Your vote: Most Useless Audio Adjective

You "Pipe and Slippers" lot ought'a write yourself a manifesto to clarify your mission to the world. You'll need to come up with some additional categories to define other qualities of sound...maybe group them into classes...publish a regular journal of some sort to enlighten the rest of us. Here are a few suggestions of more adjective substitutes: Evil Klown (note the "K" substitution). Afro Pick, Close-N'-Play, Flying Monkeys, Good Humor Truck, Used Condom, Burma Shave, Crack Whore. Just give it a few years and you'll see the cover story in Stereophile picking up on the trend: "...this performance yet again puts the $30K Tri-Vista solidly in our Crack Whore category. If it weren't for the lack of pipe and slippers in the highest octave (it was my dog who had to key me in about this), it would go into the coveted Crack Whore riding the Good Humor Truck category (Buying that double-page spread ad in this months issue might have helped them achieve that status as well)." In the same issue you might see the iPod (generation XVII) go from hobo camp to used condom status. Personally, I recommend burma shave stuff for the best bang for the buck.

...Tristan Tzara would be proud.

Marco

Marco: Well, it's quite obvious we can't consider seriously anything you have to say about expanding the Pipe'n'Slippers program. To imply that it will take Stereophile as long as "a few years" to feature another Musical Fidelity product on their cover just totally destroys any credibility you may have had with your Flying Monkeys and your Close'n'Play ;^)

To imply that it will take Stereophile as long as "a few years"

Ah, Zaikes, you obviously missed the operative preface in the headline: "yet again". Let me further predict that the follow-up issue will see a B&W speaker gracing the cover (AGAIN) declaring it has established a new plateau of performance worthy of the subcategory "rollerderby crack whore"

Marco

A post yesterday reminded me of another adjective I've never understood - 'vinyl' like. With all the different cartridges and phono preamp variations it can't be tonal, can't be that someone wants clicks, snaps, pops, and tracing noise, can't be the compression involved in recording. What exactly is this vinyl sound that is so immediatly identifiable that even folks without vinyl experience know what it is? Hummmmmm :-)

A post yesterday reminded me of another adjective I've never understood - 'vinyl' like. With all the different cartridges and phono preamp variations it can't be tonal, can't be that someone wants clicks, snaps, pops, and tracing noise, can't be the compression involved in recording.

It's really quite simple; it means, flat and black with a small hole in the middle. Some donuts are 'vinyl like'. Manhole covers are often loosely described that way, though their holes are more often towards the edges.

Your post gave me an idea for a descriptor for the manifesto, exclusively for vinyl playback devices and donuts: "Rice Krispies"!