 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
70.190.191.49
In Reply to: RE: "Far fewer people really care about music than most audiophiles assume." posted by E-Stat on February 22, 2015 at 16:38:02
I think John's statement is accurate for recent time, but I thought a far greater percentage of people were into music (not necessarily audio) prior to the digital age.
I mean, prior to 1980, I often had conversations about how symphony orchestras, pianists, or violinists differ and why I preferred certain ones while others explained preferences of different ones.... (Some of these discussion became heated at times.) But over the past ten years, aside from occasional postings on Music Asylum, I've haven't discussed this at all. The subject matter just doesn't interest people anymore.
Follow Ups:
I think John's statement is accurate for recent time
The question is not that "fewer people care about music", but what we (as audiophiles) perceive reality to be.
As for me, I fully understand that precious few care about music today.
Next!
(Note the "album" of 78 rpms.)
I chat with industry folks all the time, and perhaps it is just that the only industry person I chat with regularly I think of as "young" is Stephen Mejias.
I think lots of industry people are stuck in the past--their college years or early career years--when listening to music was a shared experience and the variety of music was much wider than today, and so music was more important to more people than it is today. And I am not focusing on classical. Just look at the list of artists who released albums the same month Joni Mitchell released Court and Spark:
Elvis Presley, Graham Nash, Hot Tuna, Grace Slick, Rod Stewart / Faces, Bobby Womack, Bob Dylan, Blue Magic, Linda Ronstadt, Foghat, Gram Parsons, Carly Simon, Brian Eno, Harmonia, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Leo Sayer, Gordon Lightfoot, Barbra Streisand... .
Whereas with a total lack of modesty I declare that when most people listen to the absurdly popular One Republic (671,000,000 YT hits??????? For ONE video?) or Mumford and Sons or Arcade Fire, neither the content nor the sound-world are likely to lead to a desire to hear deeper into the soundstage. Daft Punk, obviously some people think so.
So we have an industry (fine audio) run by baffled befuddled guys like me, who are fully qualified to join AARP, who still believe deep down that if we just run the right ads in The New Yorker and Architectural Digest, suddenly component audio will again become a near-indispensible part of the vision as to what constitutes the good life or the life well lived, just like great books (or even The Great Books) and fine art.
Society and technology has changed, and the industry has to embrace the suck.
Just because a guy owns a Rolex does not mean that you can sell him an expensive stereo, because Sonos really is good enough to meet his needs.
ATB,
John
"Society and technology has changed, and the industry has to embrace the suck. "You should add a "get off of my lawn you young whipper snappers" for effect! ;-)
The business of music has changed (no one churns out albums when you don't make money on them anymore). The talent hasn't stopped, and there are a lot of really good artists these days.
You mention "Daft Punk" as being good. They are good. Mumford and Son's ... they are OK ...
But really? Those are the ones that have chosen to throw us old guys a bone with well produced albums and a few files.
If you think you like Mumford and Sons ... try The Decemberists & The Civil Wars. I actually think they are better, and have a little more of the fire the defines good music. Most have some sort of access to their work (MP3, 24/44.1 or Vinyl), but like the days of our youth, the sound quality isn't job #1, but boy does it not matter when they get going.
But for other good bands: Fall Out Boy, Maroon 5, Grouplove, Meghan Trainor, The Ting Tings, Blur, Coldplay, Florence and the Machine, ... and I could go on.
A added a link of a bunch of new bands who did their first real work last year. Some is good, some won't make it (like they always do). But the fact you don't see new bands is that perhaps you haven't sought them out?
============================
As audiophiles, we take what's obsolete, make it beautiful, and keep it forever.
Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.stereo
Edits: 02/23/15 02/23/15
"a desire to hear deeper into the soundstage."
Do you attempt to do that when you attend concerts or do you just sit back and enjoy the music?
I have never heard a stereo reproduce what it sounded like to hear Sir Colin Davis conduct Gerontius and I was sitting in the third row. Not just the dynamics and bass but also the nearly 50-foot width and depth (depth counting pipe organ chambers) of the sound source.
And yes, when the motif that is played by the viola comes up, one does hear a specific image within the sound stage.
String quartets from mid-hall, not so much. More like blended mono.
