[BC] Re: The death of the CD....

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

Musical instrument sounds are not allowed anymore.
Everything is supposed to sound like it came from a
synthesizer buzz-box, didn’t you know? I happen to
know what a piano sounds like, since I’ve been hanging
around those things for most of my 64 years. I can even
describe the various intonations and sympathetic resonances
obtained with various key velocities and pedal actions.

When I listen to solo piano on WCRB, it sounds like an
accordion. A single note, held for a few seconds goes,
“SCHZZBANG..ZZZzzz..Zxxxx..zzz.bzz.bzzzz.zzzz..clunk.”
That’s the newly-defined “correct” sound, according to
current practice. Get use to it. It ain't gonna go away
soon.

--
Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Read about my book
http://www.LymanSchool.org


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Glen Kippel" <glen.kippel at gmail.com>
> On 10/29/07, Dana Puopolo <dpuopolo at usa.net> wrote:
> Vinyl is making a comeback, and between that and MP3's, it spells death for
> the CD.
> 
> I love this quote:
> 
> "Portability is no longer any reason to stick with CDs, and neither is audio
> quality. Although vinyl purists are ripe for parody, they're right about one
> thing: Records can sound better than CDs. Although CDs have a wider dynamic
> range, mastering houses are often encouraged to compress the audio on CDs to
> make it as loud as possible: It's the so-called loudness war. Since the
> audio
> on vinyl can't be compressed to such extremes, records generally offer a
> more
> nuanced sound."
> 
> Hmmm..let's take a medium that can produce 90 db of dynamic range, and SMASH
> its audio so badly with multiband processors, peak limiters and clippers
> that
> it sounds like s**t!
> 
> Hmmm..where have I seen this done before?  Oh  wait-RADIO!!
> 
> But with vinyl, there's only 60 db of range, so we can't destroy its audio
> as
> bad!
> 
> Go figure!
> 
> -------------
> 
> Quite a few years ago, Rupert Neve was being interviewed (by db Magazine,
> IIRC) and he said that he could sit back and relax by listening to LPs, but
> CDs made him feel "edgy."  The extrapolation of that leads to the conclusion
> that part of society's problems with violence may be due to digital audio.
> Neve did say in an article several years later that he didn't have a problem
> with 24/96 digital.  It's the sample rate that does it.  So, are MP3s good
> for you?
> 
> Some people say that being exposed to the flickering light from fluorescent
> lighting is also detrimental to health.
> _______________________________________________
>