More Senseless Ramblings

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It's THE MUSIC stupid!

Ok, it has been quite some time since anything has been added here on the Senseless Ramblings page.  Well, life has also been extremely busy (my apologies to all).  As this little rambling is being typed away, my location is physically in the UK and not in my home in the USA.  An amazing thing happened today.   While with a manufacturer, we both went on and on about various things.   During the long-winded discussions, we were going on and on about enjoying music and how some magazines and reviewers have seemed to killed this joy.  Are we to only enjoy the absolute perfect recording rather then the music?

This isn't to say that all magazines are so equipment/sound quality/recording driven that the joy of music is lost.  It is to say that when the day is done can you sit down, relax, play some music through your music reproduction system and enjoy the music?  Do you find yourself buying music you truly can enjoy or is the music you buy solely based on being recorded to "audiophile" standards only?   What i mean by that is, is the system there to serve the music or is the music there to serve the system?  Where is the priority here?  Alas, sometimes i read things, hear things, etc. that make me wanna throw up!  C'mon, a great engineered recording is one thing, but if the music is horrible there's no way in heck for me to enjoy it!  For instance (yes, i name names here), Reference Recording's Manifesto & Co. is engineered very well.  Heck, it received a few great reviews too.  Me?  It was so bad in my opinion that i actually gave the CD back to Reference Recordings!  The recording quality is wonderful.  Engineered to a very very high quality...  But the performance of the music is not to my liking.   The horns come in early in a few sections, late in others, etc.  It sounds to me like the musicians are, at times, playing the notes vs. playing the music.

Ya know that is the point!  Does your music reproduction system play music or a conglomeration of notes at variable volume levels during different timings?  Also, is there such a heck-bend priority with you on how wide/deep/defined the soundscape (or soundstage) is that it sounds hyper-real?  Does it truly sound natural or so over emphasized that it resembles nothing like what the original performance did soundscape-wise?  Are we to say that all things mono are rubbish because there is no "imaging"?  Heck no!  Yes, soundscaping is an added bonus, though are we saying that because a recording is mono that it can't be enjoyable?  There are, in my humble opinion, many great performances only available in mono.  So, is your priority so twisted in this soundscaping thing that you would overlook a great performance to hear a lesser performance in stereo for all those soundscaping things?  Is the music, um, truly being served here?

Maybe it is me?  Maybe i should only enjoy well engineered, pinpoint soundscaping, stereo blooming "air", hyper-real recordings.  After all, i am some lame reviewer, right?  Ok, so how many recordings would i then be "allowed" to have in my home and enjoy?  What should be done about my love for dance/techno/rage/house/pop/trip-hop/psychedelic/funkadelic music?  Is my "audiophile" music reproduction system not allowed to play music like that because dance/techno/rage/house/pop/trip-hop/psychedelic/funkadelic music does not wholly consist of acoustic instruments?   Shall James Brown be forever barred from my system?  How about Zappa, George Clinton/P-Funk, Rush, the Doors or Zeppelin?  Are we to make excuses to our "audiophile" buddies about having sinned because we also enjoy Zappa?  Is there some "audiophile" high Priestess out there we can confess our "sins" to?  If loving you is wrong i don't wanna be right!!!

Guess my whole point here (which had been harped about before on these pages) is that it is the music stupid!  Sheeesh, i just hope you're enjoying the music too.  Of course if you "get off" differently from your music reproduction system that's cool with me.  Enjoy your Shim Mick pucks, fancy stands, weights, etc.  Are we so concerned with things that the inherent quality of our system must have these band-aids (yes, i use tweaks but the inherent quality of the system is enjoyable on it's own)?  Just please realize that music is art, electronics is engineering.  Please don't forget music's heritage.   Please try to keep an opened mind about great performances (even if they are mono or not recorded to "audiophile" standards).  Please remember that it took a musical inventor to invent and play beautiful music.  Notice how i don't use the term musical "artist" because my feelings are that it is so over used that its true meaning has been watered down too much :-{(+ .  Ya see, what really matters to me is that you...

    Enjoy the Music.

 

Where are the Women?

