Michael Fremer Leaving Stereophile?

[noiseangel]

Well, there are certainly many excellent foul mouthed comedians, back to Lenny Bruce no doubt.

I would trust Lenny Bruce's opinion of a piece of hi-fi before Michael Fremer's. Lenny hasn't been bought off by the equipment manufacturers.

 

[ahofer]

So he has heard digital when it was all analog. And he loved analog when it was really digital. Sounds like an unreliable ear to me.

He’s an old man with a disastrous but expensive setup. No surprises.

 

[anmpr1]

Archimago having some fun at Fremer’s ”fact-free bubble”...

Thanks for that. But I didn't know Mikey was a medieval scholar (although some might call his thinking medieval). Referencing (but screwing up) Aquinas by way of an incoherent mis-phrasing (and not a very clever one, at that), Fremer writes, "I don't like to dance on the head of a superlative..." This is no doubt true simply because there is nothing superlative in his thinking.

However, as a helpful (and 'glass half-full') person, I'd cautiously advise Mikey not to discount or otherwise make fun of Scholastic thinking, inasmuch as he could clearly learn some things from them. For certain, the schoolmen clearly uncovered one of Fremer's failings--that is, potency and act: a thing cannot give what it doesn't already possess. Whenever Fremer attempts to explain technical issues, such as DSD, MQA, PCM et al., he's mostly dancing around in circles, because he has no idea what he's talking about.

Now, there is nothing wrong with not knowing, as long as you know the people who do know, and can ask them for help. Fremer does not, and that is another of his failings. I mean, ignorance, or an 'inadequate defect in knowledge', as the Doctor of Humanity called it.

Reading comments from his Tracking Angle blog, along with his lame replies, you almost feel sorry for him--in a cringe sort of way. [However I do agree with Fremer that one should not reply in all caps. Even a guy like Mikey is never 100% wrong!]

Finally, since Fremer brought it up, albeit obliquely..., when considering angels dancing on a pin Mr. Analog might want to take another cue from the Angelic Doctor, who viewed shame as a possible virtue... or at least a praiseworthy passion. That is, you probably don't ever want to go out in public and make a complete fool of yourself. At least you don't, if you have a capacity for shame--something which Fremer so far hasn't demonstrated.

 

[fpitas]

Well, he's an old crackpot. The world certainly has a lot of those. He just happened to be in a position to misinform thousands of people.

 

[VQR]

Reading comments from his Tracking Angle blog, along with his lame replies, you almost feel sorry for him--in a cringe sort of way. [However I do agree with Fremer that one should not reply in all caps. Even a guy like Mikey is never 100% wrong!]

Finally, since Fremer brought it up, albeit obliquely..., when considering angels dancing on a pin Mr. Analog might want to take another cue from the Angelic Doctor, who viewed shame as a possible virtue... or at least a praiseworthy passion. That is, you probably don't ever want to go out in public and make a complete fool of yourself. At least you don't, if you have a capacity for shame--something which Fremer so far hasn't demonstrated.

Not every instance has been confirmed, but Fremer has a history of posting online in all caps in angry screeds. He did that on Darko's site (lost to comment section deletion) and on this forum. The writing style eerily matches his own.

Fremer's usual MO on on YouTube does often use all caps and blunt, rhetorical, begging the question replies. He did that on a smaller YTer's video on cleaning records. I can't link the comment, but if you sort by newest you can find it easier.

He's had a lot more drama on YT going back years, but we don't need a compendium here unless you want me to recount my recollections as they happened.


As to humility, Fremer's shown he's lacking even a mildly below average amount. He refused to acknowledge he can't hear the difference between analog and digital after praising many MoFi records he hadn't known were cut from DSD.

Despite claiming hi res is audibly superior to CD, he refuses to understand that MQA is lower resolution than CD and not at all the hi res master. Somehow, MQA to him is the master and any arguments proving otherwise are online babble. Gracious, god forbid he acknowledge what's on streaming like Qobuz are the masters he praises!

He's had 40 years to learn the merits and workings of digital, yet still insists LP's have a superior frequency response than even CD's, doesn't understand the faults with MQA, and undoubtedly what would make a DAC good. At this point I just view him as a lolcow.

 

[fpitas]

Not every instance has been confirmed, but Fremer has a history of posting online in all caps in angry screeds. He did that on Darko's site (lost to comment section deletion) and on this forum. The writing style eerily matches his own.

Fremer's usual MO on on YouTube does often use all caps and blunt, rhetorical, begging the question replies. He did that on a smaller YTer's video on cleaning records. I can't link the comment, but if you sort by newest you can find it easier.

He's had a lot more drama on YT going back years, but we don't need a compendium here unless you want me to recount my recollections as they happened.


As to humility, Fremer's shown he's lacking even a mildly below average amount. He refused to acknowledge he can't hear the difference between analog and digital after praising many MoFi records he hadn't known were cut from DSD.

Despite claiming hi res is audibly superior to CD, he refuses to understand that MQA is lower resolution than CD and not at all the hi res master. Somehow, MQA to him is the master and any arguments proving otherwise are online babble. Gracious, god forbid he acknowledge what's on streaming like Qobuz are the masters he praises!

He's had 40 years to learn the merits and workings of digital, yet still insists LP's have a superior frequency response than even CD's, doesn't understand the faults with MQA, and umdoubtedly even what would make a DAC good. At this point I just view him as a lolcow.

I have to entertain the idea that he knows very well that digital is better etc. But he has quite a following of those who don't want that to be true.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I have to entertain the idea that he knows very well that digital is better etc. But he has quite a following of those who don't want that to be true.

Hoist with his own petard. Love it!

 

[VQR]

I have to entertain the idea that he knows very well that digital is better etc. But he has quite a following of those who don't want that to be true.

Ironically, if he rebranded and admitted that digital is superior in fidelity, he probably could pull off the retro angle many younger people like. I didn't grow up with vinyl (I am a child of the end of the CD era and rise of downloads) but I do enjoy LP's for what they are. Sometimes I find myself preferring older pressings and newer reissue pressings for their mastering over modern digital alternatives.

I don't claim LP's are superior to even CD. You ain't getting a flat frequency response with vinyl. At best you might get +/- 0.5 dB, nowhere near the flatness you get with a CD and any good DAC. If Fremer were humble enough to do double blind tests, admit he can't 'hear' digital, and just go with the angle of LP's being cool and having some worthwhile masterings, he could still probably sell some people on even high end gear. Doing all that I recommend, though, would require admitting all the cable and other snake oil he peddles. I don't think he'll change.