thought it would be good to post a few things to do with audio where modern technology is probably gotten worse than what it used to be. post if you think of some thing.
found this cool link from when people barely relied on screens
Wheel Charts for Antique Radios, Electronics, and Technology
found this cool link from when people barely relied on screens
Wheel Charts for Antique Radios, Electronics, and Technology
^^ Indeed!!!!!
Modern music for the radio is unlistenable because of auto-tune (annoying and audible) and the very high compressions used (even more annoying because it adds tones to the signal.) It's a shame that FM is, for all practical purposes, no longer a hifi format. It very much can be. There was a station in Denver (the local jazz station) with an audiophile chief engineer, and it was worth buying better tuners just to hear the sound quality of that station. I had a McIntosh MR67 that was an absolute joy to listen to.
Now the compression (of all FM in the market) is clearly audible even at moderate volumes in the car.
Modern music for the radio is unlistenable because of auto-tune (annoying and audible) and the very high compressions used (even more annoying because it adds tones to the signal.) It's a shame that FM is, for all practical purposes, no longer a hifi format. It very much can be. There was a station in Denver (the local jazz station) with an audiophile chief engineer, and it was worth buying better tuners just to hear the sound quality of that station. I had a McIntosh MR67 that was an absolute joy to listen to.
Now the compression (of all FM in the market) is clearly audible even at moderate volumes in the car.
Old Ortofon cartridges used to be developed in state of the art research centers and precisely manufactured.
Electronics used to be hard wired with a mess, now it is one plane with traces and micro components soldered by wave process.
Dacs replaced vinyl even if totally inferior.
NEO and ferrite definitively replaced alnico magnets.
Rubber and poly replaced advanced pulp made cones, the secret from Isophon/Saba is lost.
I cant imagine mixing in digital vs analog:
https://cdn-resources.ableton.com/resources/filer_thumbnails/1c/e3/1ce36b12-8fb8-4ad4-8930-b865dce707a3/martin_console.jpg__800x450_q85_crop_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg
EAB RE85 8x2 Tube Mixing Console at Rax Trax in Chicago, IL
Electronics used to be hard wired with a mess, now it is one plane with traces and micro components soldered by wave process.
Dacs replaced vinyl even if totally inferior.
NEO and ferrite definitively replaced alnico magnets.
Rubber and poly replaced advanced pulp made cones, the secret from Isophon/Saba is lost.
I cant imagine mixing in digital vs analog:
https://cdn-resources.ableton.com/resources/filer_thumbnails/1c/e3/1ce36b12-8fb8-4ad4-8930-b865dce707a3/martin_console.jpg__800x450_q85_crop_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg
EAB RE85 8x2 Tube Mixing Console at Rax Trax in Chicago, IL
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I remember i'd never heard of it until that cher song then I think record companies began replacing drunkin rock musicians with easier to manage barbie dolls either that or the rock musicians got old and cashed in on the young faces to preform their new songs for higher sales with the help of auto tune. cant stand Auto Tune i think it allowed milli vanilli to actually be able to start singing thier own music.
Autotune only bothers me when it's used as an obvious effect. Of course that seems to be every popular music track ever recorded since Cher's hit that made it famous.
DACs are not inferior to vinyl. Why would you say that?
There are still plenty of very good paper pulp cones on the market. SABA was nice, but not very accurate.
I love Alnico drivers, but isn't Neo just as good or better?
Mixing analog vs digital? I'll take digital, any day. Sure, analog is easier on a console you don't know - because everything is right on the surface. No digging thru menus, you just jump right in. But digital desks give me a compressor and gate on every channel, EQ on the outputs, built in effects, auto gain sharing, amazing routing and grouping, and presets and scenes. Holy cow, those are worth their weight in gold.
I'm nostalgic, but not mad.
DACs are not inferior to vinyl. Why would you say that?
There are still plenty of very good paper pulp cones on the market. SABA was nice, but not very accurate.
