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Audiophoolery?

Gentlemen,

I came across this comment in a YT video on thermionic valve (toob) audio amplifiers and would be interested to hear your entirely subjective (and indeed objective!) views on this recondite matter...

"Personally I am a tube fan for the audio qualities that only a tube amp can produce. Is it as accurate as a solid state amp? No way. Not even close, but it is the way the even order harmonics resonate with the human ear that is so pleasing. Even a crappy mp3 over compressed audio is passable when played with a tube amp. It's the old technology that just won't die, and I am sure 25 years from now people will be still hanging on to the past with tube amps. As long as there are fools with money to burn, both buying the amps, and then paying for all the electricity they suck back to run them, people will still make them."

Any merit in the above observations?

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Reply to
Cursitor Doom
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If you've never played an instrument in an orchestra you'll be satisfied (satiated ?:-) with tube performance.

If you have played an instrument in an orchestra (I have, clarinet,

1st-chair), you'll opt for a _good_ (*) solid state design.

(*) Not crappy, single-chip, high-distortion, piece-a-crap. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142    Skype: skypeanalog |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
"Those [of us] who dream by day are cognizant of many things which 
 escape those who dream only by night"  -Edgar Allan Poe
Reply to
Jim Thompson

Well, depends on whether you have an orchestra backing you up on your version of Bohemian Bohemian Rhapsody. Hint: AC30

Regards,

Kevin Aylward snipped-for-privacy@kevinaylward.co.uk

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Reply to
Kevin Aylward

Like Jim said, if you listen to electronic instruments with artificially simple sounds then you need an amp that adds harmonics. But if you listen to real instruments (solo or in an orchestra) then you would want an accurate reproduction of the rich harmonics that come from wood and horse hair.

Reply to
Tom Del Rosso

Vinyl is big again. The new retro fad is casettes.

What's next? Reel-to-reel? 8-track?

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics
Reply to
John Larkin

If you listen to commercial recorded music, the producers have already boogered it big-time. The idea of reproducing the original sound is silly.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics
Reply to
John Larkin

I do quite like Switched-On Bach.

However, I'm drawing a blank on "Bohemian Bohemian Rhapsody. Hint: AC30". Whatzit? ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142    Skype: skypeanalog |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
     It's what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

No. To the extent the sonic coloration of a vacuum-tube amp is desirable, two things are true: 1) it can be emulated flawlessly with solid-state electronics; and 2) doing so would be the job of the recording engineer, not the listener.

Now that we've settled that, how 'bout those crazy Republicrats, huh?

-- john, KE5FX

Reply to
John Miles, KE5FX

Try a Mozart Wind Ensemble. Equipment with lots of transient intermod distortion will produce a gross atonal beat note between the oboe and the French horn :-( ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142    Skype: skypeanalog |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
     It's what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

Some people like distortion. Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin proved an overdriven guitar amp can sound fantastic. Vacuum tubes seem to distort things in a way that some people sound pleasant; if they want to spend $X thousand dollars on an amp that distorts their music in just the way they like who am I to say they're wrong.

The digital analog is maybe like those Instagram cell phone camera filters that superimpose a flower crown on your head and also smooth out all the wrinkles and age spots and make one look like a magazine model instead of a regular slob with a 5 o clock shadow.

An unretouched 10 megapixel HD candid camera photo would make Jessica Alba look like a woman you might think twice about going on a date with.

Reply to
bitrex

My analogy is that tubes and tape are like the "beauty face" filter for cell phone cameras. People heard music in all its 0.000001% THD 16 bit solid state perfect glory - weren't impressed.

Reply to
bitrex

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the guitar amp is basically part of the instrument, the purpose is to make a specific sound not reproduce a recording so that is totally differnt

Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

They chose to make it "part of the instrument" because it sounded pleasing, it wasn't "Ugh, that sounds God-awful stop overdriving the amp!" which is what you'll probably be told if you overdrive say a solid-state Roland Jazz Chorus

Reply to
bitrex
[snip]

Which reminds me... I have around 70 LP's that I'd like to write onto CD's.

Recommendations?

(My old Rek-o-Kut turntable is in sad shape from long-term storage... not sure if belts and rollers are still available?) ...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson | mens | | Analog Innovations | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

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| 1962 | It's what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.

Reply to
Jim Thompson

Den mandag den 20. november 2017 kl. 00.16.27 UTC+1 skrev Jim Thompson:

why bother with CDs when you can put them all on a flash drive?

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Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

I have a 300-CD jukebox ;-)

Thanks for the link! ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142    Skype: skypeanalog |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
     It's what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

Better pricing here - huge assortment of brands covered:

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John

Reply to
John Robertson

I gave up copying mine. Too noisy. I guess I was used to clicks and pops when I listened to LPs. I couldn't get them clean enough to get a decent recording, so repurchased CDs of the ones I wanted (one I really liked has no CD available but that's the breaks).

I have several 300-CD flash drives. ;-)

Reply to
krw

Why bother with flash drives when there's an excellent chance it's all on Spotify/Pandora etc. plus ten million other songs for $10/mo?

Reply to
bitrex

Den mandag den 20. november 2017 kl. 01.33.50 UTC+1 skrev snipped-for-privacy@notreal.com:

and they are not a mechanical rube goldberg machine where any one of a hundred little piece piece of plastic breaking turns it into a doorstop ;)

Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

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