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Beyond the sound of things, and into the soul of things.


Beyond the sound of things, and into the soul of things.

Hi-res audio blows MP3s and AAC files out of the water. Essential data is lost when you listen to music via MP3 files because of the lossy compression that makes these files smaller. High-Resolution Audio can replicate the whole range of sound that the artist created when recording the content. Sony understands the importance of preserving the originality of music, which is why we’ve developed Hi-Res Audio products that allow audiophiles (like you) to listen to music in the best sound quality.

I listened to a file that I had downloaded in WAV which is a higher resolution than FLAC; this was Santana "Abraxas", an LP I bought in 1970, and since that time, have worn out many copies; to say I know every note on that LP is an understatement.

When I compared that file to my pristine LP, it was first in the lineup. As I listened, "It just doesn't get any better than this," I thought.

Now it was time for the LP; as the wax spun, I was floored on the first note; it was so definitive; after that keyboard intro, Santana's guitar just hung in the air, followed by the banging notes on the keyboard again, and then those unforgettable chimes; "Singing Winds and Crying Beasts" is the most perfect instrumental ever; IMO.

While the Hi-Res sounded good, the LP in my room felt good; I was flooded with all the memories I had experienced with this music playing in the background. Does anyone remember "Black Lights"; they made ladies legs glow in the dark when they wore certain kinds of stockings, what a scintillating sight.

So many colorful memories of my misspent youth passed before me as I listened, if only I could misspend them again. That's what the LP did for me; it regenerated my soul with it's soul; LP's have life, digital is the sound after it has been stripped of it's life.



              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn50ipwWarg



Can you relate to the "Soul" of things?


     
orpheus10
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
It’s not only primitive people who are afraid or superstitious of cameras and photos. Have you seen peoples’ reactions to the Photos in the Freezer Tweak?

Music soothes the savage breast. Most things coming out of people’s speakers ain’t musical so nothin happens. Most of the time it’s two dimensional, thin, bland, compressed, no top end, no bottom end, congealed, like paper mache.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
 Orpheus, do I understand you correctly that you said you cannot tell the difference between CDs and LPs after you have recorded them onto tape and listen to them via your real to reel recorder? If I am correct, shouldn’t this be an indication that your tape system, however wonderful it may be, has the dominant coloration among your three modes of play back?
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
324 posts
 
Real to reel. Good one.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
2,164 posts
 
show business kidz talking philosophy..

Eric - yes! also caught Richard at Benaroya opening 4 Emmylou.....like you I discovered at Shoot out the Lights, have been mesmerized since....

even my ancient Labrador has got soul...

or in the words of Neil

” even Richard Nixon has got soul “
prof
1,741 posts
 
orpheus

I also luxuriate in the sound of good vinyl at home. And believe me I can write swooning words about the experience as well...as I often have.


But I also enjoy digital.

A Hi-Res download is from the Master-Tape, and should be close to identical. What I spoke of was almost ethereal; the sound was transferred on the Hi-Res, but not the emotional impact of the music; the music was stripped of it’s emotional soul during the transfer.
With the right rig, in addition to the audio, there is an emotional component that is received in the sub-conscious which triggers all the memories, and experiences surrounding the music that is generated by the LP, that’s not generated by the Hi-Res.


The problem I have with this type of talk is that it *appears* you are moving from your own subjective preference to a more objective claim, even if nebulous, that the digital version did not capture the "soul-moving" aspects of the music.

But that’s your own response; not necessarily the response of other people. Massive numbers of people find themselves utterly moved by digitized music, and plenty of audiophiles would completely disagree insofar as they would be moved by the same digital digital music files that failed to move you.

I’ve sat beside other audiophiles swooning over the sound or the music through a system that utterly failed to move me, and visa versa.

As I’ve mentioned before, this is common in our audiophile world to have a strong personal emotional reaction or attachment to the way some equipment delivers sound, but then leverage that to more dubious claims about certain technology itself being "unable to capture or transmit" the moving or natural essence of the music, while they are really just talking about their own opinion, not some objective fact about the technology.


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