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In Reply to: RE: Audiophiles posted by mlsstl on December 29, 2020 at 16:20:57
If you asked 100 people what specifically an "audiophile" is, you'd likely get 100 different answers..... The only commonality is that he/she enjoys audio.
Follow Ups:
Take the word "discrimination" for example. The original dictionary definition simply means you can tell the difference between things -- this apple has rotted and will make you sick while that one is fresh. It is very good to be able to discriminate in this fashion.
However, for many these days, their minds leap instantly to the limited social negative connotation of the word. I suspect very few people would state out loud in a crowd that they practice discrimination, even if they were talking about good food versus bad. They'd find other words to say it.
Lots of words carry similar baggage. Audiophile is just one example.
That's the way language works. People use language to represent what's inside their head. They can also use language to create new things that never existed before. Since people use language in these ways then language will change as people change. Whether that change is for the better or worse is up to all of us to decide.
Agreed -- the popular useage of words can change and overtake the dictionary definition.
And sometimes that leads people who had formerly used the word to stop doing so.
I personally kind of block out all the noise.....
I've called myself an "audiophile", and some people also claim I'm not..... Two minutes later, I'm off the subject......
I do think the stigma audiophiles have received over the years has played a role in the 50 year stagnation in regard to sound quality of both mainstream audio and mainstream music...... Because producers and mainstream audio designers have brushed aside the critical feedback that audiophiles provide, which could have been valuable to the refinement, advancement, and consumer satisfaction (audiophile and non-audiophile) of the products from both industries.
Like many other industries -- TV, fashion, movies and others -- the main thrust of the music industry has long been the mass market, which for music means the stuff young people buy. That's where the mass market lies, which in turn means that's where the money is.
But, like other industries, there has always also been a niche market for quality. A few smaller record labels, often classical and jazz, but sometimes including other genres, do focus on producing quality recordings.
But, when a company's focus is on peddling the latest pop or rap track to people in cars or using ear buds with their iPhone, the concept of "audiophile" recording quality goes out the window. This is no surprise and any other expectations for the mass market are rather futile.
'50 year stagnation in regard to sound quality'
that's not what I see but maybe I'm just not looking where you are
there's been ongoing refinement and advancements in speaker [driver] technology, amplification [despite the SS vs. tubes thing], playback front ends of all manner ... digital streaming / DACS in particular ... a revival in vinyl and getting it right
the loudness wars were left behind quite some time ago [now it's a battle over compression and pitch processing in pop] yet there's strong parallel efforts for naturalistic recording technique, a return to 'old school' methods, in addition to commensurate advancements in recording tech with those ideals kept in mind
so maybe you're not looking where I am, or dismissing it out of hand
there's even greater access to quality instruments than ever before as well as media platforms to get musicians actually heard around the world
ah well, now you'll tell me to get off your lawn right?
regards,
The speakers have indeed improved, across the board...... The measuring equipment has improved, the technologies in drivers, enclosures, materials....... I cannot argue that.
I contend that digital audio sources have gone sideways, if not regressed..... I don't hear much in non-CD sources (servers, high-rez, etc.) that enthrall me all that much..... Although I do think DACs for CD and CD quality playback have improved from a digital filter standpoint, mainly because designers have realized that asynchronous sample rate conversion (aka "24/192 upsampling") was a regressive "technology".....
I believe vinyl playback has improved, especially in regard to inexpensive turntables, cartridges, and phono stages..... The problem is the quality of recent vinyl recordings/pressings are too much "miss" and not enough "hit". (A lot of the better recent recordings, both analog and digital, seem to have a focus on "system compatibility" rather than ultimate fidelity and dynamic range.) I've seen more "birdbath" dish warps in LPs over the past year than all of what I've seen prior to the year 2010..... (It used to be a sight to behold, now it's a common occurrence.) Warps in LPs made me invest in a "Vinyl Flat" record flattener, and I use it all the time. (There is a learning curve to making this work, by the way.)
Overprocessing, Auto-Tune, and digital processing artifacts too often make it to recordings, often making audiophiles pull their hair out wondering why the sound isn't any better..... I'll never forget about 10 years ago, an audiophile acquaintance spent hours upon hours trying to fix midrange anomalies in his system, not realizing it was the Auto-Tune on some of his evaluation recordings that was causing the problem.
I think that the vinyl pressing issue will get handled as more $$ flows to it. I keep hearing & reading reviews of new LP's without mention of the mfg. problems you cite [my T/T is mothballed for the time being] and as I stated, there are those involved in music production from the recording process to end point who hold forward looking vision with historical values on quality coming on line all the time
just look over your own post Todd, you shed 40 years of pessimism as you typed it out! you went from 50 years of problems to citing 2010 as pivotal for a lot of them ... for instance the auto-tune / compression issue doesn't surface in new jazz recordings / LP's or otherwise ... I've read complaints of auto-tune even invading entire classical recordings, but those seem to be confined to remasters and fading because of the backlash
as to the OP hi-lighting an opinion piece on terminology for gear / music enthusiast needing another name besides 'audiophile' ... any word can be twisted into other meanings by vernacular; should there be a 'new' term for audiophile what would prevent that word from carrying the same 'baggage' since it's describing the same thing besides 'nothing'? a rose is a rose eh?
now, get off my artificial low maintenance lawn you curmudgeon!!
with regards,
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