Robin L
Master Contributor
Re: Dogpiling,
I landed at this forum after being dogpiled at Stereophile and Analog Planet for noting that the whole LP system of record/playback is inherently defective. I suggested that CCR at Woodstock would sound as good as it's going to on CD. Michael Fremer was on me like white on rice. Audiophile Science Review was one of the few "audiophile" sites that would acknowledge the reality of just how 'broken' LP playback is. However, the longer I'm here, the more I realize that getting all "het up" over other people's hobbies is in the next-door neighborhood of other outraged prejudices. Even though I can cite excellent reasons not to engage in the current vinyl gold rush*, I admittedly have a fondness for, and interest in, antique and otherwise obsolete audio gear. That doesn't mean I have any plans to pick up an old Gerrard turntable or Ampex recorder, but I still find the history and the objects themselves fascinating.
People often come to this forum, loaded for bear, "knowing" that DACs that measure the same sound different. That tube amplification is inherently superior to solid state. That "we", as a forum, are stupid and uninformed. Personally, being somewhat skeptical to begin with, the only thing I can know is that I can't know everything. ASR, as far as I can tell, is about "known knowns", that which is measurable and verifiable. And a lot of the high-end has been and always will be about magical thinking, the belief that a precious object has magical powers that will transform your life. Yes, there's a high price to pay, but its presence in your life will alter your consciousness. Available in red or black.
I've bought gear based on recommendations from this forum, also Solderdude's DIY Audio Heaven, and my consciousness hasn't been transformed, my prior biases have not been dislocated. However, this gear---Topping, Sennheiser, APO EQ---has given me more of what I was seeking. I want to hear the musical lines. I listen to a lot of polyphonic and otherwise multi-voiced music. Inferior equipment/recordings only can deal with the top line, not all those harmonizing or counterpointing voices underneath the loudest, clearest events. Listening to recordings I've heard a thousand times and finally clearly hearing the voices of the choir behind the lead singer, the tone of the guitar, the third harpsichord in Bach's concerto for three harpsichords, all of that is a move upwards. Does it sound like the performer is in the room with me? No. In fact, the most "performer in the room with me" I've heard was an acoustic 78 player playing an acoustic 78.
Feeding trolls seems to be the source of most of the grievances. My suggestion is that our hard working moderators give trolls shorter lengths of rope with which to hang themselves.
*Anybody else notice that most Cannabis news these days is from Fortune and Forbes?
I landed at this forum after being dogpiled at Stereophile and Analog Planet for noting that the whole LP system of record/playback is inherently defective. I suggested that CCR at Woodstock would sound as good as it's going to on CD. Michael Fremer was on me like white on rice. Audiophile Science Review was one of the few "audiophile" sites that would acknowledge the reality of just how 'broken' LP playback is. However, the longer I'm here, the more I realize that getting all "het up" over other people's hobbies is in the next-door neighborhood of other outraged prejudices. Even though I can cite excellent reasons not to engage in the current vinyl gold rush*, I admittedly have a fondness for, and interest in, antique and otherwise obsolete audio gear. That doesn't mean I have any plans to pick up an old Gerrard turntable or Ampex recorder, but I still find the history and the objects themselves fascinating.
People often come to this forum, loaded for bear, "knowing" that DACs that measure the same sound different. That tube amplification is inherently superior to solid state. That "we", as a forum, are stupid and uninformed. Personally, being somewhat skeptical to begin with, the only thing I can know is that I can't know everything. ASR, as far as I can tell, is about "known knowns", that which is measurable and verifiable. And a lot of the high-end has been and always will be about magical thinking, the belief that a precious object has magical powers that will transform your life. Yes, there's a high price to pay, but its presence in your life will alter your consciousness. Available in red or black.
I've bought gear based on recommendations from this forum, also Solderdude's DIY Audio Heaven, and my consciousness hasn't been transformed, my prior biases have not been dislocated. However, this gear---Topping, Sennheiser, APO EQ---has given me more of what I was seeking. I want to hear the musical lines. I listen to a lot of polyphonic and otherwise multi-voiced music. Inferior equipment/recordings only can deal with the top line, not all those harmonizing or counterpointing voices underneath the loudest, clearest events. Listening to recordings I've heard a thousand times and finally clearly hearing the voices of the choir behind the lead singer, the tone of the guitar, the third harpsichord in Bach's concerto for three harpsichords, all of that is a move upwards. Does it sound like the performer is in the room with me? No. In fact, the most "performer in the room with me" I've heard was an acoustic 78 player playing an acoustic 78.
Feeding trolls seems to be the source of most of the grievances. My suggestion is that our hard working moderators give trolls shorter lengths of rope with which to hang themselves.
*Anybody else notice that most Cannabis news these days is from Fortune and Forbes?
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