Question for the boomers: what was it like to live through major improvements in audio fidelity?

[DanielT]

Experiencing major improvements is one thing, like: CD, the data revolution and everything that came with it, for example streaming, just to name one aspect.
I and others (most?) in the thread have already mentioned that.

Then we have big personal changes, or changing circumstances that have meant major improvements. For my part, when I bought my first Hifi equipment as a young teenager. Speakers (father DIY Voight) and his amplifier that he didn't use at the time were borrowed. Then the purchase of a tuner and cassette deck. There was a great joy in experiencing music. Music from FM radio was recorded and then played on the cassette deck. A big improvement for me. This is despite the fact that I didn't plug in any new technology.

Two years later I bought a Thorens TD 166 MK II turntable and amp Technics SU-V3. Being able to play vinyl was also an improvement.
Then I jump forward almost a decade and then I end up where I started this post.
(I still have that turntable)

 

[5-pot-fan]

One of my first recorded-music experiences was hearing my father and uncle playing (and singing along to) a 78 recording of 'On the Good Ship Venus' on a lounge-furniture radiogram, complete with steel needle. Their enjoyment was ended on the 3rd or 4th repetition when grandma got home...
Music replay did improve as incomes rose, but I never heard that record again!

 

[analogonly]

Huh? 'Cheap power' does that how?

I think that timbre is unable to be measured and I have no idea how it has been lost. Compared to live music, much of reproduced music is just off.

Cheap power allowed the development of low efficiency loudspeakers. These seem to lack dynamics. In exchange we did get better frequency response. Loudness is used to make up for the loss of dynamics.

Both of the above are subjective--sorry.

 

[jsrtheta]

I'm Gen X, and was underwhelmed by CD, it's better, but not a game changer, good vinyl playback is good enough to get most of the music across. Adoption of DSP is the big one for me, I missed hifi with good tone controls when that was a thing, they had all vanished when I got my first good system.

You might like this book, it's an enjoyable read about the history of recording music.

Dear god...

 

[jsrtheta]

I'm Gen X, and was underwhelmed by CD, it's better, but not a game changer, good vinyl playback is good enough to get most of the music across. Adoption of DSP is the big one for me, I missed hifi with good tone controls when that was a thing, they had all vanished when I got my first good system.

You might like this book, it's an enjoyable read about the history of recording music.

Dear god...

I'm guessing you didn't grow up with vinyl.

If you did, nothing can help.

 

[Soniclife]

I'm guessing you didn't grow up with vinyl.

Guess again.

 

[EERecordist]

As a millennial, I feel like there hasn't really been any massive improvements in fidelity in my lifetime.

CDs had already been invented when I was born, so unless you're an audiophile, redbook has been as good as it gets for as long as I've been alive.
In fact, at some point, mainstream audio quality got worse, when CDs gave way to 128kbps mp3s etc. Thankfully, we recovered when Internet speeds got faster and storage got cheaper.

Before anyone jumps on me for my first sentence: I don't want to diminish how great it is that you can buy excellent IEMs from Amazon for $25. I do appreciate that audio equipment has gotten better and generally cheaper in my lifetime, but:

I'm fascinated to know what it like to go from 78s to 45s and 33 1/3s, mono to stereo, tubes to solid state, analogue to digital.
The improvements to fidelity in my 36 years have seemed comparatively iterative.

Were there any moments that stood out to you? Anything that blew you away the first time you heard it?

You have a good question, well articulated.

I went from being the sound person in high school for the theater on a budget, through working in a professional recording studio and a very high end upgrade of it, and continued audio as a hobby through current times.

