Critic's Corner

OMG! Are You Really Serious?

70.46.7.90

thetubeguy1954

In Reply to: RE: Messrs. Atkinson and Fremer are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore! posted by regmac on January 26, 2008 at 12:44:36

Regmac,

I have to call you to the carpet for a statement you made in your post. You stated: "JA’s major complaint, if I read him correctly, is that the MP3 “discards frequency information” and can “smear” other musical artifacts. It occurs to me that SETs do something very similar inasmuch as they fail to deliver the last word in musical information (especially at the frequency extremes), nor do they offer the ultimate in resolution."

To compare listening to music via an SET as something very similar to listening to music via an MP3 is absolutely ludicrous for many reasons.

1) While it's possible that ---some--- SETs fail to deliver the last word in musical information at the frequency extremes, nor do some offer the ultimate in resolution. This is very manufacturer dependant! It is NOT an innate fault of the circuit topology. KR Audio for example is one manufacturer that's hardly deficient in these areas, nor is my Mastersound Reference 845 with the right speakers! Whereas MP3's are deficient in these areas as a direct innate result of the lossy technology employed.

2) SET aficionados listen to SETs because to them, this technology represents the closest replication of the sound of live, unamplified music they can attain. MP3 aficionados listen to MP3s with little or no consideration as to the quality of reproduction.

3) SET aficionados often purchase more expensive "audiophile" grade recordings, because the sound quality of the recording is so important to them. Whereas MP3 purchase what's possibly the cheapest $.99 and lowest-Fi recordings available because obviously sound quality is not an issue to them.

4) SET aficionados would hardly call their systems "convenience systems" ---even amongst other home audio systems that term wouldn't apply--- whereas MP3 aficionados often cite convenience as one of it's major areas of appeal.

5) SET aficionados will spend hours and sometimes even days to squeeze out the last nth of performance out of their systems, whereas MP3 aficionados will spend hours and sometimes even days simply to get the more songs loaded into their players.

I have to admit I cannot grasp the concept of the need to have 1000 songs with me at all times. Last time I counted I had 673 CDs. The funny part is after counting them I realized there's only 12-20 that I listen to on a fairly regular basis! Even in my car I never bring more than 3-5 CDs. What's the purpose of bringing more? I suppose if I drove 8 hours a day I could up that number to 10 CDs so I could listen to a different CD all day in the car, but once I got home I could easily exchange those 10 for a different 10, no? So why carry more than 10, so someone can steal them?

Objectivists are always mocking subjectivists for purchasing "audiophile" amps for prestige and not sound quality ---I honestly cannot believe objectivists cannot hear the difference between a Krell and a QSC, when I can easily hear a difference between a Krell and a YBA or Classe amp--- However, when it comes to MP3s I believe that's exactly what MP3 aficionados are doing i.e.purchasing for prestige! Afterall I know MP3s are about as low-fi as you can get so the only real reason to purchase one MP3 player over another is prestige! My MP3 player has more memory and hold more songs than yours does....

Thetubeguy1954

A Rational Subjectivist

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