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Thursday's crossword had the clue "Audiophile purchase" and LPs didn't fit.
Apparently they wanted CDs.
Time for Fremer to write them another angry letter? ;-)
Jeff
"Decaf is for cowards."
Jack Kevorkian
Follow Ups:
I've already cancelled my subscription.
Besides the New Yorker is easier to read for me. They seem to make everything concise, to the point, and easy to understand. Scientific American is the same way.
I have found a news mag that I like very much ......also is appealing to those I have recommended it to. The Week Check it out.
There is something I like about 'old' news that is fully matured with all the fake stuff weeded out.
I guess I have to relearn what the word liberal means ;-)
nt
Nt
Hi, Jeff,
That's funny! CDs have become "audiophile" in comparison to today's lossy digital file heaps. I refuse to call a bunch of digital files on SS storage medium a collection. '-)
I will admit that I listen to CDs on a regular basis. The improvements in playback have made them quite enjoyable. I still prefer LPs but the often disparaged CD has its place.
Tom
I am with you! I have bought quite a few CD, since people started dumping their collections in favor of downloads. Great music is available for next to nothing, much of it not available on vinyl. I also still prefer LP, but CD's have made huge leaps from the 80's when I considered them unlistenable.
Dave
Hi, Crazy Dave,I have been enjoying CD playback much more since I added a tubed buffer stage and stand-alone DAC to the CD signal path. The DAC allowed me to choose which filter sounded best with my setup and the buffer stage added an ambience that was missing from the CDP/DAC alone. It would undoubtedly fail the "straight wire" concept in music reproduction but it my opinion, the added euphonics from a tube buffer stage is far more important to music enjoyment than absolute resolution. All things (with affordability paramount) considered.
Regards,
Tom
Edits: 12/06/16
Hi Tom,
I remember Gizmo saying that the signal is so messed with that anything that brings you to better sound is fair game. (I'm paraphrasing. It was quite a few years ago!) I actually have been considering a tube buffer for my less than SOTA CD player. I have been wanting to get into DIY tube building, and that would be a good place to start. Plus, I have a lot of vintage 6SN7 tubes, which would be a good tube for that application. I am of the "enjoyment uber alles" school. I prefer accurate reproduction of the musical event over the encoded signal.
Dave
Dave, your comment that you "prefer accurate reproduction of the musical event over the encoded signal" is something that I've been working on for the last 10 years.Lately I've been experimenting with a second pair of "ambience" speakers (Audio Engine A2+) that sit on the floor next to the stand-mount main speakers. They are angled up off the floor aimed backwards but parallel to the mains. The are running off the two powered subs using the high-pass crossover line outs. I'm impressed with the resulting sound and will post my thoughts on the Speaker Asylum one day soon.
A DIY tube buffer sounds like a fun project. I bought a demo Mini-max BBA from Eastern Electric years ago. It uses a EZ90/6X4 rectifier and a pair of ECL82/6BM8's. The volume control on the BBA allows me to set overall gain so the integrated amp runs in its sweet spot at normal listening levels.
Regards,
Tom
Edits: 12/05/16
That is a very interesting setup! Where did you get the idea for it?
Dave
Setting up speakers in a wide range of rooms over the past 45 years. '-)
I guess I'm balking at the notion that front and side walls have to be quiet and that resolution and detail are the prime objectives in "the absolute sound". I've been thinking about this more and more while attending concerts in theaters, taverns, churches, and living rooms and really listening to the sound and trying to figure out why it sounded that way. I came to the conclusion that echo/reverb was key. Music doesn't come at you from a wall; it envelops you from the entire room. With that in mind I've been working with the acoustics of my listening room rather than trying to turn it into an audiophile speaker chamber.
I've been sitting up late listening to music the past few nights because it sounds so good. I've made comparisons in the sound with and without the ambience speakers and I'm keeping them in place.
Tom
So you came up with the idea yourself. Fascinating! My setup is quite different. I am in a paneled room (lots of reflection) but my 2 Ikea record shelves and manny records are behind the speakers, acting as diffusers. I listen to the Spendor BC-1's near-field and also have a subwoofer. It sounds great to me. There is more than one way to skin a cat!
Dave
or is it the playback equipment?
Or maybe a combination of the two.
When my ancient Pioneer CD player was replaced with a Samsung DVD/CD player CD's sounded much better. I can only imagine what they'd sound like if played on a high end CD unit.
Hi, DRam,
It's the chicken or the egg debate. CD recording and mastering has improved over the years and that has made a huge difference in digital playback. But the improvements in DAC technology have also contributed to the overall enjoyment of CD sourced music.
