Headphonesty shouts out ASR and vinyl Dynamic Range

[JeremyFife]

Another sane post from Headphonesty: shouts out ASR, discusses the inflation of DR when measuring vinyl so that a simple DR value may not be accurate.

Vinyl Measurements Reveal How the Format Itself Artificially Inflates Dynamic Range Numbers by Up to 70% | Headphonesty https://share.google/c1fUSnvm9FekPEUHW

 

[Axo1989]

Haha with shoutouts like that, who needs frenemies?

The article takes some basic facts and runs them through a hysterical dumbfuckery filter to match their house thumbnail image style. Painful to read for me but some will enjoy it.

 

[Beave]

Didn't somebody on here determine that some/many/most(?) of their articles are written at least in part by AI and that it's basically a clickbait site?

 

[CuteStudio]

discusses the inflation of DR when measuring vinyl

The only problem I have is with low DR digital music. Compressed, clipped, mangedl.
I recall a Nirvana track I think it was, where the acoustic guitar was louder than the snare drum. Doh.

On the other hand I played an old Sky2 vinyl album and the opening bars nade me jump - the dynamics were glorious
I think I tend to gravitate towards high dynamic range content too: Floyd, Laura Marling, St. Vincent, Meg Myers, Regina Spektor, Genesis and some Classical - it's the missing third dimension in much of modern music, and I think what helped sell HiFi in its heyday!

 

[RexrothPigeon]

HiFi in its heyday

Now is its heyday tho, no question about it

 

[CuteStudio]

I'm talking about the time when I had three HiFi stores in my local town, to wander in and browse.
But I only saw this is the 1980s - I missed the _really_ cool heydays of the giant Japanese receivers - at least for shopping purposes - when I was old enough it was all black faces and tone controls were being frowned upon LOL.

But accessible tech - yes, that's today. My €149 MUSE M-980BT is in some locations - better sounding than much hifi of the past few decades - perhaps as we are now at the sweet spot of good class D chips, decent small cones, ABR technology and decent digital sources. Even bluetooth now sounds passable, which I couldn't say for it a few years ago.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

I'm talking about the time when I had three HiFi stores in my local town, to wander in and browse.

Don't confuse that with heyday. The internet means every person on earth has 1000 hifi stores in their own home.

On edit: I'm old & remember the 80s like it was yesterday. No question hifi today makes those days look like the dark ages.

 

[CuteStudio]

I still remember walking into Lasky's in Watford. They had some big Magnaplanars driven with a solid state Yamaha amp, no tone controls.
It sounded harsh and awful, but I did appreciate their effort

Then there was Beatties toy store too, for RC Tamiya - bliss!

But my current living room setup, 50 year old speakers, a Single Ended Pentode GU50 amplifier and - the modern bit: the £9 apple DAC still sounds better than the big Magicos + MegaAmp I recently auditioned LOL.

 

[Mart68]

Don't confuse that with heyday. The internet means every person on earth has 1000 hifi stores in their own home.

On edit: I'm old & remember the 80s like it was yesterday. No question hifi today makes those days look like the dark ages.

Interesting perspective. I was a student in the 80s so had no money and had to settle for last year's 50 percent discounted Japanese budget equipment.

A couple of years back was in the financial position to get whatever I wanted, decided to build the dream system I would have got in the 1980s. It was very hard to find anything I wanted in the modern equipment. CD transport was a choice of one. I could not find a pre-amp I liked the look of at all.

I was massively disappointed. I wanted to buy new but in the end had to resort to buying an old '80s pre-amp although at least that meant it was five grand under budget.

Build quality was better then, as was functionality, as was cosmetics. Sure the budget stuff measures better now but it was always transparent even back then. So what have we really gained?

