Music 2020

I have a pretty trained ear (have mixed audio/music in settings as large as 2,000+ people) and I can’t discern it either. No offense to the audiophiles out there that obsess over tape or vinyl and buy $700 headphones and outrageous 5.1/7.1 surround sound systems, but there is a saturation point for audio quality and all that stuff is way past it for me.

Then again, I have not observed much of an overlap between the audiophile segment and the pro audio segment. Seems like most truly audio-conscious people are one or the other, rarely both.

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The reason(s) you don’t put speakers on the floor is simple: 1) you want the speaker as reasonably close to ear level as possible, and 2) you don’t want the sound reflecting directly off the floor. It’s the same reason you don’t put rear-ported speakers against the wall.

As for cables, much of that is audiofool nonsense, IMO. You cannot convince me that the human ear can hear the difference in time it takes an electron to travel an extra few inches. Humans are already piss poor at hearing, relative to other species, and there are just some things far beyond our level. That said…

As for telling the difference between hi fi and iPod quality sound, I would argue you’re probably better at it than you think. You’ve conditioned yourself to accept iPod quality as good enough, and if it is, then great. Happy listening. But that doesn’t mean you can’t tell the difference.

One of the oddest things in the world to me is the sound reproduced in recording. I’ve spent a good part of 40-odd years hunched over a classical guitar, and every time I hear a good recording of a guitarist I think why can’t I get that tone: it’s because the reproduction process, the perfect acoustic control, the focus on the particular qualities and sounds of a particular instrument, usually enhances that tone. For the most part, what you hear in a recording is usually better than what you hear live, even through a pair of ear buds bluetoothing your phone. Our ears are trained for electronic reproduction.

I think what escapes a lot of “audiophiles” is they don’t recognize that much of the music they claim to be trying to replicate so precisely was recorded with equipment they wouldn’t take a piss on. Most have never been in a recording studio, and would likely be appalled at some of the hackneyed equipment and techniques that are used on so many recordings.

As for audio equipment, I think definitely some components are better than others, and that they don’t all sound alike. In fact, it’s pretty easy to tell the difference sometimes. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a fair share of pretentious blowhards, however. One segment of those is the “cable crowd”. Yes, some cables are noticeably bad and unreliable, but the difference is certainly not worth thousands of dollars per cable. The guitar part you think you need $1,000 cables to really hear properly was likely recorded with a $9 cable from Guitar Center. And don’t get me started on those who say they can tell the difference between digital cables. I argued this with a famous YouTube audiophile a while back, claiming that if he though he could tell the difference in digital cables, he fundamentally misunderstands what digital is. His final defense was that he understood how the digital process worked, but that he could tell which cables were acting as a conduit for letting in stray electrons in the air to affect the efficiency of the DAC. I still maintain he’s full of shit.

That’s why I wear foil hats.

This is an excellent point. They’ve spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on speakers to play something that may very well have been captured with a Shure SM57 - a fine microphone, to be sure, but not if you strictly equate quality with price. I also had a random stranger see me wearing my Audio-Technica headphones and ask why I wasted money on them instead of Beats or Sol or Bose or whatever the fuck. I’m like, you know they use these headphones just like these in recording studios, right?

Right. As I said, there is a saturation point in quality. And that’s different than making tradeoffs for convenience or practicality (e.g. I use my BeatsX earbuds more often than my A-T headphones when I’m out of the house, but I would never say that the BeatsX are as good as the A-Ts).

Headphones are actually one of the few areas I make a fuss about. First, I can’t stand earbuds. Secondly, Beats are just garbage, IMO. Those are something I actually wouldn’t take a piss on. Not that you have to spend $3,000 on headphones, there are some fantastic headphones for under $200, and some even less than that. But the quality of the headphones makes far more difference to to me than cables or whether it’s digital/analog, or most anything else.

I then argued that just being in the same room with a 60 Hz electrical wire in the wall introduced far more noise than his cables ever could, and he told me to piss up a rope.

