Why we need Audiophiles

[E-Stat]

Sorry Feanor, I've tried ripping CD's to Mp3's at every bit rate up to 320K and MP3's still suck!

The encoder used can make a pretty big difference. Before I started saving all my rips in full 1440k WAV format, I downloaded the LAME decoder for EAC. A LAME encoded MP3 at 320k is actually pretty darn good for most pop music. It works fine with portable players or for non-critical listening situations. I still haven't re-ripped everything yet and those older MP3s sound OK listening to 60s and 70s oldies through the in-house system.

rw

[E-Stat]

Anecdotes from Michael Fremer, emaidel and others not withstanding I've always felt that the a limiting factor in audio system performance is often those things on the sides of people's heads. Some people seem to be born with listening ability. Listening acuity can certainly be improved with experience/training. Most people would rather watch TV than learn to listen.

That notwithstanding, I think a pretty significant factor is that most folks simply have not been exposed to how good audio can be, regardless of the medium chosen. As to how important that is to any one person - well that is certainly a variable question. That was certainly the case when I was a teen back in the 70s and only heard Phase Linear driven AR-LSTs and McIntosh driven Bozaks which were purported to be the best at the time by some. Neither was significantly better than my Crown driven Advents. It was only when I heard Audio Research driven Magneplanars, Ampzilla driven Dayton-Wrights, etc. that I began to understand there was a far wider world out there than guys like Len Feldman and Julian Hirsch were aware of. That changed everything for me.

rw

[Feanor]

The encoder used can make a pretty big difference. Before I started saving all my rips in full 1440k WAV format, I downloaded the LAME decoder for EAC. A LAME encoded MP3 at 320k is actually pretty darn good for most pop music. It works fine with portable players or for non-critical listening situations. I still haven't re-ripped everything yet and those older MP3s sound OK listening to 60s and 70s oldies through the in-house system.

rw

For my iPod, I convert ALAC or FLAC files to 'High' VBR using dBpoweramp/LAME; the result is total satisfactory for the portable device, i.e. indistiguishable from uncompressed.

For hi-fi playback, I rip to FLAC using dBpoweramp Ripper in 'secure' mode. I deem uncompressed files, (WAV or AIFF), a waste of space. Plus metadata, (tags), are very important to me, and more players can read FLAC than can WAF tags.

You can, of course, recreate bit-perfect WAV from FLAC or other lossless formats. And I can vouch for the fact that my player, Foobar2000, delivers a bit-perfect stream decompressed from FLAC.

[JoeE SP9]

Guys, I don't have a problem with FLAC, MLP or any other loss free compression scheme. I don't do the portable thing. Headphones just don't "work" for me. I gave away a pair of Stax phones to a buddy. Virtually all my listening is done on decent gear. On decent gear the damage that MP3 files do to music is very evident. The reason I spoke up was because Feanor made a comment comparing MP3 sound with vinyl. Vinyl played here at "Savants Respite" walks all over MP3 files no matter what the bit rate. CD's and SACD's sound pretty good too.
I just got 2 500Gig HDD's and I'm going to be transferring CD's to them via my SB X-Fi pro. I'll soon be able to wirelessly access my CD collection. I wish I could get beer delivered. I can already get groceries delivered. With Pizza and sandwich delivery a given having beer delivered would mean I'd never have to go out.
I'm getting lazy in my old age.

[Auricauricle]

Whether music is played on CD, SACD, vinyl, mp3, cassette or whatever, the common denominator in all of these is...music. It is music alone that awoke in us that need, that urge for something unattainable and which we strive for today. Whether it is the search for more resolution, more depth, more texture or whatever, we search ultimately for that one thing that is found in all these things but is always beyond these things: music.

Music is that inexpressible thing that is not a collection of pleasant sounds that somehow register in our auditory nerves on to the brain where equally pleasant thoughts are stirred. Everyone knows this. So what makes us the qualified arbiters of this thing, music? What makes us so qualified to talk about this inexpressible thing that everyone knows about? What makes us think we know something that very few actually know?

It is because we listen. Because we can listen to a piano and hear not only the notes, but those qualities of pitch, resonance, texture, timbre, form. Because upon hearing these things we can turn to our unwitting friends and spouses and say, "Listen! Do you hear that?" For to the audiophile, the act of listening to music goes beyond simple hearing, but goes to passion. When the Beethoven is up and the chorus is singing at its height, does your hair go on end? When Mark Knopfler's fingers just graze the strings of his dobro, do you feel that thrill of ice on your spine, that burning in your heart or hearts? This is passion. This is music.

