What is Mid-Fi?

[RayDunzl]

What is Mid-Fi?

---

Rented a car for the little woman to take a trip so she didn't go 2,000 miles in her 250,000 mile Civic...

I used to work at car rental... We had subcompact, compact, mid-size, full-size as choices, if I remember correctly.

Turns out a Camry occupies the "Full Size" category now. And I thought I was driving a compact or mid-size.

---

Saw an old Mustang (first year?) on the interstate while headed to the airport a few days ago.

It looked smaller than the current year Civic that was passing it.

Mustang 1964

Civic 2021

The new Civic is bigger, a little. Definitely more bulbous. Maybe even Fast and Bulbous.

---

From that I will presume the definition of Mid-Fi has evolved, probably improved, over the years.

How, I will leave to the rest of you, to argue.

 

[MaxBuck]

I concur (FWIW), by and large, with this laconic assesssment. Mid-Fi is one of those code words used (mostly) by elitists to dismiss the efforts of the great unwashed to enjoy "hifi" with, e.g., multi-way "Kabuki" (another loaded term ) loudspeakers, garish 1970s "silver-faced" stereo receivers, and... well, Lord knows what source components. I am sure there are modern analogies, too. Maybe, in this context "Chi-Fi" (a term which I find abhorrent given the implicit xenophobia that, from my perspective, lurks just behind it) is synonymous with "mid-fi" to such folks.

The bar for mid-fi can vary greatly. I saw a post here on ASR yesterday that commented of a $2000 USD NAD amp: "it's almost cheap enough to be disposable"*. Boy howdy, that person has way more disposable income than do I!

Alternatively, "mid-fi" also been embraced as a badge of honor by the anti-elitists.
They're just as bad, and again, from my perspective, as the brocade smoking jacket brigade I invoke in the first paragraph above!



_________________________
* EDIT Full disclosure, here's the exact quote, slightly edited due to a bizarre misspelling of a slang term in the original. I won't hare the ID of the poster nor the thread, but only because I don't know the person well enough to be certain that the intent wasn't sarcastic. It didn't seem to be, though.

As the poster who said that, a few clarifications:

1. Retired after 45 years of well-compensated engineering work, with a very good nest egg and otherwise living well below means. I'm aware I'm very fortunate. But I'm also aware that many people whose financial position is not nearly so strong pay much more for amplifiers that are objectively much inferior to my NAD C298.

2. I was employing hyperbole.

Certainly I don't intend to trashcan my excellent amp after 3 years, but the fact is I'll have spent less per year on it than if I'd bought an amp of similar output from, say, PS Audio and kept it 10 (and it's unlikely I'll be alive in 10 years, so...). And the performance of the NAD is better.

3. The word is "skosh." Google it.

 

[mhardy6647]

...

3. The word is "skosh." Google it.

It was a wicked popular word of the 1970s CB craze (of which I was a victim...umm, survivor?). I am deeply skeptical of google's spelling, though -- and I rather doubt (although I don't know) that it can be found in the OED.


EDIT: Jeepers (he typed, with chagrin) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skosh
EDIT^2: Jeepers^2 https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

 

[rdenney]

It is certainly an elitist term, because its only reason to exist is to distinguish good equipment from "high-end" equipment. Mid-fi is good enough for people who want to listen to music, but is not good enough for the true connoisseurs of audio equipment (vs. the connoisseurs of music, one supposes).

The implication is that one needs sophisticated ears and sensibilities to appreciate the difference, which is itself an elitist concept. And that those differences are beyond what can be measured and objectively discussed, which doubles down on the elitist "club membership" attributes.

On the other hand, I have little interest in the notion that spending a lot of money on unnecessary stuff is somehow evil. If a person buys high-end audio for any of a number of reasons from the buying and ownership experience to the aesthetics of the design, and if they fulfill their other financial responsibilities in life, then I'm happy we live in a world where people are able to do that.

Rick "sees the same influences in all hobbies associated technical apparatus" Denney

 

[Koeitje]

Mid-fi are brands like PS Audio and Audio-GD.

 

[daftcombo]

Hi-Fi is when you see a golfing of soccer panther. Mid-fi is when it lays relaxed on or besides the measured device.

 

[mhardy6647]

Mid-fi is good enough for people who want to listen to music, but is not good enough for the true connoisseurs of audio equipment (vs. the connoisseurs of music, one supposes).

Or the connoiseurs of audio equipment with more knobs, buttons, meters, lights and sliders than at which one might wraggle a cudgel. *

Those are the folks that are Legion at... ummm... certain other popular on-line hifi forums (or fora, as the case may be).

^^^ Borrowed images all

DSC_0576 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

^^^ Guilty as charged**


____________
* or shillelagh, as one might prefer. I must say I rather like the idea of a single sentence containing both the words connoisseur and
shillelagh -- you know, for a skosh of grammatical/syntactic levity. ahem.
** I'm a Yamaha fanboy, what can I say?

Mid-fi are brands like PS Audio and Audio-GD.

Versus what, might I ask?

 

[Robin L]

The new Civic is bigger, a little. Definitely more bulbous. Maybe even Fast and Bulbous.

Tapered too.

 

[mhardy6647]

Tapered too.

Response Quip 1
The Fast and the Bulbous! I love those movies!

Response Quip 2

(please select one's own preferred response quip -- I cannot choose between 'em myself)

 

[DVDdoug]

I'd agree that "Mid-Fi" has no meaning other than being a derogatory term used by "audiophile snobs". There is no clear line between hi-fi, mid-fi, and low-fi. (That's the 1st time I've used the term mid-fi, and maybe the 1st time I've used low-fi.)

