Article: Editorial: What's Wrong With You?

[The Computer Audiophile]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, AudioDoctor said:

AMEN!  

Preach it Brother Chris!

 

Thanks Doc. I'll take two and call you in the am. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

13 minutes ago, miguelito said:

This...

 

 

If that helps you find enjoyment in life, I'm all for it. I'd love to hear some great music on that system.

[The Computer Audiophile]

51 minutes ago, accwai said:

 

Chris, you've probably way underestimated the showoff freaks. Cleverest of them can take advantage of both gear and music at the same time. Look at this guy:

 

https://youtu.be/pd1JYxBZS3s

 

Worst, he's into heavy photo gear and blasts around in Ferraris ← yes 's', mid *and* front engine. whatsbestforum.com is packed with freaks like that. As a service to the people, could you open a subforum here so we can rat these guys out? Then we can bring full force of the AS brigade to bear and shame them off the 'net

 

Maybe my message wasn't clear enough. I don't care what brings people joy and I don't think you should either. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

7 minutes ago, daverich4 said:

 

On this site I’m pretty sure it’s MQA. 

Ha! So right. But at least there's objective evidence MQA is ... oh forget it. I don't want to derail my own article 😀

[The Computer Audiophile]

26 minutes ago, rickca said:

A psychiatrist would have a field day just analyzing some of the characters here on AS.

I've had a couple contact me providing unsolicited comments. 😊

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

 

Whatever.  😉

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

24 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

Takes only seconds of system playback to hear that his rig is way out of whack - not worth taking seriously ... as good an example as any of how audiophiles lose the plot; if the intention is to connect to the music ...

 

If he likes his system’s sound that’s all that matters. You’re defining his plot and suggesting he can’t connect to the music unless he follows your plot. 

 

I don’t understand why you care. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

34 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

I care because I believe systems like his have led the world of audiophiles astray - I'm sure if I put on any of my test CDs on his rig they would sound abominable - and he would come back with that casual, so typical, throwaway, GIGO ...

 

Which is why 'normal' people think this world is nuts - they want to listen to higher quality versions of their favourite music; and, the "fancy rig" makes them sound worse!

 

If people want to ladle makeup all over their recordings that's fine - but they shouldn't kid themselves that they are getting closer to what was in front of the microphones ...

 

 

 

 

Wow. You just can’t let people be happy with whatever they like can you. 

 

Your deductions from little to zero data are preposterous as well. 

 

 

 

27 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

You don't need to - the YouTube clip passes on all the information to clearly define what the sound is like; I have heard oodles of rigs in person that make those sort of noises.

 

Just think ... if the musicians of the recording happened to also be in that room, and played a bit; how would that sound, over that YouTube item? There are plenty of clips where exactly that has been done - one thing is always obvious: they don't sound like a hifi system!

 

All of this through a terrible A to D converter on the video camera and lossy YouTube compression and you’ve nailed it. Some golden ears 😁

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, STC said:

 

He didn't.  It was someone else who made the comment to the interview. He said many good things in other interviews but those were mostly inconvenient truth for audiophiles.

Is it possible he said it outside this single article / interview?

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, Jud said:

 

Well, as a sort of meta-analysis: While there are secondary sources (collections of quotes) that have it attributed to him, it seems odd to me that one of the quotes for which he's supposedly most remembered doesn't turn up in any primary source at all.  If it happened before that 2012 interview, why was it never mentioned, since that was the interviewer's obvious angle (looking at his headline vs. Parsons' actual statements)?  If it happened since, why doesn't the interview/statement/whatever from which it comes show up anywhere in Google?  Unless it does and I've missed it, but I did a fair amount of looking.

Sounds logical to me Jud. 

 

I guess I could remove his name and put John Doe and my point would still be the same and the sentences would still sound like quotes we’ve all heard before. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Enough Beatles. I love the music, but it's off topic. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

6 minutes ago, JoshM said:

 

I understood your "infamous" preface to me "possibly apocryphal." It seems to be a Slashdot commenter's quip in reference to the 2012 Parsons interview, which somehow morphed into Parsons having said it himself. It's definitely more quotable than Parsons's actual comments! 

 

In any case, "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" sounds great on "audiophile" systems! Haha.

