The death of Hi-Fi

Interesting read, non?

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity

 

Yes, this is (partly) why I am far from convinced about these squeeze box contraptions.

I have miniimalł faith in stuff thats downloadable.

I'm not convinced cds are what they should be but at least you are in your in with some chance. You can take them back if they're real ****, that way you are voting with your feet(and money).

I'd be the first to admit I am no techie but it just seesm to be all going the wrong way.



(SBs seem to me to be about twiddling knobs and song titles round, not focusing on whats coming out the speakers, the important bit for me)

 

DavidF .
My boy you should have less than minimalf faith in a lot of the trash that is downloadable . It is not music as we know it just noise and that is paying it a big compliment non ?
Noel W.

 

Having the music encoded onto disc or downloadable as a file isn't the issue. Crappy quality, overcooked EQ and compression can ruin music no matter how you choose to obtain it.

 

i possess some cr4p sounding Vinyl, some cr4p sounding CD's etc and though i don't net pull my music have never doubted there to be cr4p sounding downloads, as as with much of the cr4p that is pumped out from the pick pocket profiteers into and around the circle of consumerism ... money is king, and the more those that feed by fixes allow themselves to be fooled by the 'illusion of quality' the lesser choice exist's for those that possess a taste for quality, that being the same base quality that 'all' should know as standard.
and so it becomes the focus of niche to know/hear the truth. I hope we never have to listen in secret

 

I do agree! My motto is quality over quantity, that's it. Don't store, just be selective or you'll end up not listening to anything but digital radio musak while you cook.
It's mostly the same with all other issues in the consumist model they've fooled us into. More isn't always better

Regards,

Vincula

 

I have just as many badly recorded\mastered vinyls as I do CDs. Yes there has been a trend to increase the volume thus decreasing the dynamic headroom but I'm finding that's happening on pop\dance stuff.

 

Luddites and technophobes dont like downloaded music! Stop the press!

The key isnt the delivery mechanism or the packaging/pressing, its the mastering and production of the music.
Vinyl, tape, redbook CD, SACD, DVDA (i love that one - check out South Park DVDA) all have limitations in the resolution they deliver, of course some better than others. Guess how you can get 'master tape quality' music??? Yep , you guessed it, DOWNLOADS. This is the ONLY delivery method that pushes the restriction on quality back up to the studio recording.

Of course, you are thinking now about the crappy quality of downloads you get from iTunes or compressed CDs or whatever, but you wouldnt jump to the conclusion that all downloaded music sounded poor would you?

Aside from poor compression technology, downloaded music can remove a compression link (ie redbook CD) from the chain actually getting you closer to the original source.

A recent article on the topic....
http://hifi-stereo.suite101.com/article.cfm/highquality_audiophile_download_services

The only thing you need now is for the audio manufacturers to build good quality kit that supports good quality downloads!....Oh wait, didnt someone mention a squeezbox thingy?

 

So where can you get "master tape quality" downloads from? Are they affordable?

 

err, ok try these....

http://www.naimlabel.com/

http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-help-downloads-studio-master-quality-album-downloads.aspx

http://www.gimell.com/recording-Ockeghem---Missa-De-plus-en-plus-Missa-Au-travail-suis.aspx

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=staticpage&pagename=audiophile_96khz

And heres some you can even try!
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/c...sy-First-Impression-Music-24882-241764-323528

http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-downloads-testfiles.aspx

OK so the music may not be to your tastes, but thats not my fault


Its just the beginning, and guess what - no pesky optical based storage format wars to ruin everything! If the audiophile community accept downloads more readily then the available software catalogues will improve. I fear the majority of died in the wool flat earthers (or whatever the term is for our community) have only just grasped mobile phones let alone software downloads of high quality music.

 

great, toys for the boys, ice cream and sweets, where has the passion gone? it is not about bad recordings on vinyl or other formats, radio is the cheapest free format that you can play on your most precious bit of kit, if you want to be sad as to want to download then is your choice, as to the thread " death of hi-fi" i don't think so, there are some die hard lovers out there that when they go to sleep still think of thei kit next door and wake up to a song they want to liten and get fustrated when the vast amount of records out of abc order they can not find, eg. me
nando.

 

why is downloading sad?
why does new technology worry you?
why cant you organise your recordings?

 

Searching for a particular album, removing it our of the sleeve, smelling the sleeve and the plastic, putting it on the deck, playing it.....(others can add to this list) is all an occasion. Just click on a link doesn't have the same sense of satisfaction .

 

Hi Nando,

I agree. Why does it worry you. Why do you expect people nowadays to do the same as you?

SCIDB

 

No so sure about that, some of the links I've clicked on.......

 

quote

believe me it worry's me not , i do not expect people to be on the same waves as me, there is an issue as to why the day that music died, by by miss american pie,
nando.

 

The king is dead, long live the king!

 

whisky and rye, and every thing nice, long live the the well never run dry,
nando.

 

Thanks for the links lamboy

 

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