This 1957 film endeavors to describe what hi-fi is all about while discussing the importance of the then relatively new stereo format. Oddly enough as much as things have changed audio enthusiasts still fall into roughly one of the three categories discussed.
A certain female singer/songwriter finally revealed the name of the person that inspired her song “You’re So Vain” and it was of course for the most artistic of reasons, to sell a new album that no one would have known about otherwise. Is the song about Warren Beatty, James Taylor, Mick Jagger, David Bowie Jack Nicolson, Kris Kristofferson, David Cassidy, Cat Stevens, or even Abraham Lincoln? After 38 years who cares? How many famous men did she sleep with anyway? The only one more stupid than all of the people who wasted their energy trying to figure it out is Dick Ebersol, who spent 50 grand to know. She's so vain that she thinks people still give a shit. As she said in another song when it comes to being egotistical "Nobody Does It Better." Apparently it’s about David Geffen, now that you’ve been nice enough to tell us you are free to fade back into obscurity.
Haven't you ever wondered what would happen if you made a record out of chocolate? Me neither. Just think of what this thing would do to a decent cartridge.
This photo is all over the internet and I have one major question. Does the Wow and Flutter make every singer sound like William Shatner? Sadly, for many Star Trek fans this isn't available but I'm sure that some Enterprising (sorry I couldn't resist) fan will make one in his parent's basement. Hopefully, Paramount won't sue him when he does.
[sarcasm begins] Cast off your subjectivist sins and all will be forgiven. Become an objectivist, it's cheaper and there's no need to pursue "happiness." Because so-called "happiness" can't be scientifically quantified surely it's just an illusion created by chemicals in the human brain.
When are you going to stop "listening" to music and realize the truest and purest way to "appreciate" it is via oscilloscope? It has the added benefit of being cheaper and the SAF* is much higher too.
You should also be enjoying your wine by testing it's chemical composition instead of wasting it by dumping it down your unscientific throats. This method has the added benefit of getting rid of the wines unfortunate side effect that many refer to as intoxication.
A painting should be evaluated by the number of colors per square inch and the size of the work rather than how it makes you FEEL.
I also advocate the testing of cars by seeing how fast they can make a piece of toast out of a slice of bread placed on the engine. There's no need to actually waste ones time test driving the damn thing. My 2001 Hyundai Accent does it just as fast as the top of the line BMW 5 series, therefore they must be just as good. [sarcasm ends]
One of the things that I don't get about most objectivists when it comes to audio they deny anything that can't be measured as if it can't exist. Don't they realize that the first step to scientific understanding is many times anecdotal observation which is then followed to a new scientific understanding? The most eloquent word for this is serendipity. Penicillin was discovered because Sir Alexander Fleming had a runny nose that dripped onto some slides containing bacteria. Louis Pasteur once said, "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind." Just because we can't measure something doesn't mean it is non-existent, it just means we don't yet have a method to quantify it. Newton didn't discover gravity he only found a way to quantify and describe it. Gravity existed long before him.
Ken Ishiwata makes an excellent point in passing. Why are specs seen as so important when they are obtained using CONTINUOUS (or static) test tones and yet a piece of audio gear's purpose is to reproduce a constantly VARIABLE set of tones? The measurements are obtained in an entirely different manner than the product's intended use.
*SAF, or Spouse Acceptance Factor is the more politically correct version of WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor.)
If you've ever needed proof that some white males can dance. This Ok Go! video is it. I've always wondered what lonely hipsters do on a Saturday night, now I know. The truly impressive thing is that this video is shot in a single take. In case you were wondering they did return the treadmills after they were done.
Would you believe that you could build your own loudspeaker in under five minutes for less than a dollar? http://www.youtube.com/v/8m8fbnShPcw&hl=en&fs=1
I knew that I should have kept the headphones that came with my iPod for some reason. It might even be a good picnic trick but be careful and follow all of the directions to the letter or this might happen. http://www.youtube.com/v/wOXUBWl1T5U&hl=en&fs=1
I thought that "The Onion" did parodies; not hard hitting, fact based news stories. ;) Language warning don't watch this with small children around or at work!
It seems that there is no end in sight when it comes to the battle of which sounds better, the CD or the record. There are those who feel that CD’s will never be able to sound like a record. There are others who ask why would anyone want them to. Then there’s Aleks Kolkowski, with an idea worthy of a politician. He offered attendees of Manchester Futuresonic 2008 Festival a 45 rpm single that was cut onto a useless CD or DVD. Even going as far as to offer people the chance to bring a WAV file of their choice. Now if only useless old laserdiscs could enjoy the same “treatment” we could have some 33 1/3s as well. Many vinylphiles will enjoy the irony, yet cringe at the thought of what playing one of these would do to an expensive phono cartridge.
The high end hobby is undoubtedly one driven by passion bordering on obsession, as are all hobbies. Some choose to gleefully cross the line into full blown madness. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it happens but as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said of pornography, “ I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” If one thinks of high end audio as a flame it is inevitable that certain areas of the flame burn hotter than others. One such area is horn loaded speakers.
A gentleman in Italy has taken it further than anyone else. Below the listening room is a 3 and 1/3 foot deep series of trenches constructed in brick to form a two horns, one for the right channel and one for the left. Each horn houses eight 18” woofers. The length each horn is a little over 31 feet. The subwoofer must have been an unbelievably difficult and expensive undertaking. All of this might be over kill for a system whose sources are a Thorens TD160 turntable and a Marantz CD85 CD player, both using what appear to be rusty car springs as isolation. If you feel more information is in order click here and scroll down the page. To each their own.
Before you read the rest of the post the link is required viewing. Click on the picture.
My only question is can you mount a Benz Micro Glider cartridge on this thing? I shutter to think what this thing could do to the delicate groves of a record. Is it an automatic can opener too? You can't do this with a CD. For anyone who wants a toy like this that will help them trash they're LPs there is a company in Japan that sells them called Razyworks.
I wonder if this guy's wife can work his system? Never mind that's a stupid question. This guy can't possibly have a wife. I bet he still lives in his parent's basement. And I bet that all of you thought that my college era system was complicated.
Now no disrespect intended to my friends of faith but what ever made a bunch of youth group attending, rose colored glasses wearing, mamma's boys think that they could really ROCK. I mean really, are there Jewish, Islamic, or Buddhist rock bands? Nobody is screaming dradle, dradle with a bunch of detuned power chords while wearing a kippa. Do Christian Rock bands break up over religious differences instead of creative differences? Is there Classic Christian Rock? Southern Christian Rock? I'm going to invent my own musical genre, Agnostic Rock. The first half of the album will be completely hedonistic, self aggrandizing , self centered music. The second half of the album will be all God and tulips and love. The band's name, "(K)no(w) God!" When written it looks like the name of a Christian Rock band, when spoken it sounds like a band of Atheists. What does everyone think?
Even the Doctor's biggest enemies, the Daleks are getting iPods. Is it part of their next insidious plot against the Doctor?
I came across this image while doing research for the purchase of an iPod sometime in the near future. The thing that clinched it was my co-worker who is as much a fanatic about sound as I am. He is also a recording engineer. He tested Apple's lossless compression and came to an interesting conclusion. Not only does it work bit perfect, the uncompressed signal is MORE accurate that the original. How is this possible? Well the process of compressing and uncompressing the signal greatly reduces a phenomena called digital jitter. A certain amount of jitter is introduced into every CD during the manufacturing process.
Robert Harley in his book "The Complete Guide to High-End Audio" defines digital jitter as follows: "Timing variations in the clock that synchronizes events in a digital audio system. The clock could be in an analog-to-digital converter that controls when each audio sample is taken. Of more interest to audiophile is clock jitter in digital audio reproduction; the clock controls the timing of the reconstruction of digital audio samples into an analog signal. Jitter degrades musical fidelity."
This has led me to think about ways of digitizing my entire music collection onto an iPod and then running that into a high-end DAC (Digital to Analog converter.) Apple's wireless iPod accessory might do the trick but more research is needed. Who need a remote control? I could literally hold my entire CD collection in my hand with instant access to any piece of music in my collection without ever leaving my chair. Of course it would also sound better than the original CD because of the reduction in jitter. Very interesting. This is definitely worth more thought.
All of this from just wanting to be able to listen to some tunes on the way to work.
Many of you may think that this is a change in my stance against MP3s. What I am against is highly compressed music of dubious legal origin. I object to not only the bad sound quality but also the theft of the artists intellectual property. With Apple's Lossless compression and CD's from my own collection neither of these is an issue. The idea of less than CD quality is pretty objectionable when you consider that CD performance is, in and of itself pretty compromised.
Digital Sources: Primare D20 CD player (used as a transport) and Theta DSP Pro Basic III DAC. Analog Sources: Pro-Ject 1.2 Turntable fitted with Audioquest sorbothane record mat mounted with a Grado Gold Cartridge and a Pro-ject Phono Box phono stage. Tandberg 3011A FM Tuner. Preamplifier: Adcom GFP-750 Amplifier: Threshold Stasis S550e Power Conditioner: Panamax Max-5510 Speakers: Martin Logan CLS Cables: Audioquest Panther, Jade and Quartz interconnects, Audioquest Gibraltar speaker cable, DIY hand-terminated true 75 ohm digital cable. Transparent Power Link Plus power cords on Power Conditioner, Transport, DAC, Preamp, and Amp. Audioquest AC15 powercords with Wattgate ends on speakers. Tweaks: Ayre wood blocks under all components, except speakers. Non-upgraded power cords have Audioquest Noise Stoppers installed. All unused inputs on preamp are filled with DIY shorting RCA plugs.