Ya know, for years i've heard about how the high performance audio and video industry needs to get more of the female population in the world interested.   Even at Hi-Fi '98 there's been a whole conference/meeting/discussion about it.   Well, after years of all this ya wanna know what quite a few of the industry folks are doing?  Well then, please read on how the some of the industry is treating women and just for kicks i'm gonna add in what really just might work to help expand the high performance audio/video industry too that has been proven to work in other industries.

There's this really cool reporter chick who went to Hi-Fi '98 and also Fuse!  At Fuse we began to talk about stuff, exchanging feeling of both the shows and ideas and stuff.  Guess what, she discussed with me that after all the high-flying rhetoric about trying to enhance women's interest in this extremely small industry she was treated very badly.  She said many of the rooms just saw a young female and ignored her.  Now this isn't the usual retail where we all know how many of them treat women, but these are manufacturers and product importers we're talking about here!  heck, if this is how the industry representatives treat women how do you expect any better from retailers who are technically at the lower end of the "food chain".  Maybe i'm just sick and tired of words.  Words are nice.  Discussing things is good.   Now how about some action GUYS?!?!?!  Ever look at the audience during live concerts?  Don't know about what you se, though i see a good number of females in the audience.  Ya know, each and every one of them obviously enjoys music or else they wouldn't be there.  So what gives?

Tell ya what GUYS, please have JUST your girlfriend/wife go into a high-end store that doesn;t know her and see how she's treated.  PLEASE.  Then e-mail me with how she felt her shopping experience at the store went, the stores name, and the salesperson's name too.  With her approval i'd like to share with the world how things went.  Have HER write/send me the e-mail because i want it ALL in her words.  i PROMISE to keep her identity secret, yet also want to expose the stores and salespersons who treat women well just as much as if they feel they've received bad service.

Guess what folks, the mobile audio field has a BIG advantage over the home folks.  During Fuse there were LOTTSA women.  In fact there were quite a few women who even felt their mobile music reproduction systems were so good they competed in the International Audio Sound Challenge Association's (IASCA) competition!  So what is it that the mobile industry knows that the home folks don't.  Well, for one thing women get treated well in the stores by salespeople that's for sure.  Of course the industry also doesn't give any ego elitist B.S. either.  Sure there are mainly men in the mobile industry, yet there is a fair number of women too.  A huge amount by comparison to the home high performance market that's for sure.

Ya see, that mobile market isn't "killing" their young like the home field does.  The mobile market seeks out to help those both male and female who are interested in sharing their joys of music reproduction and now condescending to them.   Folks both young and old, male and female seem to feel comfortable shopping in mobile audio specialty stores.  Can we say this about the home specialty stores?   if not, then why?  What is the industry itself doing to promote the youth to join in.  Not just male youth, but youth in general?  Heck, even the tobacco industry knows that to keep market share going you need to promote to the "newer" market.  Maybe using the tobacco industry is a very bad analogy, yet the message is clear.  If you're not promoting to those who are now capable and old enough with the financial means of buying your products then you are basically saying "We don't need you , your interest, or your money."  Well, it's time to get with it home folks.   if not then you can kiss it all goodbye one day because the industry will die just as people get older and die.

So here's all points bulletin.  Please have as many women as you can GUYS to shop at the specialty home audio/video stores and then please have them e-mail me with how they feel about their shopping experience.  A most humble thanks.  All help is always appreciated.

One Day You Will Die.

     So here i sit, thousands of feet above the earth as a passenger of a big jet airplane.  While in the bathroom just before the flight was this writing on the wall.  It said, "One day you will die."  For just a fraction of a second it felt kinda depressing.  Death, so final and permanent.  Then suddenly within another fraction of a second a great feeling of satisfactions came across me.  For yes, one day all those reading this will die, yet how has this life been lived?  Each time i fly just can't help but to look down through the small window and think to myself, there are so many stories yet untold down there.  So many lives... and so much music.