You might look through the thread https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hifi-technology-flatlined-last-century.52780/ and my post March 5. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...tlined-last-century.52780/page-2#post-1905846

I always had the best of the time cheap equipment at home, detailed in my bio which is hidden because it is long. Microphones have vastly improved over the last 20 years. Power amplifiers have improved and dropped in price. IEMs and headphones have improved and dropped in price. In-home measurement microphones and EQ is cheap and even built into AVRs. Spatial audio is new, spatial recording, mastering, remastering, and reproduction is lumpy - some good, some not so good

You might play around with DAW plugins. You can find free DAW software, and most plugins have free trials. FabFilter is an example. There is a lot of inexpensive innovation in that space. AI is innovating very fast in content.

Personally, I'm more driven by my interest in music and try to see much of it live. Then I can compare live to in-home.

 

[jsrtheta]

As a millennial, I feel like there hasn't really been any massive improvements in fidelity in my lifetime.

CDs had already been invented when I was born, so unless you're an audiophile, redbook has been as good as it gets for as long as I've been alive.
In fact, at some point, mainstream audio quality got worse, when CDs gave way to 128kbps mp3s etc. Thankfully, we recovered when Internet speeds got faster and storage got cheaper.

Before anyone jumps on me for my first sentence: I don't want to diminish how great it is that you can buy excellent IEMs from Amazon for $25. I do appreciate that audio equipment has gotten better and generally cheaper in my lifetime, but:

I'm fascinated to know what it like to go from 78s to 45s and 33 1/3s, mono to stereo, tubes to solid state, analogue to digital.
The improvements to fidelity in my 36 years have seemed comparatively iterative.

Were there any moments that stood out to you? Anything that blew you away the first time you heard it?

Yeah, CD.

 

[Petrushka]

Nothing said vinyl link having the stylus lift out of the groove halfway through a side, due to dust.

Central air may have reduced the dust problem.

 

[sergeauckland]

Nothing said vinyl link having the stylus lift out of the groove halfway through a side, due to dust.

Central air may have reduced the dust problem.

We were all avid users of the Watts Dust Bug in those days. I can't remember how many dust removing cloths, sponges, preeners etc etc I bought then. Pity Vacuum Record Cleaning Machines weren't a thing then. Although the Keith Monks was around, it was far too expensive for a home user, confined to National Sound Archives and the like.

S

 

[sejarzo]

We were all avid users of the Watts Dust Bug in those days. I can't remember how many dust removing cloths, sponges, preeners etc etc I bought then. Pity Vacuum Record Cleaning Machines weren't a thing then. Although the Keith Monks was around, it was far too expensive for a home user, confined to National Sound Archives and the like.

S

I had the D3 Dishwasher as soon as it came out, but for the life of me, I can't recall the name of the first cleaner I had. Black velour wrapped around a core of foam on top of a perforated plastic tube, with a water moistened foam core. I'm sure others recall it as it was about the only cleaner widely available other than some brushes.

 

[Petrushka]

I had the D3 Dishwasher as soon as it came out, but for the life of me, I can't recall the name of the first cleaner I had. Black velour wrapped around a core of foam on top of a perforated plastic tube, with a water moistened foam core. I'm sure others recall it as it was about the only cleaner widely available other than some brushes.

I used all those products, with little success.

 

[sergeauckland]

I had the D3 Dishwasher as soon as it came out, but for the life of me, I can't recall the name of the first cleaner I had. Black velour wrapped around a core of foam on top of a perforated plastic tube, with a water moistened foam core. I'm sure others recall it as it was about the only cleaner widely available other than some brushes.

That was the Disc Preener. I still have two. One I use with my vacuum record cleaning machine, the other a spare. I also have two Watts Dust Bugs, and an Emitex sponge, this last one useless, but kept for nostalgia

S

 

[fatoldgit]

The invention of the CD was the biggest single HiFi "event", definitely.

Maybe ? (no clue how old you are)

- stereo in 1957
- CD in 1981 (started the digital revolution)
- napster in 1999 (started the PC as a source/digital file revolution)
- internet streaming in 2001 (started the internet as a source revolution)
- CD quality internet streaming in 2007 (started the internet as a source revolution for audiophiles)

Peter

 

[solderdude]

Most of the improvements (to me) was in 'noise' levels going down and the way music was recorded (loudness wars) that changed. So improvements in certain areas but not in other areas.

