[landroni]

  Japanese people have one major problem when learning English: The pronunciation of words. Most of this stems from the larger variety of sounds in English compared to Japanese. For a Japanese person, "b" and "v" are pronounced the same. "L" and "r" likewise also only have one sound. "Th" is nonexistent.

I've wondered about this in the past, but this still doesn't explain me why mixing specifically "L" with "R"? Why not "L" with "V"? For what reason do Japanese people associate "L" and "R"? It's not like Japanese has letters for the two sounds...
 
As for 'b' and 'v', in Spanish in many parts of Latin America the two are also generally conflated in speech, so "volver" will often be heard as "bolber".

 

[Currawong]

 

  Japanese people have one major problem when learning English: The pronunciation of words. Most of this stems from the larger variety of sounds in English compared to Japanese. For a Japanese person, "b" and "v" are pronounced the same. "L" and "r" likewise also only have one sound. "Th" is nonexistent.

I've wondered about this in the past, but this still doesn't explain me why mixing specifically "L" with "R"? Why not "L" with "V"? For what reason do Japanese people associate "L" and "R"? It's not like Japanese has letters for the two sounds...
 
As for 'b' and 'v', in Spanish in many parts of Latin America the two are also generally conflated in speech, so "volver" will often be heard as "bolber".

I'd need to consult a linguistics expert, but the Japanese vowels closest to the "r" sound are ra, ri, ru, re, ro. The actual pronounciation of them varies across the country, sounding somewhere between how they are written and la, li, lu, le, lo. The problem then comes up that firstly, most companies aren't interested in trying to find a foreigner or Japanese person to write proper English because most of the time secondly, they only care about Japanese customers, so it only has to make sense to them. That is why you have hair salons with "Hair Make" written on the sign and t-shirts with weird English on them. It makes sense in Japanese (transliterated) but it just written in English for the same reason all bakeries sell what appears to be French bread: It looks cute to them.

 

[RCBinTN]

I travel to Brazil where Portuguese is the local language.  The only thing that bothers me is how they pronounce the "R."  For example, a person named Raquel is pronounced "haquel."  No "R" sound at all.  It took me forever to understand that the restaurant Roma Mia's, which is excellent Italian food, is pronounced "homa mia's."  Never quite knew when we were going there, or not...

 

[Currawong]

I was replying to a new member about high-res formats and am cross-posting my reply here. I think I should write an expanded, but succinct wiki article on the matter. Since the original context is missing, the guy has only M50s and a computer and was looking at the 2L file options, which there are now over half-a-dozen for each sample.
 

  It can certainly get confusing, can't it?
 
Short answer: Don't worry about other than the CD quality file for now.
 
Long answer: 
 
CD quality 16/44.1 kHz PCM (sometimes the .1 is cut off) is the standard resolution used nowadays, with something like 99% of music in that format.
 
PCM is available in higher resolution formats, such as 16/48, 24/48, 24/88.2, 24/96, 24/176 and 24/192 (more or less). They were originally only created at those resolutions during mixing and mastering to avoid losing sound quality, but have become popular recently. Here's the really confusing bit: Technically they offer little to nothing over CD quality, but due to the way most digital converters work, using them can sometimes result in better sound quality if you have at least fairly high-end equipment. Sometimes the high-res versions are mastered better, but then they are also available at CD resolution at the same time. There are some companies out there that track down the master tapes of old recordings and re-master them to get better recordings out there than were available previously.
 
You could try the CD quality and the high-res version of the same track with your gear and see if you notice any difference. If you don't, stick with the CD quality version. If you buy better gear in the future, try it again. 
 
DSD is a completely different way to store music that is found on SACDs. Some people prefer music in that format, but the files are HUGE. Technically it is an inferior format to PCM (unless you work for Sony or Korg, companies that insist that it is superior) but due to the way many DACs work, can end up sounding better. This is confused by the likelihood that many SACDs were mastered better than their CD counterparts, resulting in better sound quality, especially considering there were legitimate technical issues with the software and hardware from which CD masters were made in past decades. Some tiny fraction of 1% of recordings are in DSD.
 
MQA is...well, just don't ask, unless your hardware supports it and you have high-end gear. Well, OK, it's an attempt to squish a high-res file into a CD-quality size format and a bunch of other things which Meridian are trying to licence to companies at the moment.
 
5.1 versions of anything listed simply have more channels and are intended to be used with multi-channel home theatre systems. Quite often it is, or was possible to some interesting multi-channel SACDs. There is a recording out there of 6 choirs arranged in a massive circle inside a huge church which sounds amazing in 5.1...but that's another story.

 

[Mediahound]

  I was replying to a new member about high-res formats and am cross-posting my reply here. I think I should write an expanded, but succinct wiki article on the matter. Since the original context is missing, the guy has only M50s and a computer and was looking at the 2L file options, which there are now over half-a-dozen for each sample.
 

Nice explanation! I recently purchased some remastered Neil Young CDs and they sound really phenomenal (and are16/44.1). 

 

[Xacxac]

Subbed. I traveled to Japan for roughly 2 weeks; visited Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka. Reading your diary brings back memories of Japan!