 

[Alexander Gödde]

We have gained so much, including

• easy access to a huge catalogue of music, most of it for a flat monthly fee
• storage media that can hold vast collections of recordings
• fast access to the music on streaming and in our digital collections, with playlists that can pick tracks from the entire library available
• cheap, powerful and easily programmable DSP
• automatic room correction
• cheap, clean power from class D amps
• speaker designs which take advantage of the cheap power
• much better measurement gear to aid in the development of audio gear (e.g. the Klippel NFS)
• target curves for headphones to end them wild west of tunings there
• cheap IEMs with great sound quality
• high-quality wireless audio transmission

 

[Mart68]

We have gained so much, including

• easy access to a huge catalogue of music, most of it for a flat monthly fee
• storage media that can hold vast collections of recordings
• fast access to the music on streaming and in our digital collections, with playlists that can pick tracks from the entire library available
• cheap, powerful and easily programmable DSP
• automatic room correction
• cheap, clean power from class D amps
• speaker designs which take advantage of the cheap power
• much better measurement gear to aid in the development of audio gear (e.g. the Klippel NFS)
• target curves for headphones to end them wild west of tunings there
• cheap IEMs with great sound quality
• high-quality wireless audio transmission

My view is skewed in that I don't use any of those things. CD only. Class A amp. Have DSP but don't use it. Hate headphones, don't have any.

Klippel and other speaker-related developments and research I can get with.

Maybe I'm not typical but I know I'm not alone.

 

[egellings]

Don't confuse that with heyday. The internet means every person on earth has 1000 hifi stores in their own home.

On edit: I'm old & remember the 80s like it was yesterday. No question hifi today makes those days look like the dark ages.

Looking at pictures of stores is not the same experience as being in the stores in person.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Looking at pictures of stores is not the same experience as being in the stores in person.

Good point. Back in the old days, regular consumers had no recourse against the hordes of commission-driven lying salesman and no way to comparison shop. Much better now.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Interesting perspective. I was a student in the 80s so had no money and had to settle for last year's 50 percent discounted Japanese budget equipment.

A couple of years back was in the financial position to get whatever I wanted, decided to build the dream system I would have got in the 1980s. It was very hard to find anything I wanted in the modern equipment. CD transport was a choice of one. I could not find a pre-amp I liked the look of at all.

I was massively disappointed. I wanted to buy new but in the end had to resort to buying an old '80s pre-amp although at least that meant it was five grand under budget.

Build quality was better then, as was functionality, as was cosmetics. Sure the budget stuff measures better now but it was always transparent even back then. So what have we really gained?

I don't think you and I have much in common other than remembering the 80s because pretty much all of this is at odds with my views. YMMV as always I guess.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

We have gained so much, including

• easy access to a huge catalogue of music, most of it for a flat monthly fee
• storage media that can hold vast collections of recordings
• fast access to the music on streaming and in our digital collections, with playlists that can pick tracks from the entire library available
• cheap, powerful and easily programmable DSP
• automatic room correction
• cheap, clean power from class D amps
• speaker designs which take advantage of the cheap power
• much better measurement gear to aid in the development of audio gear (e.g. the Klippel NFS)
• target curves for headphones to end them wild west of tunings there
• cheap IEMs with great sound quality
• high-quality wireless audio transmission

Hear hear!

And, perhaps above all (for the regular consumer): we now have access (thanks internet!) to communities like ASR and other sources of data & empiricism to protect ourselves from the pathological lying of the "audiophile" industry and help us avoid being taken advantage of to the tune of very costly mistakes.

 

[Mart68]

I don't think you and I have much in common other than remembering the 80s because pretty much all of this is at odds with my views. YMMV as always I guess.

I agree that it's a question of perspective.

 

[Axo1989]

My view is skewed in that I don't use any of those things. CD only. Class A amp. Have DSP but don't use it. Hate headphones, don't have any.

Klippel and other speaker-related developments and research I can get with.

Maybe I'm not typical but I know I'm not alone.

I do like a straightforward low-frills system. And if I'm only going to have four/five components, they may as well be well-built

 

[DSJR]

I could not find a pre-amp I liked the look of at all.

Liking the LOOK of? Wash yer bloomin' mouth out sir!

 

[Mart68]

I do like a straightforward low-frills system. And if I'm only going to have four/five components, they may as well be well-built

I only have three - plus the speakers. If you ignore the other system in the same room and the piles of surplus kit and the stuff out on loan.

 

[Mart68]

Liking the LOOK of? Wash yer bloomin' mouth out sir!

Last system Dave - retirement system - got to look the part too.

Mainly chose on the basis of the LED colours. Had to be orange which narrows down the selection quite a lot.