Does everyone here agree?
Nov 11, 2011 at 8:29 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 55

Hifianddrumming

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 Okay, so I had to write a rant for English. Just clearing it up with you guys that I have my facts straight. Also, cut me some slack, I'm 14.
 
 50 years ago, people had massive stereo systems. They would sit down, put on some vinyl, and blast it through a massive set of tube-amplified, floor standing speakers. The sound came through warm, rich and crystal clear, the sound was immersive, and people sat and just listened, listened to all the nuances and emotion. Music was something like TV is nowadays. It was a primary source of entertainment, considered normal to just sit and listen to it, with no other distractions.
 
 But after vinyl, CDs became popular. “Digitalization” brought a rise in compact systems. These systems were compact, easy to use and manage and could be used almost anywhere. But they didn’t have that same life of sound. They weren’t used very much anymore, at least not as a primary source of entertainment, because they weren’t captivating. They were background noise. What’s the point of artists spending years to create an album, when all you’re going to do is flip it on for background noise once in a while, what’s the point? You’ll listen to one song and then the album will collect dust. Amazing.
 
 Oh, but it gets worse. As things get more miniaturized, mp3 players come in. True digital audio. But guess what? It’s compressed to the point of death. Now, you can hear your favourite artists sounding like they’re singing into a tin can. Genius. Then, they include these small little things called earbuds, innovative; they seem so nice and small, convenient. And, they butcher the sound even further. Who wouldn’t want these?
 
 Again, why? What’s the point?
 
 Portability, you may say. And you know what? I agree. I actually like the idea of sound for the masses. More music for the people. But what did this radical change actually do? It drove it further into society’s head that music is a background thing, just for “in between places.”
 
 Another thing that came with digitalization is illegal downloads. Isn’t that great? Hordes of music all for free? But really, I’m sure the bands who are trying to make a living off their music agree as well. There’s a reason they’re called illegal downloads.
 
 Now with an emergence of beats, skullcandy, and bose, all ripping people off by the billions a year, good sound seems to be a minimal priority. I’m not saying to spend thousands of dollars on music, stereo sytems, headphones etc. All I’m saying is can’t we get a 70 dollar pair of Grados, or Sennheisers, or AKGs, and for once in our life, just enjoy the music, nothing else?
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 8:51 AM Post #2 of 55
50 years ago, most people had crappy audio systems, mostly mono since few stereos existed.  My parents had a crappy turntable in a cabinet with a built in speaker.  Some time in the 60s, it broke and they didn't fix it.  In the 70s, they bought a crappy all in one system, turntable, radio, 8track combination.  All of my friend's families had similar crappy systems. 
 
They were the compact systems the day.  Compact systems didn't start with CDs.  Compact systems with similar profiles to ones I see in thrift stores existed in the 70s with a turntable on the top.  The turntable just changed to a CD changer.
 
Illegal trading didn't start with digital music either.  It just really accelerated because it became easier..  Original illegal trading was on reel to reel tapes.  I don't imagine a lot of that happened, but I know it did.  It boomed with the popularity of cassette tapes.  A used record store in the area I lived in in the 70s and 80s rented records for a dollar a day.  The only reason anyone rented a record was to take it home and tape a copy.  Most people had no idea how to really tape, so they ended up compressing the hell out of the music and caused it to clip.  Badly taped music sounded just as bad and modern loudness war recordings.
 
Ear buds came out with in response to cassette walkmans.  Crappy headphones and speakers were the rule in the 70s and 80s.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:11 AM Post #3 of 55
Hifichild, what are you talking about? You're 14, you obviously weren't there, so how can you present this fantasy as history?
 
EDIT: Read the last paragraph, your post was a fact-check. ^^Scompton is right. War, war never changes.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:20 AM Post #5 of 55
 I've listened to a whole ton of old Radios and systems that my grandpa had, they all sounded amazing to be honest. Put on some ella fitzgerald and I was surprised at how clear that sound was. I also realize that many of the 50 dollar headphones nowadays will outperform a lot of the old stereo systems, but I'm appealing to the main demographic of music listeners, who have an old ipod nano, and some 3 dollar walmart earbuds. I am sorry for the facts I probably blatantly mixed up, but I wrote this in 30 minutes and didn't have much research. I was looking for some feedback and I got a little bit, but feedback and improvement suggestions are what I was hoping for, any are greatly appreciated.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:23 AM Post #6 of 55
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why good sound seems necessary to be able to enjoy music.
 