I had many funny encounters due to culture differences as well. The most embarrassing one was when I arrived late at boarding gate just under 5 minutes after plane door shut. An ANA flight attendance guided me through immigration (no more flight at that day) like a lost child. At least they let me queued on VIP diplomat line. Oh and the lady called hotels for available rooms! I knew that they did their best effort to hide upset face.

 

[rnros]

Looking forward to Japan. Subbed.
But also looking forward to your usual clear, concise take on audio equipment.

 

[Baldr]

  Looking forward to Japan. Subbed.
But also looking forward to your usual clear, concise take on audio equipment.

 
I spent much wonderful time there - unfortunately, it has been too long (>30 years) since I have returned!

 

[Currawong]

Kumamoto's Earthquakes

 
A minute before the shaking started the phones in the house started shouting the warning. For the first couple of seconds I thought one of the kids' toys was making the sound, but what was about to happen became clear once I made out the "earthquake" part of it and the warning broadcast system, consisting of speakers around the suburbs, announced a warning. Then, as the shaking starts you can do nothing but wait to find out how bad it will be, wondering the whole time if it is "the big one" or not. If you're at home, you're supposed to dive under a table or cover yourself with your doona in case things begin falling. 
 

 
The first one stopped pretty quickly, so I surmised that the combination of a warning with what felt like a larger than usual, but not severe tremor meant that the quake itself was not actually here. This was quickly confirmed by switching on the TV and checking monitoring web sites. The TV was funny -- reporters were driving around frantically looking for damage and finding nothing. Japanese media is obsessive and crazy -- if big news strikes, they will repeat the same thing over and over again to the point of madness. There wasn't much to report initially, as the first quake had struck in what is pretty much remote countryside and a few old houses had collapsed.  It was the next day that the extent of the problem became apparent, with broken roads and a derailed bullet train, which was going to make access to the city a huge nuisance. Automatically shut-off water and gas quite a bit more so. 
 
Still, the response, based on carefully arranged plans for such disasters had people in trouble sheltering at local public buildings and parks and the self-defence forces feeding those in need. Japan, especially in the country areas, is very old-fashioned with a very strong sense of community. People are calm, helpful and look after each other. People are always on the lookout for each other as well.
 
The real problem came the next night with the second quake. Just before 1:30am I was awoken by the phones going crazy with warnings, and then the house really shook. This time, the whole of Kyushu island had been seriously shaken. My daughter was now awake and too scared to sleep, not encouraged by the regular aftershocks, two of them punctuated by warning alarms. 
 
 
 
That quake ended up taking down heavily re-enforced bridges and causing a landslide that is now very visible from Google Maps/Earth, partially isolating the town just south of Mount Aso.  What makes things most dangerous is not the main quake itself, but the many aftershocks -- 1400+ to date since the quake. Buildings already in precarious condition can easily collapse during an aftershock. Re-constructing and getting things going again is very difficult in these circumstances, but despite this, Kumamoto is almost fully functioning again, with only around 10,000 people, around 1/10th of the original number, still sleeping in cars or at evacuation centres. Only 49 people died, with one person still missing. If that had happened in Tokyo, I don't think people would have gotten off so relatively lightly.

 

[McClelland]

The natural flow of these posts are delightful.  Sorry to hear of the latest earthquake intensity and it's unavoidable effect on family.

 

[Baldr]

Except for an year's stint in Vietnam, I lived almost all of my US based life in California through 1969.  Not a lot of earthquakes, despite the reputation,  Then in ear;y 1970 I moved to Peru.  May 31 of that year there was the Ancash earthquake which killed 70,000 people.  7.9  - scared the beJezus out of me.  Shook on for over 4 minutes.  I was on the 8th floor of an eight story building 50 miles from the epicenter.  The front wall of the building collapsed into the street.  Then there was the Dec 9, 1970 7.5  Peruvian quake.  Came back to California in 1971 for a break - just in time for the Sylmar quake.  6.6 and 24 dead.  Then back to Peru for the Oct 1974 quake 8.1 - only 200 dead.  In Japan, the only earthquake I was present for the Jun 12, 1978 Miyagi quake which was quite noticeable in Tokyo.  31 May 1970 was by far the scariest.

 

[Currawong]

  Except for an year's stint in Vietnam, I lived almost all of my US based life in California through 1969.  Not a lot of earthquakes, despite the reputation,  Then in ear;y 1970 I moved to Peru.  May 31 of that year there was the Ancash earthquake which killed 70,000 people.  7.9  - scared the beJezus out of me.  Shook on for over 4 minutes.  I was on the 8th floor of an eight story building 50 miles from the epicenter.  The front wall of the building collapsed into the street.  Then there was the Dec 9, 1970 7.5  Peruvian quake.  Came back to California in 1971 for a break - just in time for the Sylmar quake.  6.6 and 24 dead.  Then back to Peru for the Oct 1974 quake 8.1 - only 200 dead.  In Japan, the only earthquake I was present for the Jun 12, 1978 Miyagi quake which was quite noticeable in Tokyo.  31 May 1970 was by far the scariest.