Another thing is convenience... that got better over time and above all smaller and more 'portable' (well there always was radio but you were bound to what was being transmitted).

Another thing that changed was music became more diverse (more 'genres') and accessibility to a wide range of music drastically improved (streaming).

Good music was made/produced/recording then and still happens now. The same goes for crap (music as well quality).

I enjoyed music back then just as much as I do today. The fidelity improved, noise and distortion went down.
Honestly I could care less what medium/format is used (FM radio, cassette, R2R, 8-track, EL-cassette, vinyl, video-hifi, CD, DAT, MP3, FLAC, WAV, DSD etc) as it is about the music and not the medium.
When one is bothered by the medium then music takes a backseat in the experience.
Good music is still good music even from a crappy AM radio.

That said... good music, well recorded and reproduced with a good sound quality gets the blood pumping ... but then again 40-50 years ago I could enjoy music just as much on my record player with ceramic cartridge and cheap wide-range speaker in some cardboard little box.

 

[Robin L]

We were all avid users of the Watts Dust Bug in those days. I can't remember how many dust removing cloths, sponges, preeners etc etc I bought then. Pity Vacuum Record Cleaning Machines weren't a thing then. Although the Keith Monks was around, it was far too expensive for a home user, confined to National Sound Archives and the like.

S

db audio in Berkeley had a Keith Monks vacuuming record cleaner. $1 an LP with a custom sleeve (that would fall apart in 30 years). I had a VPI 16 for many years. The best results I've experienced were with ultrasonic cleaning machines.

 

[Timcognito]

Don't miss playing Lps one bit, maybe one or two a year rare not on streaming or CD. Will keep my collection ~650 and my VPI TT. Bought one of these a few years back $160. It's great value and does six at a time (says 8 but better spacing > better cleaning). It made filthy thrift store Lps almost new with one dirty pass (12, 2x6), bath change and re-clean with about 10-12 minutes to load and clean per pass.

VEVOR Ultrasonic Cleaner 6L Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner 7-12 Inch 8 Records Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaning Machine 180W Ultrasonic Records Cleaner with Drying Rack for Home Store | VEVOR US

Discover the VEVOR Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner's top-notch 304 stainless steel build and its ability to deep-clean 6 records at once, effortlessly adjusting to your needs.

www.vevor.com

 

[AdVis]

As I'm currently very happily listening to a pair of electrostatic speakers designed a year before I was born in 1958 I'm not sure how to answer that.

 

[Peterinvan]

Were there any moments that stood out to you? Anything that blew you away the first time you heard it?

I am in my late 70s now.
In my teens I built a tube based short wave radio. I used to tune in to BBC's Top Of The Pops each week and record the hits to an old reel-to-reel.
I recall building my first stereo rig in the 1960s with a mail-order Sinclair Z-30 amp DIY kit. I had a second hand turntable and mismatched speakers, but it was a revelation at the time. The next revelation moment for me was listening to Dire Straits on a CD played in a hi-fi store. No more vinyl "Rice Crispies" and I could hear the whole band.

My last big revelation was about 20 years ago when I was buying a new tube amp system and the salesman explained about listening for a wide sound stage and instrument separation. That led led to many years of enjoyment, and my beginnings as an Audiophile.

I ripped all my CDs to FLAC, and dumped them when I retired and downsized to a 1 bed condo. I have enjoyed Tidal streaming for nearly ten years. It serves up at least one "keeper" album for me each week. Curating my playlists is a most enjoyable part of this hobby.

The only downside to learning to listen is I can no longer tolerate poor recordings

 

[sejarzo]

That was the Disc Preener. I still have two. One I use with my vacuum record cleaning machine, the other a spare. I also have two Watts Dust Bugs, and an Emitex sponge, this last one useless, but kept for nostalgia

S

Thanks! "Perfect" was overstating it a bit, eh?