http://www.audioholics.com/editorials/t ... n-of-audio
Gene DellaSala wrote:Tabulated below are what I feel to be the major culprits of the dumbing down of audio:
Hyper compression in CDs
Cubed speakers
Phones, tablets and MP3 players
Satellite radio
Streaming services (ie. Spotify, Pandora, Slacker, etc...)
Lack of comparative reference to unamplified live musical performances
http://www.audioholics.com/editorials/t ... dio-page-2
Gene DellaSala wrote:Closing Thoughts
As music becomes more mainstreamed and bubblegum two-chord rock and mindless pop further encroaches upon our society, people seem to have embraced compression playback devices and continually distance themselves from what real music is supposed to sound like. I fear we are breeding a generation of ignorance to music and fidelity playback. In fact, we may be instilling in our youth the inability to discern what sounds good! Hey, if you eat enough filet of hoof, eventually you'll think ribeye tastes bad.
But I think a ray of hope shines through. It's not Gandalf the White arriving with the army of Rohan bright, but it's there. Websites like HDtracks and itrax offer us access to high quality digital music. And while I think it's ironic that so many people buy nice headphones to listen to compressed music, the fact that they are shelling out the cash for nice headphones says something. Everywhere you look a new DAC or headphone amplifier is being released, and support for FLAC and WAV files has taken off. This resurgence is largely still limited to the niche audiophile market, but I hope that it will lead to big name artists pushing for higher quality records. Some already have, like Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. The real question is how far back the pendulum will swing, and will it stick. Maybe it will be the vinyl toting hipsters who carry the crusade for high-quality audio, just hope the crusade doesn't involve a march, because skinny jeans are made for looks, not function.
For now, we simply recommend that you attend an unamplified musical performance in order to remember, or find out for the first time, what musical instruments actually sound like. Your ears will thank you for it. Don 't get dumbed down, do this to preserve the sanctity of your own musical intelligence.