Wow, that's insanely unlucky timing. Good thing the timing with your DACs has been much better *BOOM* *TISH*. 

 

[Currawong]

I've had a few surprises these last few months. The first, and most major has been coming across headphones, IEMs, and even earbuds that can produce a clean and clear treble, without harshness. It used to be that as you went down the headphone or IEM line of a manufacturer, the cheaper the product, the nastier the treble. I cynically suspect it was a factor not of it being expensive to manufacturer the higher models, but the necessity of having to sonically differentiate them from the cheap models in asking customers to dole out more money. 
 
However now I have here one pair of IEMs, and one pair of headphones that, by all rights, should sound like crap, given the specs. 
 

 
The first is the Shozy Zero IEMs. They cost all of $50 and, in effect, there is sonically nothing wrong with them. That's right, despite not being detail monsters and having a rather tangly, rubber-coated cable, they are one of the nicest pair of IEMs I've ever listened to music with. They measure fairly flat, though in practice they a bit bass-strong. They don't have a sound signature that jumps out at you, but neither do they have any nasties that do either. The treble is fantastic. 
 

 
The second I was even less convinced I might like: Sony h.ear on noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones.  They come in a variety of colours (strike one!), are Bluetooth (strike two!) and are also noise cancelling (strike three and out!). The pitch is that if you use a Sony Walkman with them (I'm not sure what else supports the protocol yet) they can transmit high-res Bluetooth, up to 96k. I sat down and had a listen of my own music from a micro-SD card I put in a Walkman at the recent festival in Tokyo and, even with the noise cancelling switched on (necessary in that environment) the sound was very good, enough that I asked if I could borrow a pair (and a Walkman) to give them an extended audition. Like the Shozys, they have no issues in the treble, no harshness or grain. Vocals are pleasant. Bass is typically for Sony consumer gear, a bit strong and is quite decent. They were as pleasant with Chesky binuaral albums as they were with modern pop music. 
 
So I've decided that manufacturers have no more excuses and that nobody should be manufacturing headphones or IEMs at any price with harshness or distortion in the treble. No more "They sound great/good/OK, but....". If Shozy can do it right for $50 and Sony can do it right even with noise cancelling engaged, then so should everyone else.  The only downside to this is that it will make reviews rather boring! Finding interesting and unique headphones will be quite a bit harder. 

 

[rnros]

  Except for an year's stint in Vietnam, I lived almost all of my US based life in California through 1969.  Not a lot of earthquakes, despite the reputation,  Then in ear;y 1970 I moved to Peru.  May 31 of that year there was the Ancash earthquake which killed 70,000 people.  7.9  - scared the beJezus out of me.  Shook on for over 4 minutes.  I was on the 8th floor of an eight story building 50 miles from the epicenter.  The front wall of the building collapsed into the street.  Then there was the Dec 9, 1970 7.5  Peruvian quake.  Came back to California in 1971 for a break - just in time for the Sylmar quake.  6.6 and 24 dead.  Then back to Peru for the Oct 1974 quake 8.1 - only 200 dead.  In Japan, the only earthquake I was present for the Jun 12, 1978 Miyagi quake which was quite noticeable in Tokyo.  31 May 1970 was by far the scariest.

That's an incredible record of quake experience. Hard to imagine that level of human tragedy and destruction.
As Northeaster, there is always the curiosity of what it would be like... but in a wood house or structure in a rural area!
 
With it's long history of seismic code development through the 20th century, I imagine that the larger/modern cities in Japan are some of the safest places to be in an earthquake.

 

[Currawong]

 

  Except for an year's stint in Vietnam, I lived almost all of my US based life in California through 1969.  Not a lot of earthquakes, despite the reputation,  Then in ear;y 1970 I moved to Peru.  May 31 of that year there was the Ancash earthquake which killed 70,000 people.  7.9  - scared the beJezus out of me.  Shook on for over 4 minutes.  I was on the 8th floor of an eight story building 50 miles from the epicenter.  The front wall of the building collapsed into the street.  Then there was the Dec 9, 1970 7.5  Peruvian quake.  Came back to California in 1971 for a break - just in time for the Sylmar quake.  6.6 and 24 dead.  Then back to Peru for the Oct 1974 quake 8.1 - only 200 dead.  In Japan, the only earthquake I was present for the Jun 12, 1978 Miyagi quake which was quite noticeable in Tokyo.  31 May 1970 was by far the scariest.

That's an incredible record of quake experience. Hard to imagine that level of human tragedy and destruction.
As Northeaster, there is always the curiosity of what it would be like... but in a wood house or structure in a rural area!
 
With it's long history of seismic code development through the 20th century, I imagine that the larger/modern cities in Japan are some of the safest places to be in an earthquake.

 
Up to a point. If an 8.1 struck 10kms deep in central Tokyo, then nothing would save you. Even if you didn't die, surviving in the immediate aftermath would be extremely difficult.  Thankfully the culture here means that people will be calm and helpful and the self-defence forces are allowed to act immediately when a quake above a certain strength occurs.