Audiophile cables have gotten so far beyond ridiculous that it’s almost like a cult. People literally spend thousands of dollars on cables…and other people sell them with a straight face. For interconnects they need low capacitance and decent shielding along with a good connector and don’t make the unbalanced ones too long. You can buy a set of superb interconnects for about $30 or less. Speaker cables need to be big enough for the power, 14 GA is almost always big enough but some use 12 GA. Shielding shouldn’t really be an issue but you can twist them if you want to get fancy. I buy speaker cable by the roll and just tin the ends with solder.

I like the tape decks because I like mechanical gear, I like music, and I like history so they tick all those boxes. Some of the pre-recorded tape issued by record companies on 7" reels are the best source material you can find, although it varies quite a bit depending on the format.

I like vinyl for similar reasons. One, I like seeing the record spin, and I like being able to hold it in my hand. Secondly, I like the album artwork. I like the jacket graphics, big and bold. Finally, I like that it forces you to want to listen to the music. You can’t just put it on and forget about it. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to my iPod and stream music just for that purpose. I like the convenience of digital, and I can carry it on an airplane, in the car, etc. But there’s something I enjoy about putting on a record, sitting down and listening, start to finish, while not doing anything else. I sit in my La-Z-Boy “Grand Canyon” recliner for this purpose, but someday maybe I’ll get a classic Eames chair and a shag rug.

I’m very much the same. I listen to digital when I travel, but at home it’s analog. I have a good VPI turntable and a nice DynaVector cart, but the most important piece of audio equipment I’ve ever bought is my record cleaning machine. I buy a lot of half century or so old vinyl and the difference a clean record makes in sound and stylus wear is stark.

BTW, what amp are you using? I have several, but mostly use a McIntosh MA6100, as it’s a combination pre-amp/amp.

I have an ultrasonic cleaner for my records. It’s a pain in the ass, but it cleans better than anything I’ve ever used. And I agree about clean records. That’s probably the single biggest issue with most records and why people say they don’t like them. They just have dirty records.

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I’m pretty low end. It’s a vintage Kenwood receiver. I like it because it has two tape input / outputs which is hard to find and it has a remote control. I do use a separate tube phono stage for the VPI and will sometimes have a second turntable plugged into the Kenwood’s on-board phono stage.

That Mac integrated amp is a beast!

I agree that Beats over-the-ear headphones suck, but if my BeatsX earbuds crapped out today I would buy new ones tomorrow. Wireless, compact, charge with the same Lightning connector as my iPhone/iPad, cheaper and better than AirPods, and they’re sweat-resistant unlike my big A-T headphones (important for walking between bus stop and my office).

That VPI is certainly not low end. I also use a tube pre-amp for the turntable, even though the Mac has a phono input (two of them, actually). I have some vintage 70s receivers, a Sansui 8080db and a Marantz 2230 (which is the sweetest sounding receiver Marantz ever made, IMO) at the moment, but only the 2230 is hooked up in the den. I enjoy vintage gear, but it can be a continuous maintenance problem. I like working on them when I have time, but I’m far from an electronics expert, and it’s annoying when shit breaks down.

I’ve been tempted to say “fuck it” and just go splurge on some new high end stuff, like a new McIntosh integrated amp or the new hybrid tube/SS one they have, along with the Magnepan speakers, but I the practical side of me gets the last word. And I really do enjoy the older gear, so…

I’ve been thinking about one of those high resolution digital players that will drive full sized headphones. With a nice set of Grados it would make a good portable system for hotels, airports, etc.

The light finally went on my Marantz receiver, a 2220. Anyone ever replace one?

My main headphones are Grado SR325s. I love Grados, but the open back design can be problematic for portability sometimes. I also have a pair of AKG K701s that I really like, but they’re also open back. For traveling I have a pair of Bower & Wilkins PX7 noise-cancelling/wireless. They aren’t in the same league soundwise, but are convenient for traveling.

Which light? I’ve replaced all the lights on numerous Marantz receivers. It’s not that difficult.