16 bit files almost unlistenable now...

[mansr]

3 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

If I had a dollar for every time someone here over the last 10 years told me that they found classical music boring or impossible to listen to, I could go out this evening and buy myself an expensive steak dinner.

How many insisted it wasn't music and claimed not to know what "a Beethoven" was?

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

I have to wonder if you guys aren't protesting a little  too much? 

At least you've heard of Hamlet.

[mansr]

1 minute ago, gmgraves said:

there are no "classical music Nazis"  and even if there were, I wouldn't be one of them. 

Here, have a mirror.

[mansr]

4 minutes ago, Hugo9000 said:

I don't know about discussions on this site, but on others, and in many situations in real life, I've heard countless people compare The Beatles favorably with Beethoven.  Those people may not claim to "not know" who or what Beethoven was, but comparing The Beatles to him as being alike in genius is a clear demonstration of their ignorance.

I don't think it's wrong to compare them in terms of influence on their contemporaries.

 

4 minutes ago, Hugo9000 said:

And now the trend is to elevate The Beach Boys to similar status lmao.  I suppose in thirty years, it will be comparisons between Eminem or Bieber or Rihanna and Beethoven.

Eminem has actual talent. Bieber, not so much. At least not musically.

 

4 minutes ago, Hugo9000 said:

Decrying elitism is a popular thing, but I see the elevation of mediocrity as something worse, culturally.  Oh, and while it's apparently elitist and reprehensible to consign The Beatles or others of their type to the rubbish heap, it's okay for their legions of fans to do the same to Taylor Swift or similar.  lol  There is a much wider gap between what is required to write the compositions (and play them) of a Beethoven and The Beatles than there is between the pop songs of McCartney et al and Swift.

I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift, but I won't say what she does isn't music. As for the Beatles, the fact that their songs are frequently reinterpreted in every style imaginable should be saying something. Here's one take that I like: https://www.soundliaison.com/index.php/312-paul-berner-band-this-bird-has-flown

 

Or if reggae is your thing:

 

[mansr]

3 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

1 hour ago, gmgraves said:

 the decline of western civilization 

started with country music

The other kind, surely.

[mansr]

28 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

Yes! And what about Brahm’s Hungarian Dances?

I like his lullaby:

 

[mansr]

31 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

I have to admit I despise goulash

I don't like ghoulish food either.

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, Jud said:

Listen to the Rolling Stones' version of Money (That's What I Want), and the Beatles' version, then tell me whether Mick Jagger or John Lennon was a better rock 'n' roll singer. 

Mick Jagger is still performing, so in that sense he's clearly better.

[mansr]

8 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

He stated his personal preference in music, that's all that his posts amount to.

He did more than that. He denigrated what he deemed to be "not music" and, through his remark about the decline of civilisation, cast aspersions on anyone who enjoys modern music.

 

8 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

He is entitled to voice his opinion, even if I and others disagree with it.

Of course he is, but he shouldn't be surprised at a little pushback.

[mansr]

16 minutes ago, esldude said:

Not sure how 16 bit is relevant to musical genre preference.

If you have less than 16 bits, you'll be stuck playing chip tunes.

[mansr]

15 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

Let me put this another way. Do I have to eat an entire plate full of Brussels Sprouts to ascertain that I don't like them?

No, but you'd be wrong to declare them "not food" and hold them responsible for the (supposed) decline of civilisation.

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, rando said:

Asparagus spears then.  

Delicious.

[mansr]

19 minutes ago, Jud said:

Can't say that's a bad thing to do.  But for me, that may not help me establish which speakers, for example, will help the music I play sound most real and "grab" me most emotionally.

If you know the minimum levels you can detect of various forms of distortion, and an item under consideration falls below this level for, say, frequency response, you will know that this aspect won't be a problem. That should be useful. The real issue is that what you perceive as more real may in fact be quite far from a perfect reproduction. In fact, I'd expect this to be the case. Now you have to decide, do you want accurate sound, or do you prefer realer than real (in some respects) even if this is a fabrication? Neither choice is wrong, but one should still be honest about it.

[mansr]

16 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

hardly - there is only a single extant race of humans

I thought there were two, the superior one and other people.

[mansr]

5 minutes ago, rando said:

If I might be so bold as to ask.  What is the accepted, as opposed to fiercely personal, thinking on file degradation or the xerox effect as a potential cause for poor RBCD sound?

If digital audio data is corrupted, there are pops, clicks, and loud bursts of random noise. There is never a subtle loss of treble or any other effect of that nature. The bits either get transferred correctly or not. Moreover, it is trivial to verify a copy as being accurate. Copy as many times as you like, there will be no degradation.

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

No matter how divide it, Most of humanity seems to accept the premise that race is a real, physical concept. Daily on the news you hear about "racial tensions" and the effect of race in America and how the "racial demographic" in Europe is changing due to the influx of black Africans and Middle Eastern peoples from Syria, Turkey and Iraq.   

In my experience, only Americans talk about race. I had a quick look at The Guardian and BBC News websites just now, and I can't find a single mention of race in the headlines. There is an article about an anti-racism event, but that's as close as it gets.

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

Most government forms both state and federal ask for the race of the person filling out the form.

You will not find that in Europe.

[mansr]

1 hour ago, diecaster said:

Now don't go getting all logical now. It doesn't matter that the only thing the computer is reading, moving somewhere, and writing is digital data. Somewhere hidden in those bits is some magical property that gets copied any time those bits get copied.

And somehow it works on every computer and storage device, despite them being expressly designed to not behave this way.

[mansr]

4 minutes ago, sandyk said:

Martin Colloms

Even if a hundred Collomses saw flying pigs, I still would not believe them. There is no mechanism by which a pig can fly, which means reports of porcine aviation must be mistaken.

[mansr]

1 minute ago, sandyk said:

Who cares what you believe ?

It seems like you do.

 

1 minute ago, sandyk said:

You believed that Mani was able to hear your keystrokes through 2 closed doors !

I never said that.

[mansr]

3 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

When burton showed the police paperwork establishing that he was, indeed, the legal registered owner of the Ferrari, the Police arrested him anyway on suspicion of drug trafficking!

Of course they did when they realised he was a famous actor.

[mansr]

3 minutes ago, tmtomh said:

But he's right about his civility point, and the point behind his example of "what if one person said that one race was better than another" is obvious: Such a claim would be hateful/racist, and factually inaccurate.

And then gmgraves made precisely that claim (yet again, and apparently without irony), which was what set off the race discussion.

[mansr]

19 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

Good luck, Richard. As long as Alex believes that someone has heard a difference, it must be all true. No logic, math, or scientific argument will help, all Turing machines be damned ?

Alex has a halting problem. He just won't stop.

[mansr]

50 minutes ago, kumakuma said:

The photos you sent me were definitely of poor quality which is not surprising considering that they were snapshots of a TV screen taken with a cheap digital camera.

I guess we've all seen those photos by now. They prove nothing.

[mansr]

8 hours ago, diecaster said:

I think this is made up. I cannot find any mention of this anywhere on Google. Do you have a reference?

Nearest I can find is this: http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/28/levar-burton-reading-rainbow-cop-car-accident/