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‘The speakers are the crown jewels’: the rise of Britain’s listening bars
Music on high-end sound systems takes centre stage in these Japanese-inspired spaces for audiophiles
You don’t need to be a hi-fi obsessive to recognise that listening to a compressed digital file through earbuds is not the best way to appreciate great music, Tran says.
They're right though, technically earbuds are not IEMs and as far as I know, they all suck. How good can they be with no seal?I started reading this article earlier, but stopped when I got to...
Ahhh the Prince of Darkness!Here I'm hoping Lucas is not involved![]()
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""The main focus that we put towards the public are our speakers, because the speakers are the crown jewels, the showpiece.” In Ōdiobā’s case, that means vintage 1970s Tannoys"They're right though, technically earbuds are not IEMs and as far as I know, they all suck. How good can they be with no seal?
In Japan you do see all sorts of "characterful" vintage stuff. Vinyl pretty much everywhere. (same in the west I guess).So 50 year old speaker technology is what there using?
""The main focus that we put towards the public are our speakers, because the speakers are the crown jewels, the showpiece.” In Ōdiobā’s case, that means vintage 1970s Tannoys"
So 50 year old speaker technology is what there using?
Suspect since most customers will be civilians they want a feature they will notice and will attract them. Most modern speakers will just be 'a speaker' to them.""The main focus that we put towards the public are our speakers, because the speakers are the crown jewels, the showpiece.” In Ōdiobā’s case, that means vintage 1970s Tannoys"
So 50 year old speaker technology is what there using?
Don't let perfect be the enemy of 'better' here. If people are getting interested in larger speakers, I think it's OK if the entry point is more show than go. A lot of people have never even sat down and heard a proper stereo image. Anything remotely proper is better than the typical bar's sound system or the bluetooth thing they've got at home.So more about fashion than hifi. Figures.
I know what you mean, but I don't believe that there is any commonly accepted definition of what an earbud or IEM is and how they differ. For example, would you say my Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are earbuds or an IEM? - they have 'Buds' in their name but fit in my ear and seal like an IEM? They are also generally accepted to sound pretty good and not 'suck', but I think most of the general public would call them earbuds.They're right though, technically earbuds are not IEMs and as far as I know, they all suck. How good can they be with no seal?
Bit harsh to suggest a 1970s Tannoy is not a hi-fi speaker. Off the pace for accuracy nowadays but some UK studios were still deploying them into the 1980s. The larger ones have scale and ease that make a lot of speakers seem like toys in comparison.So more about fashion than hifi. Figures.
You are correct, but if you go with formal definitions, if you can even find one, "buds" are usually the ones that sit right outside the ear canal. But yeah, the formal definitions barely exist and aren't universal at all. I had to spend some time looking into this when we were getting ready to sell IEMs at my last job. To avoid confusion with mainstream consumers I went with "earphones".I know what you mean, but I don't believe that there is any commonly accepted definition of what an earbud or IEM is and how they differ. For example, would you say my Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are earbuds or an IEM? - they have 'Buds' in their name but fit in my ear and seal like an IEM? They are also generally accepted to sound pretty good and not 'suck', but I think most of the general public would call them earbuds.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of 'better' here.
True! But for better or worse, I think they may be the best hope for converting certain urban people in their 20s and 30s to being more interested in "real" hi-fi. So it's unavoidable for us to have opinions on how they go about it. ASR has strong opinions on much less consequential stuff, like when to use the word "timbre"...And it’s not like we have to look at these listening bars as proselytizing for audio equipment anyway.
And, if the studios were using them and you aren't, then you aren't hearing the recording the way it was intended....Bit harsh to suggest a 1970s Tannoy is not a hi-fi speaker. Off the pace for accuracy nowadays but some UK studios were still deploying them into the 1980s.