I love Alnico drivers, but isn't Neo just as good or better?
Mixing analog vs digital? I'll take digital, any day. Sure, analog is easier on a console you don't know - because everything is right on the surface. No digging thru menus, you just jump right in. But digital desks give me a compressor and gate on every channel, EQ on the outputs, built in effects, auto gain sharing, amazing routing and grouping, and presets and scenes. Holy cow, those are worth their weight in gold.
I'm nostalgic, but not mad.
loving the link to the mixing desk photo, you can see he is all ears
I chucked in being a digital mixi pixi, to many options to distracting visualy..... different world the screens
in the art world i think a layered painted work of art will always have more realism and authenticity than a collage or jigsaw puzzle....
plus going all analog encourages poeple to get a bit better on their instrument and anyhow the odd mistake isnt as bad in the mix because the overall sound and end result is usaualy far more enjoyable to listen to.
yeah!!!
least he has the time in between re-winding the tapes to consider what adjustments he's just done to the mix instead of slapping another visually flashy plugin over the top.
The truth is very different from the "nostalgia":
Every technology, being it Tape, Vinyl, CD, digital tape, dac, streamer etc...had its peaks and best components but there's Marketing...which means that in order to sell the best equipment for the best money you need to fill the world with garbage so that everyone would easily recognize the difference between cheap and expensive! With today's technology they could make a cassette player that would equal the most expensive Nakamichi at 1/10 th of the original price, but if everything would be cheap there would be no way to pay the designers, the Patents Office , the sales men and the CEO! With today's technology, every single piece of stereo high end audio would be brought to perfection and manufactured with less than 100 bucks.
Every technology, being it Tape, Vinyl, CD, digital tape, dac, streamer etc...had its peaks and best components but there's Marketing...which means that in order to sell the best equipment for the best money you need to fill the world with garbage so that everyone would easily recognize the difference between cheap and expensive! With today's technology they could make a cassette player that would equal the most expensive Nakamichi at 1/10 th of the original price, but if everything would be cheap there would be no way to pay the designers, the Patents Office , the sales men and the CEO! With today's technology, every single piece of stereo high end audio would be brought to perfection and manufactured with less than 100 bucks.
I can't add to what's already been lamented regarding Auto-Tune - it is a scourge. I'll cast a personal vote for a close second place: iPad mixing.
As an accessory to a large fixed console, it's a handy thing to have. But there's a major trend towards using it as the only "console," especially for smaller venues that move a lot of bands in & out. Some of these club owners have gotten so used to the idea that they no longer even provide a space for the console location (this was often a less-than-ideal spot anyway, but still).
Granted there are strong incentives - no more snakes, quicker setup & teardown, etc. But those damn little screens are stressful as hell to work with in a live situation. I've been invited to work with some old friends this summer using a QSC Touchmix 16, so I guess I'll probably invest in the largest, fastest tablet I can afford just to get through it without losing what remains of my hair. But I ain't exactly looking forward to it. And I don't see this particular genie going back in the bottle.
Meanwhile, my lovely Yamaha 01V96 v2 sits in the case in my shop... <sniffle>
As an accessory to a large fixed console, it's a handy thing to have. But there's a major trend towards using it as the only "console," especially for smaller venues that move a lot of bands in & out. Some of these club owners have gotten so used to the idea that they no longer even provide a space for the console location (this was often a less-than-ideal spot anyway, but still).
Granted there are strong incentives - no more snakes, quicker setup & teardown, etc. But those damn little screens are stressful as hell to work with in a live situation. I've been invited to work with some old friends this summer using a QSC Touchmix 16, so I guess I'll probably invest in the largest, fastest tablet I can afford just to get through it without losing what remains of my hair. But I ain't exactly looking forward to it. And I don't see this particular genie going back in the bottle.
Meanwhile, my lovely Yamaha 01V96 v2 sits in the case in my shop... <sniffle>
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