Because after all, we were all once very happy with crappy gear, right? 
wink.gif

 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:24 AM Post #7 of 55
There was always high end, and it was easy to audition because every little town had an audio shop that sold at least mid-fi stuff.  I'd bet more people have mid-fi to hi end now than then though because it's easy to learn about it on the internet. 
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:27 AM Post #8 of 55


Quote:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why good sound seems necessary to be able to enjoy music.
 
Because after all, we were all once very happy with crappy gear, right? 
wink.gif



 It's true, but it seems like after hearing higher-end gear, music doesn't seem the same all distorted and tinny. Most people are happy with their gear, but I don't think they realize it's potential as an amazing experience.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:30 AM Post #9 of 55
I've made some adjustments. I've tried to downplay the hyperbole of the sound a little bit, along with a few other things. Do remember I'm trying to write a RANT. Not a completely factual piece of writing, it's supposed to rely somewhat on hyperbole to make a point.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:33 AM Post #10 of 55
I still listen through my laptop speakers sometimes.. especially when i cant be bothered to get everything setup.
 
Quote:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why good sound seems necessary to be able to enjoy music.
 
Because after all, we were all once very happy with crappy gear, right? 
wink.gif



 
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:34 AM Post #11 of 55
 Slightly revised version, I've highlighted the points I've tried to change a little. This won't be a final draft:
 
50 years ago, people had stereo, or mainly mono systems. They would sit down, put on some vinyl, and blast it through a set of tube-amplified, floor standing speakers. The sound came through with life, the sound was more immersive, and people sat and just listened, listened to all the nuances and emotion. Music was something like TV is nowadays. It was a primary source of entertainment, considered normal to just sit and listen to it, with no other distractions.
 
 But after vinyl, CDs became popular. “Digitalization” brought a greater rise in compact systems. The systems were compact, easy to use and manage and could be used almost anywhere. But they didn’t have that same life of sound. They weren’t used very much anymore, at least not as a primary source of entertainment, because they weren’t captivating. They were background noise. What’s the point of artists spending years to create an album, when all you’re going to do is flip it on for background noise once in a while, what’s the point? You’ll listen to one song and then the album will collect dust. Amazing.
 
 Oh, but it gets worse. As things get more miniaturized, mp3 players come in. True digital audio. But guess what? It’s compressed to the point of death. Now, you can hear your favourite artists sounding like they’re singing into a tin can. Genius. Then, earbuds become more popular, innovative; they seem so nice and small, convenient. And, they butcher the sound even further. Who wouldn’t want these?
 
 Again, why? What’s the point?
 
 Portability, you may say. And you know what? I agree. I actually like the idea of sound for the masses. More music for the people. But what did this radical change actually do? It drove it further into society’s head that music is a background thing, just for “in between places.”
 
 Another thing that rose with digitalization is pirated music. Isn’t that great? Hordes of music all for free? But really, I’m sure the bands who are trying to make a living off their music agree as well. There’s a reason they’re called illegal downloads.
 
 Now with an emergence of beats, skullcandy, and bose, all ripping people off by the billions a year, good sound seems to be a minimal priority. I’m not saying to spend thousands of dollars on music, stereo sytems, headphones etc. All I’m saying is can’t we get a 70 dollar pair of Grados, or Sennheisers, or AKGs, and for once in our life, just enjoy the music, nothing else?
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:42 AM Post #12 of 55
You left out about 10yrs of tape based media being the preferred media format.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:44 AM Post #13 of 55
You're in Dubai?  I used to live there - nice to see somebody from over there over here.
 
Quote:
 Oh, but it gets worse. As things get more miniaturized, mp3 players come in. True digital audio. But guess what? It’s compressed to the point of death. Now, you can hear your favourite artists sounding like they’re singing into a tin can. Genius. Then, they include these small little things called earbuds, innovative; they seem so nice and small, convenient. And, they butcher the sound even further. Who wouldn’t want these?


