audiophile? I recall that as a youn

audiophile?

I recall that as a young graduate student I liked to visit high-end audio salons and dream of what could be. I was of course mainly a window shopper, as I had little to no disposable cash at the time. Even if I couldn’t afford the gear I did drop a few bucks once in awhile on a cd. In one such shop, I randomly picked up a disc that looked interesting and asked the sales person to tell me about it. With an upturned nose and a pout he informed me that such discs were bought by “audiophiles” who used them to help make their very expensive hi-fi systems sound good. What I held in my hands was a so-called demonstration disc that these strange people played on their fancy stereos to impress (or annoy) their friends, neighbors, significant others, or anyone else who would listen. My curiosity piqued, I got the disc home and played it, and sure enough, it did make my modest system sound like a million bucks. Soon after, however, the disc was relegated to the scrap heap of the past because the music on it sucked - it was some weird amalgamation of 1980s pop and Kenny G-type smooth jazz with lots of bass and electronic effects that held no interest to me on a musical level. But it did make my system sound good, and I’d like to think it helped me impress a few of my friends!

Why recall this little vignette from my past? Well, it got me to thinking that maybe we audiophiles like our audio playback to sound a certain way. If we are going to lay out big bucks on fancy gear, we certainly should have the right to expect it to sound good, right? And to make that happen, our music also has to sound good in whatever way we decide to define “good.”

Let me illustrate with another example. There are lots and lots of excellent sounding audiophile reissues of jazz, blues, rock, and classical recordings, at least according to those spicy catalogs we all get in the mail from the likes of Acoustic Sounds and Music Direct. Unfortunately, I still can’t afford a lot of the audio candy offered by these purveyors of aural nectar, but I do occasionally get to hear certain of these reissues (typically borrowed) on my system and on those of friends. I’m always impressed, as they are quite good at conveying a musical message and making the stereo system sound mighty nice at the same time.

My audio buddy Mike Peshkin once asked me whether I preferred original Blue Note jazz pressings to the pricy reissues. I didn’t really have an answer since I’d never made such a comparison. Sensing my confusion, Mikey led me in for the kill like a moth to the flame, producing several examples of both the original pressing and the expensive reissue. We sat down and listened, and of course we heard differences.

In the end, both of us had to admit that we somehow preferred the original pressings to the reissues when played back to back on the same system. Why? To me the originals preserved a sense of creative energy, grit, and electricity that somehow placed the listener more directly in the presence of the actual recording session. With the reissues some of this quality had been removed or lost, perhaps partly due to degradation of the master tapes over the years. However, I don’t think this was the only culprit. I suspect that when these releases were reissued, some tweaks were made during the remastering step to make the recordings more listenable on today’s audiophile rigs. I’m not complaining, as the reissues sounded prettier and more polished, and one can’t really begrudge the marketing folk for trying to satisfy a certain niche customer.

Lately, we have seen much more of an interest among critical listeners in gear that is more commonly used in the recording studio. Yep, I’m referring to the pro audio side. These folks have a bit different focus than we audiophiles, as they want to know exactly what is on a recording and that doesn’t always result in a pretty picture. Music and sound are not always euphonic and pleasing and audio/mastering engineers need to know what is really going on in that recording booth or on that master tape. Accuracy and transparency are the order of the day in their world. Low distorion is also important because it leads to ear fatigue and when your job is to sit in front of speakers for hours upon end, a speaker that tires your ears get tossed fast.

So which is better, the absolute truth to the source, or a euphonically worked up version of it? Pro or audiophile? Ah, the eternal conundrum of the audiophile... Back to that question in just a bit.

One company that began as a pro audio operation and then crossed over into the consumer side is ATC, which is short for Acoustic Transducers Company and this is Stereomojo's second review of one of their speakers. James Darby reviewed the SCM 50ASL, a world's first review of the self-powered $20,000 floorstander. It was one of, if not the first, audiophile reviews in the world of the then well established ATC recording studio moni

