paulpirie8 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 This came up in discussion the other day when one of my friends argued that my Hi-Fi took up too much space in my room. He claimed that all you need is a "Micro Hi-Fi" which you can pick up for pennies. I can remember even when I was a kid that every house would have (or seemed to have, IME) a big, proper Hi-Fi with seperates for CD, cassette and vinyl as well as a decent amp and speakers. Now though people seem to just have an All-in-one stereo with tiny speakers that sound pretty terrible. I could probably count the people I know with a proper Hi-Fi on both my hands. I'm no audiophile but I love having one place I can listen to music as it should sound; good. So I suppose my question is: Has the quality of sound become less important when buying a new stereo than size/cost etc? Cheers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 The quality of audio in general has declined over the years since tape dissappeared. The kids now are used to listening to mp3's which have the worst quality of all time. Whats the point of a nice stereo when you shove digital audio through it anyway? cd's also sound awful to my ears. Stone cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulpirie8 Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 [quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357559422' post='1924346'] Whats the point of a nice stereo when you shove digital audio through it anyway? cd's also sound awful to my ears. Stone cold! [/quote] True. I suppose I should have mentioned formats as well. I was going with the assumption that a proper Hi-Fi would be used with either CDs or vinyl. Don't agree about CDs sounding terrible although vinyl (which I'm assuming is your medium of choice) definitely sounds better. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Interesting thread. If you like your sound(and equipment ) stick with it . There are so many iPod docks now , which IMHO promote mp3's as priority . But, some of these docks sound great. You can plug your CD player into them as well. I have seperate amp , CD player speaker. Having said that , I listen to my music on my iPhone through noise cancelling headphones . Don't play as much music at home because of this. There have been A few threads on this recently . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) There's nothing inherently wrong with digital audio itself, but it depends on how much the signal has been compressed. .mp3s use 'lossy data compression' so they can be transferred quickly and easily. The algorithm is designed to reduce the amount of data required and yet still sound like the original, but of course they don't... [color=#ffffff].[/color] Edited January 7, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Being old, I have a huge sprawling spouse-hostile sound system and prefer playing records to CDs. But I'd rather listen to a decent bitrate MP3 through nice amp/speakers than vinyl or tape through mediocre amp/speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leen2112 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I always had a decent Hi-fi and loved my vinyl. But now It's gone and all my music is stored on my pc which is networked to my TV (DLNA) I have an old sony amp which powers 2 decent speakers and not the utter crap tiny 5.1 speakers you get. When I get the chance I pump out some loud rock stuff and couldnt tell If It was MP3 or records except It won't jump if I fall into it after a few! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 [quote name='paulpirie8' timestamp='1357559709' post='1924359'] True. I suppose I should have mentioned formats as well. I was going with the assumption that a proper Hi-Fi would be used with either CDs or vinyl. Don't agree about CDs sounding terrible although vinyl (which I'm assuming is your medium of choice) definitely sounds better. Paul [/quote]I cant be bothered with it all nowadays. Spotify through my stereo is too easy not to. Vinyl if I can be arsed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerley Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Yes, I think the quality of sound for listening at home has become less important to the majority of people. As you say a lot of people used to have seperates, nice speakers etc, whereas now these are fairly uncommon. This is probably because of the mobility of MP3s and the use of headphones while listening on the move rather than sat at home specifically listening to music. Less dedicated time is given to just sitting and solely listening and music has become a background thing whilst using internet, on train etc,. I still buy CDs when possible and listen to them through a nice CD player, amp and speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 My wife has been laying hints that my separates are taking up a bit too much space in the living room, to be honest I wouldn't mind trimming down the size, but I don't want to trim down the quality. Unfortunately, the universal rule of consumer electronics applies: small + good = £££ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I can't help but feel that people who obsess over HiFi have lost sight of the most important things when it comes to music: Do you like the song and does the performance move you? They should also be taken on a tour of a good recording studio to see how many 100s of metres of frankly rather ordinary cable an audio signal passes through to get from the instruments to the grooves in the vinyl or bits of an uncompressed digital audio file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest McBass Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL92nlCR8cY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I enjoy music better when the quality is better. Same as I enjoy a meal when the food is of better quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 [quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1357562299' post='1924435'] I enjoy music better when the quality is better. Same as I enjoy a meal when the food is of better quality. [/quote] How do you feel about spark plugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I have a fantastic separates system, which I have owned for about 10 years...something like that. It has been brilliant, and still is. The B&W speakers are absolutely brilliant. It's now boxed up and unused in my music room. I wanted to have it all laid out properly but I just can't fit it in. I love mp3's...no doubt, but I think they have saturated and watered down the music industry. I no longer rush to buy a CD on release day and play it over and over. I just shuffle through. Rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I have used frankly awful equipment in the past (especially when I was younger) and there is no way I want to return to those days. I'm not obsessive about it (my left and right speaker are wired using different types of wire, for instance - oh, the blasphemy!) but to my ears what I have sounds good (Marantz PM-48 amp, Marantz CD-63mkII CD player, Marantz graphic equaliser thingybob whose model number evades me, Mission 730 speakers), and I wouldn't want something that sounds less smooth, less "spacious" or basically just plain good than what I have currently. You can't have moments like chuckling with your other half about the stereo separation while listening to "Unsquare Dance" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet on a crappy little speaker dock thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Walking around with headphones permanently glued to your ears with a constant flow of mp3 music restricted