It is because we think. Because when we listen to music, we know what we love and can talk about it. Why is this CD player better than that one? Why is an LP better than a CD? We can tell you exactly why, where, when, how. No-one but the audiophile can tell you, for he not only knows this from reading and thinking and feeling, but simply because he knows. And yet he knows nothing, still. There are no right answers. Just what sounds right.

It is because we feel. To us and within us, music is as vital as blood. Music fills us with a rare spirit, a spring in the step, an assurance that our life is meaningful. Music destroys us, drags us to our dungeons and whispers to our quaking hearts. Music can drive us to rapture or despair, it can build us up or tear us to pieces, because that is exactly what music is supposed to do. Music is passion in sound, and no-one but he who knows this can tell you this.

To the audiophile, music is far more than an assemblage parts and pieces, but something far more. If we can share this wisdom to our unwitting friends who like a good song and convince them that that good song is something far greater....

What is an audiophile?

Just someone who is just simply nuts over music.

And I mean, nuts.

[winston]

.......Sam's Space (STEREOPHILE) May 2009......
...............HIGH-END AUDIO FOR THE REST OF US...............
(Sam Tellig) did this great piece' on the Musical Fidelity "V" Series he elaborate on three pieces the V-CAN, V-DAC,and the V-LPS! "OK OK" its not all about the V's He did write about the LOWS of HIGH-END GEARS y'all get to the mail box and grab that MAG... And if any of you respected audiophiles gets PEED off the next story on the following page is (ANALOG CORNER) and the title is..............
..............."PHONO PREAMPS & PURIFIED WATER" enjoy

[winston]

Hello" still on the way to the mail box?

[pixelthis]

if vinyl is dead, why did the sale number rise last year? and why do they still make so much turntables?

hOW BIG WAS THE RISE? Most of the "turntables" sold are cheapjack versions for people to play their old records

and those digital filters do filter out the 'flaws' in the recording, as well as the soul of the music. The goal, even in digital age, is to use as few filters as possible. This is where your 'cheap mechanism' fails. over and over again.

Your opinion and nothing else.
Truth is vinyl takes more outta music than CD, but you dont hear propaganda like
the "soul" being filtered out in that process

accept it, there are better things in this world than your cd changer.

But a record player aint it.
I know, I have two , one direct drive, one belt.

Vinyl is dead, basically, a niche product, and CD will be joining it shortly

[Auricauricle]

Uh-huh....

[moves]

I didn't know Michael Fremer was so messy. He must have a very forgiving wife.

That's what i was thinking.... why wouldn't he buy $50k speakers and spend 15k on rebuilding his basement. What an eye sore. He has all that nice equipment in such a huge mess..... what a waste.

[O'Shag]

Vinyl is a royal pain in the arse. Its hard to setup and maintain a high performance vinyl system properly, and the records themselves are prone to dust and dirt. CD is way easier to deal with. But one small point. In terms of reproducing a sound that sounds real, live - a suspension of disbelief - But in my experience, vinyl at its best, has special qualities that make for reproducing a strong facsimilie of the real thing, moreso than CD. What is critical is the phonostage. I've used several phonostages, and I can see where people might not be so enamoured of vinyl. It takes a good phonostage to extract and convey the information from the tiny signal delivered by the cartridge.
Even a good MM cartridge on a good arm with a decent non-resonant mass-loaded table with a decent phonostage will produce sounds more like live music than most cd players. Of course there are many excellent digital front end solutions too.

I have trouble believing that Mike Fremer actually bought most of that stuff ... Anything he did actually buy was at a giveaway price - relatively speaking of course. If he's not a multi-millionaire, how could he afford it?

[hifitommy]

a low priced tt sounds as good as a similarly priced CDP and thats at about $200. from there up, the vinyl superiority widens consistently. the artifacts of vinyl playback are tolerable with most well taken care of LPs.

of course thrashed discs arent listenable for long but a thrashed cd WONT PLAY all the way through. i have many decades old LPs that are more than tolerable and some outright amazing in cleanliness of sound and of course verisimilitude. that is, how much closer to REAL they sound than comparable CDs.

sacd and dvda come much closer, and perhaps equal analog. i say just buy what you can afford and vinyl playback will PAY you back in terms of software cost. there is so much used vinyl available in population centers that used vinyl availability is a major plus.

i havent gotten to costly power cords yet, most of my equipment has captive cords. i think i will limit that to what i win at the LA/OC audio society meeting raffles. interconnects i have are all afforrdable and my speaker wire is kimber 8tc that i got for $50.

am i an audiophile, yes. and music lover which is REALLY what drive the whole vehicle.