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A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

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Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#131

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

aeyes wrote: post #118
conradfr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I like to download vinyl rips. But some vinyls actually come from a digital master anyway.

Even if the master wasn't digital, how many vinyl mastering engineers used a digital reverse RIAA? I have a ton of vinyl records myself, never understood why anyone would say they sound better. Vinyl is a compressed format, even if the compression is analog. There is significant loss of signal in the whole signal chain. You need to do reverse RIAA (compression), then you fabricate a master, then you press vinyl from…

Don't forget that playback progressively damages the medium. A true audiophool keeps a stockpile of virgin vinyl so they can playback once and throw it away.

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#132

Post by Nav_Panel »

post_break wrote: post #120
Nav_Panel wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry, its legacy lives on. Other sites have taken up the mantle (hmu). OiNK is gone, but not forgotten.

How do I get in touch?

check my profile, twitter is a good easy way, or email me via substack

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#133

Post by bambax »

user_7832 wrote: post #125
apohn wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The fallout of the MoFi revelation has thrown the audiophile community into something of an existential crisis. Don't worry, the crisis will not last long. Audiophiles will find a way to get over it and buy some better cables that would have revealed they were using a Digital source all along.

> Don't worry, the crisis will not last long. Audiophiles will find a way to get over it and buy some better cables that would have revealed they were using a Digital source all along. You don’t need to attack any person or community - especially given that rich people buying expensive stuff is hardly hurting others directly. Please make good faith arguments.

> especially given that rich people buying expensive stuff is hardly hurting others directly

Superstition is always bad.

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#135

Post by ben7799 »

wrycoder wrote: post #13
kstrauser wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That whole line of thinking just blows me away. It's possible to accurately sample and reproduce any vinyl recording in the digital realm. It's absolutely not possible to accurately record every digital recording onto vinyl. For instance, it's not hard at all to make bass so loud that it causes the needle to leap out of the track, or treble so high that the needle can't accurately track the high frequency vibrations.…

The thing I miss with the Apple audio chain is a user-controlled equalizer. With my hearing issues, I really need to boost treble, and I prefer to boost bass. I haven't yet discovered a way to do that. Apple thinks that flat is best, and so should you, apparently.

There are hearing accommodations in iOS that can even use your audiogram.

Settings -> Accessibility -> Audio/Visual -> Headphone accommodations

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#137

Post by pessimizer »

jrajav wrote: post #16
kstrauser wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That whole line of thinking just blows me away. It's possible to accurately sample and reproduce any vinyl recording in the digital realm. It's absolutely not possible to accurately record every digital recording onto vinyl. For instance, it's not hard at all to make bass so loud that it causes the needle to leap out of the track, or treble so high that the needle can't accurately track the high frequency vibrations.…

Most of the time people will argue that vinyl has "warmth" and this makes it subjectively better. This is true, but it's actually because of the pleasing distortion record players add to the music. Being distortion, even if it improves your listening experience (and this depends on genre, though it generally does), it is certainly objectively worse in terms of accurate reproduction.

I still think that "warmth" is a way to describe not actually hearing the separate digital samples subconsciously, and just hearing the sounds gliss into each other. I also think it's an anachronism that comes from way back when the digital sample rate was often a lot lower (and people would insist that their live digital effects sounded as good as analog, when you could sometimes even consciously hear the samples jumping into each other.) Other than that, it seems like something that people project onto music with bassy reverb.

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#138

Post by throwawaycities »

gwern wrote: post #2

"The fallout of the MoFi revelation has thrown the audiophile community into something of an existential crisis. The quality of digitized music has long been criticized because of how much data was stripped out of files so MP3s could fit on mobile devices. But these days, with the right equipment, digital recordings can be so good they can fool even the best ears. Many of MoFi’s now-exposed records were on Fremer and…

> Hard to imagine a better A/A-test.

In part it goes to prove Mark Twain’s quote that it’s easier to fool people that to convince them they have been fooled. So many people build their identity around being something like an audiophile and something like this demonstrates the are mostly frauds…not all of it is a bad-faith fraud either which makes it so much more difficult for those people who believed they had a genuine passion and talent to accept.

On the other hand there are people who really don’t give a shit and just shill themselves in a given industry to make money as self-proclaimed experts. It’s part of a sickness social media pushes on people where they think they are brands…as opposed to actual humans. These people have no allegiance and will readily move on the the next money making opportunity so long as they can…probably high priced wines.

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#139

Post by pessimizer »

cwillu wrote: post #105
kazinator wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, if the artifact you prefer actually exists and you can confirm it in a double blind test.

“I prefer bit of oregano on my pasta.” “Not without a double-blind test you don't!”

"The pasta you just said was the best pasta you ever had didn't have any oregano on it."

Re: A Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire

#140

Post by kstrauser »

cratermoon wrote: post #52
kstrauser wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That whole line of thinking just blows me away. It's possible to accurately sample and reproduce any vinyl recording in the digital realm. It's absolutely not possible to accurately record every digital recording onto vinyl. For instance, it's not hard at all to make bass so loud that it causes the needle to leap out of the track, or treble so high that the needle can't accurately track the high frequency vibrations.…

> it's not hard at all to make bass so loud that it causes the needle to leap out of the track Reminds me of the LP my band teacher in high school had. It was the 1812 overture, and the groves for the cannon shots at the end were easily distinguishable with just a casual examination. Based on what you're saying, I suspect that recording was pushing the limits of vinyl.

Yes! That exact song is perhaps the canonical demonstration of the limitations of vinyl! Here are some pics of the grooves on that LP: https://imgur.com/a/veVB0
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