I'd say "High-Fidelity" is an asperational concept... Fidelity to the original performance. And also a marketing term. The Internet says the term was first used in 1948 and of course whatever was hi-fi then wouldn't be considered hi-fi now. And most recordings are longer a recordings of a traditional "performance"... Modern recordings are "produced" in the studio and many (most?) listeners don't actually want the "dead sound" of a mixing or mastering room.

 

[Robin L]

Response Quip 1
The Fast and the Bulbous! I love those movies!
View attachment 147836


Response Quip 2

(please select one's own preferred response quip -- I cannot choose between 'em myself)

A Tin Teardrop:

 

[JJB70]

I find it tends to be much more a pejorative term from hobby snobs than anything else. Those from outside a hobby may consider us to be bonkers but they generally shake their head, maybe give a smile and move on. The ones who go to town on stuff like this are those who inhabit a kind of crazy fringe and who pretty much define themselves and their whole reason for being in hobbies. It's not just audio gear, I have several hobbies including model trains, cycling and watches and the dynamics are remarkably similar in each of them. And even as a classical music obsessive I cringe at some of the snobbery in the world of classical music.
Something common to a lot of gear heavy hobbies is that good performance has been commoditised and it's really not necessary to spend much (audio included). Yet as good performance has been commoditised the fringe elements often withdraw into ever smaller bubbles of extremely expensive gear and become ever more vocal.

 

[Wes]

"Mid-Fi" is actually a 'Murican abbreviation for a phrase in Brit-speak. The original Brit-phrase was "Get the mid-range right."

 

[Robin L]

Or the connoiseurs of audio equipment with more knobs, buttons, meters, lights and sliders than at which one might wraggle a cudgel. *

Those are the folks that are Legion at... ummm... certain other popular on-line hifi forums (or fora, as the case may be).

View attachment 147821
View attachment 147823
View attachment 147837
View attachment 147820
^^^ Borrowed images all

View attachment 147830
DSC_0576 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

^^^ Guilty as charged**


____________
* or shillelagh, as one might prefer. I must say I rather like the idea of a single sentence containing both the words connoisseur and
shillelagh -- you know, for a skosh of grammatical/syntactic levity. ahem.
** I'm a Yamaha fanboy, what can I say?



Versus what, might I ask?

I had this.

All those horribly routed switches?

The gallons of Deoxit required to keep it running?

The heat?

 

[Mart68]

I had this.

View attachment 147871

All those horribly routed switches?

The gallons of Deoxit required to keep it running?

The heat?

View attachment 147869

I don't know about anyone else but I preferred that era when Hi-fi looked like Hi-fi.
The more lights, buttons and switches the better as far as I'm concerned. Modern stuff looks much too 'grown up;' Or poncey.

As far as I knew 'Lo Fi' was a transistor radio or a Dansette. 'Mid-fi' was an all in one system like a music centre or portable tape player. Hi-Fi was separates. Any separates from Sanyo/Fisher up to the very top of the tree. And the really expensive stuff was the 'High End.'

 

[Robin L]

I don't know about anyone else but I preferred that era when Hi-fi looked like Hi-fi.
The more lights, buttons and switches the better as far as I'm concerned. Modern stuff looks much too 'grown up;' Or poncey.

As far as I knew 'Lo Fi' was a transistor radio or a Dansette. 'Mid-fi' was an all in one system like a music centre or portable tape player. Hi-Fi was separates. Any separates from Sanyo/Fisher up to the very top of the tree. And the really expensive stuff was the 'High End.'

I like what I've got now because it sounds better and is more practical.

 

[aandres_gm]

A completely price-based classification for audio gear, created by some marketing department somewhere, and adapted by unicorn-chasing audiophiles in their never ending chase for the true (like, true true) end game.

 

[diddley]

What is Mid-Fi?

---

Rented a car for the little woman to take a trip so she didn't go 2,000 miles in her 250,000 mile Civic...

I used to work at car rental... We had subcompact, compact, mid-size, full-size as choices, if I remember correctly.

Turns out a Camry occupies the "Full Size" category now. And I thought I was driving a compact or mid-size.

View attachment 147816

---

Saw an old Mustang (first year?) on the interstate while headed to the airport a few days ago.

It looked smaller than the current year Civic that was passing it.

Mustang 1964
View attachment 147812

Civic 2021
View attachment 147813

The new Civic is bigger, a little. Definitely more bulbous. Maybe even Fast and Bulbous.

---

From that I will presume the definition of Mid-Fi has evolved, probably improved, over the years.

How, I will leave to the rest of you, to argue.

Thanks for the Captain!

 

[JJB70]

When I worked at sea in the 1990's which isn't that long ago I considered myself truly fortunate to be in the era of the CD as it meant I could carry a decent collection of great quality music with me. Just a handful of years earlier and it was compact cassettes and short wave radio. Now we take it for granted that we can have a lifetime of music in superb sound quality on a smartphone. There is a lot to be said for the commiditising of audio

 

[mhardy6647]

I had this.

View attachment 147871

All those horribly routed switches?

The gallons of Deoxit required to keep it running?

The heat?

View attachment 147869

1) Well, the KR-9600 is, I'd opine far less embarrassing than the Kenwood models Nine and Eleven, IMO (and FWIW). The latter were just... goofy pieces of hardware.

source: https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/kenwood/model-eleven.shtml
There was even a Super Eleven (with digital frequency readout, whoo-boy!)

2) Who needs an IR thermometer when one has a kitteh?
(I guess the only shortcoming is a lack of NIST-traceability of the calibration curve)

As y'all know, I have always found the CAT scan to be a useful diagnostic tool in troubleshooting audio and radio equipment.

P1030360 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr