Re: Why contemporary music sounds terrible

["Stephen Goodman" <spgoodman@earthlight.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles Zwicky" <cazwicky@earthlink.net>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Monday, 26 February, 2007 16:45 PM
Subject: Re: Why contemporary music sounds terrible


>I 've got to chime in here before this becomes a sycophantic feeding 
>frenzy.
>
> The reality is that humans like 'loud'.
>
> Back in the day Jensen sold more car speakers than anyone because they 
> were 'louder' on the display wall than the other options.

No, because they were 2 and 3-way, and had a very good marketing campaign 
in 
what was the beginning of the decent-sounding car stereo days.

Audiophiles aside, regular folks bought dual-cone and 3-way speakers 
because 
they sounded better, and because the audio press etc. said they sounded 
better.  Regarding amps and receiver systems, people bought higher wattage 
when they could afford it, but tended to use the advice they got about 
spending as much on the speakers as the amp/receiver, which was good 
advice 
back then.  I dunno about now, as things have apparently gotten confusing 
for the consumer on the home entertainment system front (can one find a 
5.1 
or 7.1 dts or dolby amplifier that has at least one optical input for less 
than $400?).  I would guess that until a listener actually hears the 
difference between a 20-watt-per-channel system and a 200-watt-per-channel 
system, it's all taking advice or swallowing marketing, isn't it?

>  Anything done badly can be tiresome.
>
> Loudness is only the scapegoat du jour... past 'culprits' have included 
> EQ, effects, distortion, transistors, digital recording, EMGs, MP3s, 
>"the 
> internets", saddam, osama, etc...

I think the issues regarding people turning up the bass and treble 
controls 
to 100% and running their iPod or MP3 player at high volumes are very 
real, 
and quite dangerous to peoples' ability to hear, in years later.  
Listeners 
with earpods innately know that it should sound better, and try to 
compensate by turning it up more.  Hearing more dynamics, and turning up 
volume/eq to try to hear more dynamics, are two completely different 
things.

Now back to yelling at workmen.
Stephen Goodman
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