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

audiophile? I recall that as a young graduate student I liked to visit high-end audio salons and dream of what could be. I was of course mainly a window shopper, as I had little to no disposable cash at the time. Even if I couldn’t afford the gear I did drop a few bucks once in awhile on a cd. In one such shop, I randomly picked up a disc that looked interesting and asked the sales person to tell me about it. With an upturned nose and a pout he informed me that such discs were bought by “audiophiles” who used them to help make their very expensive hi-fi systems sound good. What I held in my hands was a so-called demonstration disc that these strange people played on their fancy stereos to impress (or annoy) their friends, neighbors, significant others, or anyone else who would listen. My curiosity piqued, I got the disc home and played it, and sure enough, it did make my modest system sound like a million bucks. Soon after, however, the disc was relegated to the scrap heap of the past because the music on it sucked - it was some weird amalgamation of 1980s pop and Kenny G-type smooth jazz with lots of bass and electronic effects that held no interest to me on a musical level. But it did make my system sound good, and I’d like to think it helped me impress a few of my friends! Tại sao gọi lại này ít tính từ quá khứ của tôi? Vâng, nó đã cho tôi để suy nghĩ rằng có lẽ chúng tôi đam mê âm như chúng tôi phát lại âm thanh âm thanh một cách nhất định. Nếu chúng ta sẽ đẻ ra bucks lớn trên ưa thích bánh, chúng tôi chắc chắn nên có quyền mong đợi nó sẽ âm thanh tốt, phải không? Và để làm cho rằng xảy ra, chúng tôi âm nhạc cũng có âm thanh tốt trong bất cứ cách nào, chúng tôi quyết định để xác định "tốt." Hãy để tôi minh họa với một ví dụ khác. Có rất nhiều và rất nhiều tuyệt vời sounding audiophile trở của nhạc jazz, blues, rock và cổ điển ghi, ít theo những danh mục sản phẩm cay tất cả chúng ta nhận được trong thư từ thích của âm thanh âm thanh và âm nhạc trực tiếp. Thật không may, tôi vẫn không có khả năng rất nhiều âm thanh kẹo được cung cấp bởi những purveyors của mật hoa âm thanh, nhưng tôi thường xuyên nhận được để nghe một số những trở (thường mượn) trên hệ thống của tôi và những người bạn. Tôi luôn luôn ấn tượng, vì họ là khá tốt tại truyền đạt một thông điệp âm nhạc và làm cho hệ thống âm thanh stereo âm thanh tốt đẹp hùng vĩ cùng một lúc. Buddy của tôi âm thanh Mike Peshkin một lần hỏi tôi cho dù tôi ưa thích ban đầu màu xanh lưu ý nhạc jazz ép để trở pricy. Tôi thực sự không có một câu trả lời kể từ khi tôi đã không bao giờ làm một so sánh. Cảm biến của tôi nhầm lẫn, Mikey đã dẫn tôi trong cho giết như một loài bướm đêm đến ngọn lửa, sản xuất một số ví dụ của bức xúc ban đầu và phát hành lại đắt tiền. Chúng tôi ngồi xuống và lắng nghe, và dĩ nhiên chúng tôi nghe sự khác biệt. In the end, both of us had to admit that we somehow preferred the original pressings to the reissues when played back to back on the same system. Why? To me the originals preserved a sense of creative energy, grit, and electricity that somehow placed the listener more directly in the presence of the actual recording session. With the reissues some of this quality had been removed or lost, perhaps partly due to degradation of the master tapes over the years. However, I don’t think this was the only culprit. I suspect that when these releases were reissued, some tweaks were made during the remastering step to make the recordings more listenable on today’s audiophile rigs. I’m not complaining, as the reissues sounded prettier and more polished, and one can’t really begrudge the marketing folk for trying to satisfy a certain niche customer. Lately, we have seen much more of an interest among critical listeners in gear that is more commonly used in the recording studio. Yep, I’m referring to the pro audio side. These folks have a bit different focus than we audiophiles, as they want to know exactly what is on a recording and that doesn’t always result in a pretty picture. Music and sound are not always euphonic and pleasing and audio/mastering engineers need to know what is really going on in that recording booth or on that master tape. Accuracy and transparency are the order of the day in their world. Low distorion is also important because it leads to ear fatigue and when your job is to sit in front of speakers for hours upon end, a speaker that tires your ears get tossed fast. So which is better, the absolute truth to the source, or a euphonically worked up version of it? Pro or audiophile? Ah, the eternal conundrum of the audiophile... Back to that question in just a bit. One company that began as a pro audio operation and then crossed over into the consumer side is ATC, which is short for Acoustic Transducers Company and this is Stereomojo's second review of one of their speakers. James Darby reviewed the SCM 50ASL, a world's first review of the self-powered $20,000 floorstander. It was one of, if not the first, audiophile reviews in the world of the then well established ATC recording studio moni