 
Sorry, but I don't agree with this at all.  Do some blind testing of lossy vs lossless and you'll find that above ~192kbps it's near impossible (if not impossible) to distinguish lossy versus lossless.  Tiny MP3 players (e.g. Sansa Clip, ipod) have improved quite a lot from the early days and the sound quality is fantastic.
 
I remember the good old days.  Huge systems sucking up huge amounts of power.  Boxy (and ugly) speakers stuffed into the corners of your room because those were the only places you could keep them - thus killing the sound.  Walls and cupboards taken up by records/tapes/etc, many of which you never listen to because you've forgotten you had them.  Listening to music meant hiss and crackling.  15 minutes wasted if you wanted to find where a song was located on your tape.  If you wanted one song on a terrible album you purchased the entire album and it was nuisance to share music with friends.  If your dad wanted to listen to some terrible music, you had to listen to it as well since that was the ONLY music system in the house - a second one would have been too expensive.
 
The space issue is a big one.  I don't know what your particular living situation is in Dubai, but I do know that many (most) people live in apartments in that country and many other countries in the world.  From a practical standpoint, a speaker system is a headache unless you are wealthy and can afford to rent/buy a big 3br+ apartment.
 
Compare all of this to today.  My entire music collection fits into the palm of my hand.  With a decent set of IEMs, you can have sound quality that bests many speaker based systems from yesteryear.  IMO my Rockboxed Sansa Clip and PFE IEMs sound MUCH better than many of the "good" speaker systems I've heard and lived with.
 
The rise of PMPs and portable headphones/IEMs also means that more people can enjoy music.  You don't have to be a rich person to afford a nice sounding system.  All of this technological advancement has brought music to masses for lower prices.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:54 AM Post #14 of 55


Quote:
You left out about 10yrs of tape based media being the preferred media format.



 You sir, are rgiht. But this is the maximum amount of words. I've already written over the limit,and I wanted to bring the briefest possible kind of timeline I could.
 
Nov 11, 2011 at 9:59 AM Post #15 of 55


Quote:
You're in Dubai?  I used to live there - nice to see somebody from over there over here.
 

 
Sorry, but I don't agree with this at all.  Do some blind testing of lossy vs lossless and you'll find that above ~192kbps it's near impossible (if not impossible) to distinguish lossy versus lossless.  Tiny MP3 players (e.g. Sansa Clip, ipod) have improved quite a lot from the early days and the sound quality is fantastic.
 
I remember the good old days.  Huge systems sucking up huge amounts of power.  Boxy (and ugly) speakers stuffed into the corners of your room because those were the only places you could keep them - thus killing the sound.  Walls and cupboards taken up by records/tapes/etc, many of which you never listen to because you've forgotten you had them.  Listening to music meant hiss and crackling.  15 minutes wasted if you wanted to find where a song was located on your tape.  If you wanted one song on a terrible album you purchased the entire album and it was nuisance to share music with friends.  If your dad wanted to listen to some terrible music, you had to listen to it as well since that was the ONLY music system in the house - a second one would have been too expensive.
 
The space issue is a big one.  I don't know what your particular living situation is in Dubai, but I do know that many (most) people live in apartments in that country and many other countries in the world.  From a practical standpoint, a speaker system is a headache unless you are wealthy and can afford to rent/buy a big 3br+ apartment.
 
Compare all of this to today.  My entire music collection fits into the palm of my hand.  With a decent set of IEMs, you can have sound quality that bests many speaker based systems from yesteryear.  IMO my Rockboxed Sansa Clip and PFE IEMs sound MUCH better than many of the "good" speaker systems I've heard and lived with.
 
The rise of PMPs and portable headphones/IEMs also means that more people can enjoy music.  You don't have to be a rich person to afford a nice sounding system.  All of this technological advancement has brought music to masses for lower prices.




I do agree with portability and it's benefits. But what it has done is made music something people can't enjoy unless they're doing something else, they're usually on the go and trying to fill time. That's the general point of my rant. Also, the demographic that I'm appealing to
A) won't pay attention to these details (they're not even sure what Sanza is) :)
B) All have pretty bad iPods or Blackberries as sources, and they're using them with those horrible tinny worse-than-apple-earbuds kind of earbuds. This is, again, the demographic I'm appealing to.
 

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