In this life we have many miracles.  A few of them being what i feel is the most important miracle of all.  That is the miracle of childbirth.  Personally have no children of my own, yet my brother has been blessed with two beautiful, wonderful, ever curious and learning children over the past two years.  Amazing to see the innocent wonderment in their eyes when first experiencing a new food, a new toy, or new music.  Another miracle is that of what might be referred to by some as civilization.  It's a miracle how the human race has somehow structured itself to some remanence of a civilized society.  Still another that has transcended time is that of music.  We humans have for many thousands of years enjoyed music.  To express ourselves through music has brought us closer together.

Children.  Ever curious.  They start out in this world needing help.  They have some basic instincts, some predetermined structure set in their DNA.   Yet with the selfless acts of kindness they are allowed to grow stronger each day and learn from experience.  As they grow even older and grasp communication, they also are able to learn from others through this communication as well.  Eventually being self reliant and, in turn, to possibly start this cycle, this beautiful miracle by procreating themselves.

Another miracle is that if civilization.  As i look down at this very moment i can see a night sky all aglow by many lights (Cincinnati if you must know).   None of this was possible just 100 years ago.  The small "miracles" of man that have come forth from curiosity, ingenuity, and at times necessity.  In fact it is possible for me to right now get my e-mail, fax a client a quote, update my humble website, and talk to a friend... all from thousands of feet in the air as a passenger of a modern miracle jet aeroplane.  At times it's far too easy to take all this for granted.  After all, we all work hard and deserve the "good life" don't we?

Lastly, the miracle of music.  Music has been around since virtually the beginning of human-kind.  Since the early cave people music has played some part in history, and also in a sense portrayed it as well.  Music over the ages seems to express the times, the feelings within the era, and can even help to shape the ear as well.  How are we, in turn, helping music grow, blossom, and flower?  Are we somehow helping others to enjoy music, or are we diminishing it?  In the United States the Government funding to support the teaching of music, and the arts in general, has been declining.  Sad, but true.  Are we as a culture one day going to wake up in an all independent electronic world and find that there are virtually no human musicians?  This i doubt would ever happen as the human spirit is very strong.   Within this spirit's DNA is somehow embedded a musician who will share their feelings and thoughts through music.

My humble apologies for the fragmented writings above, it's just an "inspiration" writing of sorts as yes, one day i will die.  (Blood, Sweat & Tears lyrics here) And when i die, and when i'm gone.  They'll be one child born in the world to carry on.  To carry on.  So to kinda somehow haphazardly end this very senseless rambling, how are we grateful or the above miracles?  Are we treating them with the respect they deserve or are we somehow clashing with them?   Are we a positive force in the world or obstructing human nature with ever so small petty arguments when there's the "big picture" to consider?  Have you helped a child learn and grow today?  Have you helped make the world a better place today?  And have you freely enjoyed the music today?  If you died today, would you feel that you've tried to be the best person you could be while making amends when you've felt otherwise?  For in life we all only have a very limited, extremely small time on this earth.  Just as those small lights below me are actually large cities, so is this one small life i have been given through the miracle of birth.

It's OK With Me.

     Just came back from a two week trip to the New York area. It was a nightmare with getting my car "booted" by the New Jersey parking authorities (booting is a big metal piece that attaches to your car's tire so that you can not move your car without having it removed).  Also, having a nail in my tire which in turn needed to be fixed was no fun. Though actually all of this wasn't too bad because another, much bigger lesson was learnt during this trip. A lesson so astonishing that i now begin to wonder why some folks are in this hobby (it is a hobby after all, right)? Sometimes i wonder why some folks are in this hobby.  During this trip many things became much clearer.

It seems to me some folks, and quite a few of my friends, don't care about equipment and can easily sit back with their music reproduction systems and enjoy the music. They don't care about the cable/DAC/cartridge of the week. Heck, they don't even care if green ink might make their music collection on CD sound better. These guys (why is it almost always guys anyway?) just wanna relax, drink a nice glass of their favorite beverage, and enjoy the music. One of my friends who is like this owns MBL speakers, a top-o-the-heap VPI turntable setup, VTL 225 amplifier... Though the best thing about his system is that he has over 10,000 vinyl records.  All of impeccable performance. Anytime i go to NYC i make it a point to visit this friend.  It's refreshing to be able to enjoy an entire vinyl record (both sides) without any tweaking being done or stopping the music mid-song.

