Some Thoughts on Hi-Fi, Vinyl, and.CD

[Bernd]

Then some heavy footed clomper walks accross your wood floor and god, it comes out the speakers or "gasp" the record skips.

.

No such problem here. My house is build of bricks and mortar with concrete floors and the equipment sits on a decent isolation rack.

Bernd

[SlumpBuster]

Let's see them spin those LP's in their car though.

Precisely the point I've made before in other threads. When I sit down at home to do some listening, 90 time out of 100 it will be an LP. Of the remaining 10 times, it will be a mishmash of concert DVDs, cassettes, minidisks or 8 tracks. Yes I said 8 track damn it! 1 out of a 100 will be a CD. I have plenty of time for CDs in the car or at work. The other formats can only be listened to at home.

But as for spinning in my car, let me schools alls yalls. Feast on this factory option, baby!
http://ookworld.com/hiwayhifi.html

[Mike Anderson]

I,ve never considered putting music on a Computer. It is of no interest to me, can't see the point.Then there is pride of ownership of realy great performing and great looking audio equipment. I do not get that from a PC or Laptop.

Bernd, I have all my music on my computer, and I wish you could be here to see and hear, it, because I bet you'd see the point pretty quickly.

It's true I'm not looking at a finely crafted piece of audio equipment, per se, and I guess you'll never really get that out of a computer.

But what I can get absolutely blows away every other medium, including vinyl.

(1) Audio quality. Using the computer with an off-board DAC, I can get any level of sound quality I want. If I wanted to, I could take your vinyl setup and burn it to my hard drive in a 24 bit, 192 khz format. That would provide all the warmth and life of a vinyl recording, I absolutely guarantee it. In fact I bet you'd be extremely hard pressed to tell the difference in a blind test.

But I can also get recordings made in 24 bit resolution taken from the original masters. That's going to give far better sound than your vinyl, provided it's mastered properly.

Even using 16bit, 44khz CD quality sound - my computer setup with a Benchmark DAC1 sounds every bit as good as a $10k transport and DAC used to sound a couple years ago.

(2) Convenience. You can look down on it if you want, and view it as superficial; or I suppose you can enjoy the rituals of handling records.

But ya know... there's something really, really valuable about being able to access one of tens of thousands of songs in a couple seconds without getting out of my chair. Or putting together a playlist several hours long for when company comes over or I host a party. Or putting it on random, or an intelligent version of random, and hearing a song I haven't heard in years just because it hadn't occurred to me to get out the album and play it. Or being able to take my entire music collection to the gym with me, or on a long car ride, or to work, or my friends house, or the airplane, or wherever I want!

At some point, you have to acknowledge that convenience is actually worth something. In fact, it goes beyond convenience - its powerful.

Just wait a few years, when technology is evolved to the point when digital music is all 24 bit, 96 khz, when the mastering has caught up with it, and when everybody can take 100,000 songs with them wherever they go on an iPod. Eventually, even the most diehard vinyl enthusiasts will have to recognize the raw power and audio quality behind digital.

[Bernd]

Hello Mike,

Thanks for a well argued point. I have just finished cleaning 120 Records and listened to the Radio (as random as it gets).As for the car I listen to the radio and I haven't seen the inside of a gym for years as my work takes me into the great outdoors and plenty of exercise.
And you are right I would love to hear your set up, and the invite goes for you too. And believe me if I would be convinced I would go and invest in the technology (I even went with a friend recently to a multi media exhibition, very impressive, but ultimatly it left me cold). Even in my Office I do not listen to my PC but to a Teac 300 system and often on Compact Cassette. Just as a point, my son, a 17 year old computer geek, has some incredible PC and stores his music on it. He challenged me a while ago and we connected it up to my amp with a program (the name eludes me at the moment) and yes it sounds respectable and I guess if somebody never experienced a real high end Vinyl replay set up, and the joy of physicaly owning the medium, it will do nicely.
But as you said, I enjoy everything that is requiered to reply Vinyl properly.I had my room build just for that.
As for Digital coming close to analogue, I recently auditioned a Zanden CDT and D/A and it blew me away. It run my SME20/2A, series V Special and Transfiguration Temper V very close, but the cost for the Zanden is £ 31.500. So a lot of money and something I will have to seriously think about.
I do not look down on convenience, but I do not have background music on when I have friends over. It somehow distracts me from the conversation and I want to listen to the music. So a conflict for me. Also I like to controll what I listen to.
All said and done, I have not heard a digital set up that betters the sound of Vinyl.
To me it's the same with Red Wine. I like several mid price Varieties, but when I really want a tasty hit and experience some artistry I go for an upmarket one from the cellar.
Also I really enjoy a superbly crafted piece of Audio Equipment.

Anyway, how are the Maggies settling in?

Have good weekend

Peace

Bernd

[Mike Anderson]

^^^ I understand completely; a lot of this simply boils down to taste and preferences, things "not open to dispute", as a wise man once said.

The Maggies are truly awesome - I've spent a fair amount of time tweaking my setup, doing room treatment, experimenting with various arrangements, etc. and at the moment they are sounding pristine.

I've got them on right now, just blissing out! All my favorite tunes, which I've heard hundreds of times before, sound totally new and fresh. There are times when something sounds so realistic -- a piece of percussion drops in for a second, or a vocal line comes out of nowhere -- that your ears perk up, and you think "what was that??" as your mind is fooled into thinking there's someone right in front of you!

I'm really enjoying it; it's been well worth all the time and money I've put into it.

[Florian]

Glad its working for you Mike, and i have to be a bad boy (*you know how i mean it) and tell....its just the beginning of the fun! Enjoy the ride....i enjoyed mine just like that too.

[Mike Anderson]

^^^ OK, but don't tell my wife!!

Seriously, it's going to be a while before I make any big changes; it's sounding so, so sweet right now, it's hard to imagine anything better.

I've got Miles Davis and John McLaughlin hanging out in my living room with me at the moment, so I've got to run.

BTW, love your new avatar, looks like it was designed for you; where'd you get that? And is there one with 1.6's??

[Bernd]

Hi Mike,

Sounds like it all came together for you and you're having fun and enjoy the performances. That's what it's all about.
And yes certain things just don't lend themselves to be argued over.
So wishing you many happy enjoyable musical times.
As Flo said-The journey has just begun.

Peace

Bernd

[Mike Anderson]

^^^ Thanks, and I wish you likewise.

If you guys are ever in the SF Bay Area, you are definitely welcome to drop me a line and come by to check out my set up.

Email: mikeand1 at comcast.net

[Florian]

Hehe, thats what a good system does. I thought the same way when i had the 1.6 and then the 3.6's..... The Pathos and the Magnepans are a great match and you chose a good DAC too.

Keep on rockin!!!!!!!

PS: I can ask my buddy if he can make a Maggie one! But we are planar freaks so go ahead and use it.

[Bernd]

Thanks for the invite Mike, I would like to extend the same to you if you ever find yourself in the old Country.
You never know which way the wind blows.

Peace

Bernd