I'd love to hear a high end Parasound or Esoteric or Meridian or Ayre or any of the latest and greatest CD players as an example of how far CD playback has come. But I can't afford the really good stuff so I found a way to make CDs sound as good as they can within my budget. No complaints. :-)
Regards,
Tom
I misspoke. I was meaning more of the gestalt of CD playback. I think both CD's and CD players have both improved greatly. I have CD's from earlier and later releases and I cannot think of an example when the earlier CD sounded better. The machines have come a long way from the horrid sounding first and second generation machines that I found unlistenable. Now, with my modest NAD player, I find the experience very enjoyable, but not up to vinyl standards. (I think here, my vinyl playback system would be considered modest too.)
Dave
I also would love to hear my CDs played on top level equipment, but enjoy listening to the best I can afford. No complaints here either.
As a Tidal subscriber I am always listening to new releases (jazz, classical, folk, country, etc). the quality of most recordings are very, very good in fact no need for vinyl releases nowadays.
CDs still suck, but so do LPs manufactured off CD masters.
Just one Bear's 2-cents but "CD's suck" doesn't advance the debate. Say you're looking at 1985 CD's, versus the sound of the LP released at the same time, the window for any sort of comparison is limited. In the 80's much *real* pro recording and editing was still done on analog tape, keepin' those big Ampexes hummin'! So there was a brief era where one might compare true, all-analog recordings to their digital release. The sound of the CD was indeed objectionable. The limitations on sampling rate and bit depth were audible. A lot of this bad sound was probably due to the crap quality of the playback equipment rather than the recording and mastering, although you can't separate the two...
When digital recording and editing "took over" and everything on vinyl was recorded, mixed, downmixed, and mastered digitally, results were initially still disappointing but have continued to get better as time has brought us high sampling rate digital recording studio equipment. Google Digidesign Icon. A lot of contemporary slackers might use 48kHz but there was a lot of really crummy analog recording back-in-the-day too. And consider that you can't find one real-world audio engineer raring to go back to analog tape. The high def stuff sounds good by all accounts and a few *decent* CD's manage to squeeze out of the "shallow money-trench that is the Music Biznis." Plus audiophile playback equipment has gotten much better.
So it comes down to the same old thing- how much love the musicians, recordists and engineers put into developing the master tape (or disc, or whatever) is the primary determinant of the quality of playback in our homes. I have 3000 or so LP's, almost all pre-1985, let's say, going back to the early 60's. I have chosen my records carefully with regard FIRST to musical excellence, second with regard to sound quality. I assure you, 50% of the all-analog recording on those records is below average ;-) with many records sounding pretty damn bad. Bad enough that I consciously would choose to go out and buy a CD copy, if I wasn't such a cheapskate.
Come on-- admit it-- you have invested a $G in your CD player and maybe half your CD's don't suck!
I agree! I was selling audio equipment in the 80's. I found the first and second generation players to be not worth the bother. The first CD player that I found listenable was the ADS Altilier CD Player, but it was expensive. As they kept getting better it became apparent that what was on the disk was still a big problem. When you play a good sounding disk, such as the West Side Story CD, you realize how abysmal most CD's are. Even on a mostest player, this CD sounds quite good.
I also have many records with less than stellar sound. Recall the scene in "24 Hour Party People" we're they go outside to check their mix on a car stereo.
Dave
CDs have gotten better? How, has 16 bit magically morphed into 24 bit?
Granted that LPs can be made of lesser quality--but CDs have a built-in ceiling that LPs do not.
It's just a shame that all recordings are not made as well as they can possibly be.
I fondly remember the claim that 'digital based LPs would destroy your turntable bearings".. And for those living in a cave.. that WAS debunked.
I also enjoy platitudes. They usually make me bust out laughing..
Anyway, Listen to whatever format you enjoy.
I tossed all my 8-track years ago. But CDs? All good. LPs good too, just different.
It was the clicks that bugged me on 8-tracks, plus they were on a self-destruct mission. I almost bought a Wollensak 8-track from a thrift store but the condition was too rough. It looked like it had been thrown out of the window of a moving car.
Dave
Of course they have not increased the bit rate, but they can mix them better when they actually care.
Dave
Early on in the 80's, the words 'digitally mastered' were plastered on plenty of new LPs.
After it became passe', the notation vanished. The thing is, all the LPs then WERE digitally mastered.
Except a few small companies.SO.. In your world.. Do you refuse to own any major company LPs post 1985?
To answer my own question myself: I go on sound. Does it sound good?. And not on some trivia. IMO Concerning 'digital mastering'.. you may as well be saying you refuse to buy an LP manufactured on Wednesday. LOL
Edits: 12/04/16
I noticed that in the early 80s Pablo Digital was proudly displayed then disappeared. I guess politically corrected started then.
.
Hi, esande,
LPs from CD masters makes no sense at all. '-)
Regards,
Tom
No they don't. Unfortunately they are common.
I married the perfect woman. The downside is everything that goes wrong is my fault.
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