Assuming that competent engineers and a wise producer made the recording, if there is informational content in a recording of a great performance I want to hear more of it.
jm
"I have never heard a stereo reproduce what it sounded like to hear Sir Colin Davis conduct Gerontius and I was sitting in the third row. Not just the dynamics and bass but also the nearly 50-foot width and depth (depth counting pipe organ chambers) of the sound source."
And I assume you've heard some cost-no-object systems. Is it safe to conclude that audio gear will never bring us the realism of a live concert, regardless of how much money one invests? Or are you of the mind that one should "never say never" regarding this matter? Is there any technology on the horizon that makes you sanguine or do the laws of physics prevent you from duplicating your third row experience in your home?
The problem with homes is that in general the rooms are too small and one rarely has a situation where the ceiling is so high that the ear registers all the horizontal room reflections (for spatial localization) before the ceiling reflections interfere. That obviously is an issue with the room at The University of the South that now has Alexandria XLFs.
And the normal home has about 30 dB of background noise (refrigerator compressors, traffic noise, airplanes) anyway.
Believe it or not Bose was doing some research a few years back about "virtual reality" testing of room acoustics but IIRC to hear the effect your head had to be clamped in one place in a device that could remind one of something from an eye exam and the speakers were very close--as close as computer speakers.
I have NOT heard the technology JA did at CES that used ear-canal measurements to adjust the speakers' sound to the room's quirks. SP-BACCH?
All that said, at the end of the day the object of the game is first to fool the brain and then to win over the heart. Exhibit 1 being a bootleg recording of The Eric Whitacre Singers that is up on YT. The young lady thought she was taking a photograph but she started taking a movie, and so when she put the iPad back in her bag, its lens was blocked but the microphones heard enough.
I had a friend over and I played some DSD files for him and then some hi-res PCM and then some Red Book and just as a gas I played the YouTube off the internet, and when it was over, he looked at me and said that of everything I had played, the crappy YouTube of a bootleg made with the mics in a handbag had had the biggest impact on him.
So, at the end, the equipment is always a tool, and the slenderest knowledge of divine things trumps certainty about mundane things.
ATB,
JM
I'll put this right out there:
Half of the battle is in your head. If you are in the right mood, then your enjoyment, even on "crummy" gear with "crummy" sonics can be transcendent.
I think we spend time fussing about the sound, and the layout of the room, and everything just-so to stack the deck to more reliably get one of those transcendent experiences. But sometimes the stuff isn't needed and you get there in spite of it all.
============================
As audiophiles, we take what's obsolete, make it beautiful, and keep it forever.
Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.stereo
Thanks, John. Always a pleasure.
I think lots of industry people are stuck in the past--their college years or early career years--when listening to music was a shared experience and the variety of music was much wider than today...
Since I'm nearing 60, I can relate to that era and sentiment but am not oblivious to the changing winds in way music is delivered and thought of today. As a teenager, I used to visit and hang out at the many audio stores in the Atlanta area. It was through that experience that I met quite a few influential folks and found valuable mentors. Audio stores today? Wazzat? Even those who are passionate about the musical experience don't have a convenient way to learn the way we did and I suspect quite a few have never been exposed to fine audio.
On the other hand, I don't think all of the change is necessarily bad either. Choice and ease of access are improved to levels I couldn't have imagined in the 70s. You mean I could hear a song anywhere, have my phone "listen" and identify it and within minutes own a copy myself? How cool is that?
So we have an industry (fine audio) run by baffled befuddled guys like me, who are fully qualified to join AARP...
Hey, I represent that last remark!
...if we just run the right ads in The New Yorker and Architectural Digest, suddenly component audio will again become a near-indispensible part of the vision as to what constitutes the good life or the life well lived, just like great books (or even The Great Books) and fine art.
I guess the first thing we need to do as members of AA is to recognize that our passion is not shared by all. Hi, my name is E-Stat and I'm a musicaholic. I must get a daily fix or else I'm grumpy and depressed.
I don't have any close friends (other than audio reviewers) or family members who really enjoy sitting down and listening to music. My wife does on occasion along with playing her piano, but she prefers reading and is the videophile in our household. She always has the DVR crawlers busy at work storing away content for her later viewing pleasure. It seems the drive is always 60-70% full. :)
Post a Followup:
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
