People have forgotten what "audio quality" is

RetroComputingCollector

RetroComputingCollector

Everyone now is just listening to compressed MP3s on low-wattage bluetooth speakers with SBC compression. No-one builds their own Hi-Fi systems with good speakers and amps anymore. Almost no-one listens to lossless or analog anymore. Even though the sound quality is technically worse, I go for analog almost always because of this awful loudness war that is ruining our music. I would not call myself an audiophile because that implies I have magic rocks and $1000 dollar extsnsion cords, instead I would just call myself a person who can't take the sloppy shit that is passed off as "listening" anymore.
 
I still play my old vinyl albums on a Technics SL-1300 though not as much as 25 years ago. And I haven't repaired my old speakers (using Bose AM-6 speakers). I regret getting rid of Marantz 2245 receiver in one of the moves. On the other hand, in my golden years I no longer have golden ears.... I did stop buying CDs -- streaming is too damn convenient!
 
I would argue that most people through history have listened to music on less than ideal hardware. Old record players were in general terrible but people bought what they could afford and listened to what they loved as best they could. The difference now is that most people do not value music. It's just a noise they put on to fill in the background while they do something else.
 
dazza said:
The difference now is that most people do not value music. It's just a noise they put on to fill in the background while they do something else.
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Sitting in a dark room, relaxing, listening to some good album (and no forward/back jumping)... With tapes, music was linear. Now it's a mosaic of 90 second snippets.
 
Having been around for a bit (through the analog to digital arguments) and actually working with people that understood the science of loudspeakers, and building my own speakers (fascinating, it's really just filter theory, but lots of analog components making up the filters. The enclosure design choices are very interesting.)

But to me the I think the hard truths of "crap music reproduced accurately is still crap" and "my ear can't tell a difference" will always hold.

To me, a lot of little things may add up to making an audible difference, but are "you" able to tell.
Do searches on "Queen Somebody to Love reaction videos" You'll come across some done by professionals (music coaches, music industry folk). Listen to what they say about Freddy and ask yourself "could I tell a difference?"

Striving for the perfect is an admirable destination; but be honest with yourself about "can I tell".

"...who can't take the sloppy shit that is passed off as "listening" anymore."
Perhaps you are accurately listening to sloppy shit? Perfect reproduction of crap still sounds like crap.
:)
 
This is my amplifier, an Acoustic Research A-03:

Acoustic Research A-03

Explore vintage Hi-Fi audio components with detailed graphical measurements and exclusive inside views.
audiosegment.com

Connected to Canadian "book shelf" speakers "Energy Point 1e":

www.springair.de

Energy Point 1 e | H51482

black, 2-way system, dimensions each approx. 18.5x31x18.5 cm (WxHxD). Compact Canadian speakers with very natural sound. Removable front coverings. With original instruction manual.
www.springair.de

and to a Fujitsu thin client, on which my CDs are played from an USB stick.

The sound is excellent in my opinion.

The amplifier is old, it has two heavy trafos, I am sure that with the technique of PC power supplies one gets
today something much better.

Also the speakers are old, and you know, the material, specially the foam, is not eternal.

Anyway, I am sure you get this equipment used very cheap, for much less than what I paid, and could enjoy it.
 
I bought the above equipment in a specialized shop 30 years ago. I went with a CD, exchanged speakers again and again,
and heard what came out, the last two candidates were either the Canadian or English ones. I bought the Canadian
speakers , and after I paid, I asked the vendor, what would he have bought, his answer was: the English ones.

Definitively my decision was right, very clearly heard when a string of a cembalo is plucked, the English ones brought by
far no clean sound. But perhaps the vendor concentrated on other aspects.
 
dkh said:
Of course our ears are all getting older so it after a while it doesn't matter a whole lot....
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Yes, that is a problem.

I was few years ago at the ear, nose and throat specialist, still good ears, but in the meantime I heard too much youtube with bad headphones.

I still perceive the difference between good headphones and bad ones. And a music with bad equipment is a torture.
That is the problem of getting used to good quality.
 
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hruodr said:
I still perceive the difference between good headphones and bad ones. And a music with bad equipment is a torture.
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I can't carry a tune if you put it in a bucket.
I can sing, but I scare the notes as as go by them

But I can hear that someone hit a wrong note.