to only the last 60 years of material makes you deaf to quality. IMO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1357562162' post='1924431'] I can't help but feel that people who obsess over HiFi have lost sight of the most important things when it comes to music: Do you like the song and does the performance move you? They should also be taken on a tour of a good recording studio to see how many 100s of metres of frankly rather ordinary cable an audio signal passes through to get from the instruments to the grooves in the vinyl or bits of an uncompressed digital audio file. [/quote] +1 When they set out, Elvis, The Beatles etc were not only heard on some pretty basic systems but recorded on them as well but managed to change the face of popular music at the time. There are limits though. If I'd heard Yes for the first time on wax cylinder I might have been a bit less impressed Edited January 7, 2013 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 [quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357562898' post='1924448'] Walking around with headphones permanently glued to your ears with a constant flow of mp3 music restricted to only the last 60 years of material makes you deaf [s]to quality.[/s] [/quote] Did you see what I did there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I may be wrong, but I imagine 'back in the day' if you wanted any sort of hi-fi system it would be comprised of large separate components becuase that was the only option, regardless of your concerns about sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1357564308' post='1924473'] I may be wrong, but I imagine 'back in the day' if you wanted any sort of hi-fi system it would be comprised of large separate components becuase that was the only option, regardless of your concerns about sound quality. [/quote] Not really, there's always been shyte audio and good audio. I've had plenty of both over the years. I think Paul was wondering whether folk are less bothered about sound quality nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) Mp3s are good for what they were originally designed for, small file size at the expense of lower quality. So good that they have become ubiquitous. Oggs are open source and present a slightly better result in terms of fidelity for the same file size. Given the recent demand from the Mp3 people to some manufacturer (sorry this was pre Christmas) regarding licensing fees they felt they should be paid we may start to hear more about oggs if that continues... I cant really hear the difference between a 320kbps mp3 (or evquivalent ogg) and CD anywhere where I would be likely to use an mp3 anyway (ie on headphones or in the car - my car is noisey as hell I'm afraid). BigRedX is bang on about studio cabling, there are kilometers of cable in a serious studio, its there for audio, and digital data, it is good quality not daftly expensive cable with appropriate quality connectors. The reason why hifi connectors are huge jump from the standard ones shipped in the cardboard box with seperates is simply that the one in the box is utter gash. Klotz cable, neutriks connectors, good enough for Abbey Road, good enough for me.... I've recently (over christmas) been ripping some tapes (stuff that isnt available any other way I hasten to add) via my RME UCX, they sound absolutely crap. Some are what was considered very high quality cassette at the time, recorded at good levels for tape, with appropriate efforts at noise reduction. They are the ones that are just about listenable. Its not just the hiss, its the print through as well. The rest are going to end up being binned. Higher sample rate mp3 absolutely blows cassette away for sound quality. Not so reel to reel (even quarter inch), but cassettes sucked. And that is including trying a variety of software hiss removal tools to see if the situation could be meaningfully improved - it can, a bit, but the downside is artifacts that rival those of a poor quality mp3. Oh and there is nothing wrong with the tape deck being used, it is reproducing the hiss that is on the tape, not inventing it . Given the quality of cassette tape I dont think most people were ever that bothered about quality then I'm not going to get drawn back into another pointless digital versus analogue discussion, but I do think that people in general are probably spending as much on media devices as they ever did, its just that the devices in question are now far smaller (including the speakers), since that is what the market demands in general,;until you get into the small percentage of people willing to blow over a couple of grand on a hifi - who are willing to make serious sacrifices in space for sound quality. And if you have small speakers and a little amp the sound quality is going to be rubbish. There was a recent piece on the Gadget show for ipod docks, and they were getting completely over excited about the sound quality of a tiny little box that could not possibly have been anything remotely stereo, let alone hifi, they trotted out all the usual gash phrases from the marketing blurb and clearly havent been in a room with serious audio reproduction kit for far too long. Its a shame, but there you go... Edited January 7, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I reckon the whole 'vinyl-vs-CD' thing is more to do with production methods and fashion than the actual physics of storage and reproduction. Also, many CD versions of original vinyl releases are 'remastered' which, to my mind, immediately makes any quality comparisons of the two completely impossible. That's not to say that vinyl can't be judged to sound 'better' than CD (or vice versa) because such things are subjective, but let's not get carried away with the idea that there is an absolute superiority involved when we're really just talking about personal preferences. Having said that, I tend to agree with the point that quality of sound is becoming less important. We know for a fact that data-reduced MP3 is a lossy format, yet that has not apparently prevented downloaded music becoming very popular indeed - which would seem to prove the OP's point. But there again, anyone who used to listen to Radio Luxembourg on their AM radios knows that sometimes it's not all about hi-fidelity reproduction. Sometimes it's all about the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulpirie8 Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 [quote name='bremen' timestamp='1357564507' post='1924475'] I think Paul was wondering whether folk are less bothered about sound quality nowadays. [/quote] Yeah this was more my point. Wasn't trying to get into a Digital Vs. Analogue debate as such because I use MP3s as much as the next man when I'm out and about. And they're good for what they are. It's no doubt down to nostalgia more than anything else but it just seems to me that people had an appreciation and respect for sound quality that is becoming rare nowadays. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) Went to Richer Sounds recently to look at the Sonus stuff, for the wireless/convenience angle, and was distinctly underwhelmed by the sound - very boxy, nothing special at all - the product's clearly all about the wireless networking, but the sound was so poor I couldn't live with it. Well, not for the money, anyway. Having said that, I'm only using a pair of Control 1s these days, and I'm not even sure about the bitrate of all of my mp3s, either...then there's my tinnitus to contend with... Edited January 7, 2013 by Muzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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