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Re: Why contemporary music sounds terrible
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Zwicky" <cazwicky@earthlink.net>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Monday, 26 February, 2007 16:45 PM
Subject: Re: Why contemporary music sounds terrible
>I 've got to chime in here before this becomes a sycophantic feeding
>frenzy.
>
> The reality is that humans like 'loud'.
>
> Back in the day Jensen sold more car speakers than anyone because they
> were 'louder' on the display wall than the other options.
No, because they were 2 and 3-way, and had a very good marketing campaign
in
what was the beginning of the decent-sounding car stereo days.
Audiophiles aside, regular folks bought dual-cone and 3-way speakers
because
they sounded better, and because the audio press etc. said they sounded
better. Regarding amps and receiver systems, people bought higher wattage
when they could afford it, but tended to use the advice they got about
spending as much on the speakers as the amp/receiver, which was good
advice
back then. I dunno about now, as things have apparently gotten confusing
for the consumer on the home entertainment system front (can one find a
5.1
or 7.1 dts or dolby amplifier that has at least one optical input for less
than $400?). I would guess that until a listener actually hears the
difference between a 20-watt-per-channel system and a 200-watt-per-channel
system, it's all taking advice or swallowing marketing, isn't it?
> Anything done badly can be tiresome.
>
> Loudness is only the scapegoat du jour... past 'culprits' have included
> EQ, effects, distortion, transistors, digital recording, EMGs, MP3s,
>"the
> internets", saddam, osama, etc...
I think the issues regarding people turning up the bass and treble
controls
to 100% and running their iPod or MP3 player at high volumes are very
real,
and quite dangerous to peoples' ability to hear, in years later.
Listeners
with earpods innately know that it should sound better, and try to
compensate by turning it up more. Hearing more dynamics, and turning up
volume/eq to try to hear more dynamics, are two completely different
things.
Now back to yelling at workmen.
Stephen Goodman
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