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Re: Death of High Fidelity
From: Mike Fleischer (themightytoegmail.com)
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2009 13:10:28 -0800 (PST) 
Well stated.

+ What makes a vacuum tube superior to a transistor?

That is dependant on application, for an Audio amplifier it is less prone to 
resitive noise, and has a more linear gain similar to a FET.  Those merits do 
not overcome the drawbacks of cost and heat generally.

+ What makes discrete transistors superior to integrated circuits?

Ah well some would argue (correctly) that the IC's can suffer cross channel 
interference and even the best differential amp does not have infinite common 
mode rejection.  That said, IC's are cheaper and thermal effects are uniform 
compared to discrete transistors...

+ Why does my Sony digital camera take better pictures than the
 thousands of dollars of Nikon SLR stuff I have in the closet?
Simpler controls? SLR's are generally pretty good and Sony makes crap cameras. Cannon are the only ones who put serious research $$$ into their digital cameras. 
+ And why can about any modern sports car smoke my 308GTB?

(putting on the nomex for this one...)  because its a Ferrari and despite 
spectacular good looks and amazing sounds at WOT, they are about as smartly 
built and engineered as a South Carolina Beauty pagent contestant (who shares 
similar looks and well you know...

Oh darn those were rethorical questions weren't they...

Mike


Rick Lindsay wrote:
One must also consider what 'true' high-fidelity reproduction of a 'synthesized musical instrument' might mean. Ponder that please...
I would argue that high-end audiophiles are no different from high-end exotic car owners and high-end camera owners. We're in love with the technology, more so than the end result. Ask yourself this; 

+ What makes a vacuum tube superior to a transistor?

+ What makes discrete transistors superior to integrated circuits?

+ Why does my Sony digital camera take better pictures than the
  thousands of dollars of Nikon SLR stuff I have in the closet?

+ And why can about any modern sports car smoke my 308GTB?

Then ask yourself;

+ What is it about the warm glow of tube-type equipment that is so
  appealing?  Is hum better than hiss?

+ Why are chips good for computers but not for audio?  (This was the
  big argument when I was young.)
+ Why do I still covet my Nikons, even though a computer designed and manufactured lens is oodles better? 

+ And why do I cling to my VERY-old-tech 308GTB when there are so many
  other, better-driving cars available for less money?

   Right!  It's not about the performance.  It's about the soul of these
objects.  I like soul.

Regards,

rick

-- On Mon, 3/2/09, Michael James <cavallino_rapante [at] yahoo.com> wrote:


From: Michael James <cavallino_rapante [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Death of High Fidelity
To: "Rick Lindsay" <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 1:51 PM
High fidelity is 'around', although I would claim
that the pool of ears capable of appreciating the sounds
generated by equipment that costs about as much as a new
Mercedes is much, much smaller than ever.  Convenience
rules, and lest we forget that the music that matters most
to today's listeners was NOT generated or recorded on
equipment that is as sophisticated as the modern
Audiophile's setup - so what, exactly, is the need for
ultra-fidelity audio reconstruction of a sound file that
started life as a digitally preserved, low-fi recording? You're throwing big-money away trying to create a 
soundstage or recover audio data that was never there to
begin with. Don't get me wrong, I love the aesthetics of 
tube-powered amplifiers, especially the ones for ipod and
digital sources, but most folks of my generation grew up on
cassettes/CDs and cannot 'hear' the difference in
sound reproduction that would justify the $$$$$$$$
investment for such equipment.  I'd like to, but
my ears must be shot from the loud concerts and the
constant headphone play cranked to 11. M 
--- On Mon, 3/2/09, Rick Lindsay
<rolindsay [at] yahoo.com> wrote:


From: Rick Lindsay <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Death of High Fidelity
To: "Michael" <Cavallino_Rapante [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: "The FerrariList"
<ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 1:53 PM


Funny how some common threads run through our List.  I
mixed music for years, including all the dynamic
adjustments, effects, EQ and levels.  I started this
so-called career in the analog era of the 70's.  We
(Colored Rain, Showboat, The Breeding Bunch, Exile (called
The Exiles at that time) were making music while everyone
else was doing whatever 'disco' is.  On breaks I
would play reel-to-reel (and later cassette) tapes but
instead of routing them directly into the mixer, I put the
signals through a dbx (brand) compressor - set to
'expansion'.  That way, the dynamics of the
pre-recorded music was expanded and sounded more
'live'.  I found that when I ran the music
straight, folks just talked and sipped their drinks.  When
I ran the tapes through the expander, they danced!  The
music sounded more 'live'. 
Further to this thread.  My wife always asks, "Why
are the commercials so loud?" to which I reply, because
they're highly compressed.  They're in your face
because they want you to hear them when you're up
talking a pee.  "Billy Mays here with..." or
"...you'll be saying ShamWow!"

That mixing stuff was a lifetime ago.  Today, I listen to
tunes in my car, going home from work - and when NPR gets so
far left that reality suffers. 
That's about as good as it gets for me.

rick
--- On Mon, 3/2/09, Scott Saidel
<Ferrarisimo [at] comcast.net> wrote:


From: Scott Saidel <Ferrarisimo [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Death of High Fidelity
To: "rolindsay" <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: "The FerrariList"

<ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>

Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 12:34 PM
Sad but true - when we are working in the new studio
(www.hellaphantrecords.com ) we initially listen and set levels listening through decent monitors, but we usually do the final mixdown using standard iPod headphones, since most people are going to be 
listening to
it that way. It makes a huge difference in how you set the compression levels and how you set-up the spatiality of the soundstage. 

For my own "at home" listening, I am

sticking to
the old-school rig for the most part (and listening to unremastered 
original
CD recordings) - 

Cinepro PowerPro 20 power conditioner
Cary CD 303/200 CD Player
Outlaw ICBM Crossover
Cary CAD-805c Amplifiers (open ended triode tubes)
MIT TubeTerminator Speaker Cables
MIT Output Terminator Interconnects
Miller and Kreisel S100B satellites
Miller and Kreisel MK125ii sub-woofer

Apple iBook G4 / Seagate 1tb harddrive / AirPort

Express /
Intech optical digital to AC3 converter 

I recently connected the old laptop as a iTunes

server.  I
use the laptop as a selection device and use a new AirPort 
Express
to feed a direct, optical, digital signal off my network (where 
I
have 18,000 / 265 Mb of music on iTunes - mostly in Apple Lossless format) into the digital input for the Cary CD player and use it's 
D/A

decoder.

I can also access the music on the iTunes harddrive

from my
everyday Macbook and stream it to the rig in the Studio / 
Theatre
(Sony ES E9000ES Preamplifier / N9000ES Amplifier) and the 
stereo in
my bedroom (1967 Fisher Receiver - all tube front and back end), although in the bedroom I had to "settle" for the stereo 
analog
output from the AirPort Express 

No noticeable loss in sound quality vs. direct

playback
from a CD. Although, before I had the dedicated computer, I would occasionally lose the data stream and get "drop-outs" in 
the
playback when I was playing iTunes and working on the computer at the same 
time.

I am in the process of backing up my existing CD

collection
to DVDs and selling off the original CDs while they still have 
some
value. At least, the stuff that is not exceptional or rare. 

Scottie





On Mar 2, 2009, at 1:00 PM, Fellippe Galletta wrote:



http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity/

If I could spend 5 minutes with Obama, I'd ask him

to

CHANGE this.

:)

FG



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