hell is happening to me?
- Mike
evolution
Sonic Barbarian
That's what started this whole mess for me. I was very content listening to my MP3s through my Onkyo receiver, and little Advent satellites. See I have a subwoofer and that made everything OK. I transferred all my CDs to iTunes and almost through them away thinking I'd never need them again.
Then one night I figured I'd give my old Hitachi turntable one more spin before it hit the trash, and even through that crappy receiver and those crappier speakers I noticed something: my old records, even with layers of dust a grit, sounded more engaging than my MP3 files. It made me want to sit and listen, not just have background music playing. I put on record after record and compared it to the same song on my iTunes and the difference was startling. I felt like Kevin Spacey's character in American Beauty waking up from a long mind-numbing slumber.
So I did end up trashing my Hitachi TT, but I replaced it with the TT of my dreams when I was a kid, a Technics 1200. That led me to Kevin of KAB fame and a visit to his home where I got to listen to his tri-amped 288/1005s and my youthful music enthusiasm was renewed with a vengeance. That led to my Heathkits and here. Tube amps followed. Then Apple Lossless files, then a killer DAC...
In hind sight, it was slow, subtle and insidious, but my music life was gradually seduced to the dark side by the convenience of MP3s...at the expense of musical listening enjoyment.
Now I want to find the recording engineer/producer that butchered Amy Winehouse's Back in Black. He should be on suicide watch for destroying what we now know was the only chance to capture this talent for prosperity.
Most modern recorded music sucks. It's recorded to sound good on iPods and car stereos. If you want extended dynamic range you have to go back to the 80s and before...before they started overcompressing everything.
I've decided to go back to the old way. : / Just ordered everything I need to do a pair of Martin J Kings Open Baffles. If I like them The 604's will be on the chopping block.
Ah, vinyl.
Once you get over the wear and tear on the disc, dust, snaps, crackles, pops, skips, inherent surface noise, warps, eccentric spindle holes, stylus wear, acoustic feedback, limited playing time per side, reducing resolution as the groove heads toward the centre of the disc and of course the constant cleaning, you may find the recording enjoyable.
Last edited by mah; May 22nd, 2013 at 01:32 AM.
Opinion is only as valid as its verifiable supporting evidence.
Yeah, with rare exception, the best, most dynamic recordings today are movie soundtracks, same as it's always been.
GM
Loud is Beautiful if it's Clean! As always though, the usual disclaimers apply to this post's contents.
changing caps is an easy start, to reducing distortion.
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young guy finds out about high quality reproduction -
Why We Need Audiophiles
guns kill people,
like spoons made rush limbaugh,
fat ....
I look at the bright side. The ever increasing resolution of my systems has helped reduce the size of the listenable portion of my music collection to a very small and easily managed library.
A long time friend of mine has a small vintage system in his family room that i helped him put together and refurb a few years ago. Sometimes i find it a little unnerving when i enjoy some music from my younger days on that Technics SA-700 and DA PS-10's and realize "that sounds pretty good". When i try to listen to some of the same stuff at home, i cannot shift my focus away from the flaws and anomalies of the recording and production enough to enjoy it. Maybe his keggerator is influencing my observations.
Last edited by bowtie427ss; May 22nd, 2013 at 07:32 AM.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Entertaining article. I like this quote:
It is within this 3D space where the audiophile lives and operates, and spends all his money. Fremer himself is the first to admit that it would only take $3,000 to $5,000 to build a system that will be deeply satisfying to most music fans.
That's my kitchen.
This is too funny, I think my Altecs gave me the "critical listening disease" I have about 300 hundred cd's and only listen to about two hundred songs, but looking at the loudness war site, I think Altec was onto something, because the numbers dont lie, with my Altecs, in many instances. With some recordings I have up to five copies looking for a clean one. I think some recording engineers are either retarded, deaf, or someone is forcing them to destroy the work they were hired to perform. Craddledorf you really should look into a pair of G's in very big, very stiff cabinets....
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