Wow. Haven’t even heard the name /. in forever. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, fas42 said:

 

There is a fundamental difference between what one attempts to do with a car - and with an audio rig. With a vehicle there is no "absolute performance" - you can always give it a higher top speed, level of acceleration; in the extreme, land speed records and dragsters. With audio there is a set maximum - what is on the recording; the goal is to get as close to the track contents as possible; this is an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymptote goal.

 

What I listen for are the signs that the gap is too large; clear "extra noises" that tell me the rig is 'rattling' too much, instead of quietly getting on with the job.

If it makes you happy, that’s cool with me. If you think you can judge a system via YouTube, that may be handy and save you traveling to a dealer or audio show. You can demo online. If it works for you, I guess we shouldn’t care. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

12 minutes ago, JoshM said:

Chris, I love this editorial because it gets at the often implicit mixing of "objective" analysis with political/moral opinions and economic value judgments. 

 

It's perfectly reasonable for people to directly compare two pieces of gear, regardless of their relative prices. But one always needs to keep in mind that people value gear differently and have different budgets. We need to take potential interlocutors' monetary means and values into account when rendering opinions. It's weird and unhelpful to proclaim that your $1.5k pair of headphones smokes someone's $100 pair of headphones unless they're claiming otherwise. Without taking budgets/priorities into account, audio comparisons descend into pointless subjective value judgments. 

 

Likewise, it's easy to import political opinion into discussions of any hobby without realizing it. I completely understand the argument that an expensive pair of headphones or DAC is an extravagance when there are people in the world struggling to eat and make ends meet. (I agree with Rage Against the Machine's politics!) But except for people who live super frugally and donate every extra penny to charity, we're all guilty of indulging wasteful spending. Personally, I think charity is wonderful, but it's no substitute for policy. If someone thinks that we should redistribute money from the rich to the poor, great. I agree and think the government should do more of it! But insofar as people have extra money, they should be free to spend it however they want, including on audiophile jewelry that even other audiophiles might find wasteful. In other words, keep the political/moral judgements where they belong. Don't mix them with audio discussions.

 

Finally, as the recent Audio Fidelity remasters show, Rage albums can certainly stand up to audiophile scrutiny! 😉

You should be a writer 😁

 

P.S. I have that Rage version and love every minute of it. One of my ten best albums of all time. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

47 minutes ago, KDinsmore said:

Art Dudley's Article hit this on the head.

Thanks for the link. 

 

That editorial is a bit schizophrenic. The first half talks bad about people enjoying their hobbies however they choose. The second half says who cares  if people enjoy their hobbies however they choose. 

 

Strange indeed. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, fas42 said:

My apologies ...

 

Some people get carried away with the impressiveness of blingy looking setups - and think this solves all problems ... 

 

I don’t think I’ve ever met such a person. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

21 minutes ago, Confused said:

I have shamelessly stolen this from HiFiCritic's twitter feed.  However, it is BBC achieve so you could argue that I have helped pay for it, or at least my parents did....

 

From 1959, a full 60 years ago, and not much has changed.

 

 

 

 

So good. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, ronfint said:

Jascha Heifetz called it “Hifooey”.

 

For me, the test is, if I could go back in time, would I lust after great records or fancy tubes?

 

1 hour ago, Paul R said:

There an be any question?  Great records!  

 

For some people it’s tubes for others it’s tunes and for many it isn’t one or the other.  Either way, who really cares. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

what we really need is a magazine that tells us whether super expansive gear is really better in SQ or is just a Robb Report exercise in Thorstein Veblin's Theory of the Leisure Class...

Better is a subjective term that is different for many people. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

27 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

the (future) magazine can certainly discuss that concept

It has been discussed over the years here and probably elsewhere.

 

Similar to the term "value."

[The Computer Audiophile]

12 minutes ago, Tin said:

But as things are, my setup costs more than my car, and my watch is broken and I can't be bothered about it.

I love it!

 

It's all about priorities in life. To my family, I am crazy to even look at a speaker cable that isn't sold at Ace Hardware for $10 per roll. However, I think some of them are crazy for paying $600 per round of golf at Pebble Beach. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

7 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

they are happy people

That’s what counts most to me. Happy to read that. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

24 minutes ago, hmlake said:

That's an attractive tube amp in the photo, anyone have an idea what maker / model?

Kondo