It's about the source and the output. You can have the best output and a bad source which means you hear the problems.
You can have a crap output and the best source and all you hear is bad; but you can't say "bad output" or "bad input"

Even if you have marginal ears, you get used to hearing a good output (speakers, headphones). So you adjust your expectation. That gives you the ability to "hear" bad input on your good output.

One can look at the math involved in digitization, you can make an argument about "it's the same" but sometimes your ears will tell you "close, but not the same"
You need to decide "ok that's good enough" or not.
 
we also download both the FLAC and AAC formats off of bandcamp, and for our favorite albums, additionally buy them in CD format.

our partner, on the other hand, has an auditory processing disorder that means, practically speaking, she can deal with 128 kbit mp3 files without complaint, whereas we can hear the differences between 128 kbit mp3 and a comparable AAC file.
 
You can hear the difference between 128 and 320 mp3. Not to mention comparing it to a lossless formats. However, at the end they are all PCM formats which makes them quite inferior to something like 1bit DSD files. Unfortunately, not everyone can play that format properly. But if you have a capable system, this format is the only one that can replace genuine vinyl sound.
 
mer said:
You need to decide "ok that's good enough" or not.
Click to expand...
Yes, and not only that. The whole is very subjective.

I was a while ago in a audio shop and tested a lot of headphones. Almost all, also the expensive ones, were bass heavy.
Perhaps for most people that is normal, for me not. The question is:
What is normal, how to recognize if they are faithful to the original music without comparing.
 
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MrBSD said:
You can hear the difference between 128 and 320 mp3. Not to mention comparing it to a lossless formats. However, at the end they are all PCM formats which makes them quite inferior to something like 1bit DSD files. Unfortunately, not everyone can play that format properly. But if you have a capable system, this format is the only one that can replace genuine vinyl sound.
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16/44 is perfectly capable of replicating any sound you can hear without suffering ear damage. The only reason I have vinyl is because of the loudness war. And I still buy CDs, I just rip them and then use Tenacity's clip fix to make them bearable, then I just burn the fixed audio onto new CDs for listening on the go.
 
hruodr said:
Yes, and not only that. The whole is very subjective.

I was a while ago in a audio shop and tested a lot of headphones. Almost all, also the expensive ones, were bass heavy.
Perhaps for most people that is normal, for me not. The question is:
What is normal, how to recognize if they are faithful to the original music without comparing.
Click to expand...

Try some planar magnetic ones such as the Audeze LCD-X. Very different bass.
 
RetroComputingCollector said:
16/44 is perfectly capable of replicating any sound you can hear without suffering ear damage. The only reason I have vinyl is because of the loudness war. And I still buy CDs, I just rip them and then use Tenacity's clip fix to make them bearable, then I just burn the fixed audio onto new CDs for listening on the go.
Click to expand...
To reproduce sound, yes. To reporduce clarity and sound stage, absolutely not. There is a reason why vinyl sound is unique and people still buy such technology today. DSD exists for a reason. Dont get me wrong. I still think that MP3 technology is great even with its well know flaws. But, when you have a capable sound system, non PCM formats are the only way to go.
 
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I couldn’t resist joining in here…


I build and repair Hi-Fi audio equipment as a hobby. My personal preference is pure Class A, and I have one amplifier rated at 10 watts output that consumes around 100 watts of power (so yes, it runs very hot) in order to achieve true Class A operation.


I originally got it in a broken state, with a 110 V transformer (USA), so I rebuilt it for 230 V (EU), replaced the bipolar transistors, and carefully set the bias current for the correct Class A operating point. I’ll post photos of it soon.


Here I’m also posting a photo of a Lehmann headphone amplifier replica — a replica that I assembled myself. I modified the output stage, where there were originally BD bipolar transistors, and replaced them with special OPAMPs used as current buffers.


The output OPAMPs operate in Class AB, together with a voltage OPAMP in a metal package, operating in Class AB. This configuration is capable of driving 4-ohm speakers, delivering around 500 milliwatts of clean power without audible distortion.


I haven’t used it for quite some time, so it’s a bit dusty, but I really couldn’t resist when I saw this topic…

Lehman2.jpg


Lehman1.jpg
 
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