Then there was another good friend of mine.  This guy refuses to spend more then a few thousand dollars for his entire system.  He musta bought half of his system through close-out bargain deals! He uses basic interconnects and is only now trying vinyl.  His "new" turntable is a basic used turntable which he bought for about $50.  He received his cartridge for free.  During my visit to NYC i called him and was more then happy to show him how to setup a turntable since he had never set one up before.  In fact he and i went to Innovative Audio to hear the big Wilson X-1 Series II speakers.  While he and i admit the Wilson system was wonderful, did it really offer a 50 fold advantage over his system? No.  Was his system anywhere near as good as the Wilson?  No.  Though at what point does one become satisfied with the music?  At what point is good good enough?  My friend seems very happy with what he has now and he can relax and enjoy the music on his relatively inexpensive system.  In other words he's happy and having fun in this hobby.  All i can say is that i admire him for his also freely helping others who are just beginning out in the hobby.  Show a "normal" consumer the prices of the X-1's and they will run screaming, yet show them some good $500 speakers and they may start thinking twice about those Bose speakers advertised in the newspaper.

Next up we have another friend who delves into this hobby deeply.   Sure, he uses tubes and vinyl.  Has customized the crossovers in his speakers and must have enough top quality interconnect to cable five systems! If something isn't quite right to his ears off the music goes, he'll check some tubes, replace a few of them, wiggle this, jiggle that and hopefully the music will begin again and he will be happy.   He does relax and enjoy the music.  He also uses lottsa those wooden puck thingies too.  i'd call this guy a kinda in-between of a music lover and an, well, not quite neurotic.  His record collection has many wonderful performances and in the end he and i will sit and listen to music for hours on end.  In other words, none of this two minutes of this song followed by one minute of that song followed by... You get the drift here.  He loves music yet is also a bit picky about how it is reproduced to the point of buying tweak products and fidgeting with things every now and then.

Lastly we have the full blown "audiophile".  Now this guy seems to enjoy being narcissistic and i'm ok with that.  During the entire time i've known this guy he has never heard a song all the way through.  If for some reason the soundstage depth isn't just right he'll stop the music, move the speakers this or that way and start the song again (only to stop it into the song because he can't quite make out the second violin in the third row who's violin bow was moving in the wrong direction... according to him).  Wooden pucks are only a beginning for this guy.  Each and every cable must be rubbed before any listening session with some kinda stuff to reduce static electricity, each CD must be demagnetized before each play (and sometimes he'll stop the music midplay to re-demagnetize it again)!  This is only the beginning, let's not forget that he checks the humidity of the room because the humidity factor effects the way the sound waves travel through the air and he has discovered that by making sure you have the optimum humidity level he can cheaply enhance his musical pleasure.  Pleasure?  i can only take about 3-4 hours of this guy.  Oh, before i forget i have yet to ever see him have the same music reproduction system twice.   He goes through equipment like i change underwear! Before long it all became so clear to me.  He's not into this for the music, but to enjoy the constant fine tuning.  Some car guys i know are like that too.  So maybe he's not ever going to enjoy the music yet he is, in some sick perverted narcissistic way, having fun and this is cool.  Unfortunately he refuses to believe his reality until i showed him a video tape of him in action!  Even after watching the video tape he began to rationalize and justify himself.  Heck, i never asked for his comments, just to watch the video.   He became immediately defensive and almost threw me outta his home.  Well, since it was very hard to enjoy the music there, what with all his stopping midsong to tweak this, move that, so i guess i may have lost another friend to this hobby.

In the end none of the above really matters to me other then if you can admit to yourself which "camp" you belong in and are happy that's what counts.   This was a great trip because my first friend made me realize that it the music that matters, my second friend made me realize that there's more to life then $89,200 integrated amplifiers and $100,000 speakers.  i'm also very grateful for my last and final friend (if he still is my friend) because he made me realize that for some this isn't a hobby for them per se, but more a way of constant dissatisfaction.  Let's all admit it, music reproduction isn't perfect and to strive at better reproduction is a good thing in my humble opinion.  How you go about it, though, might be another matter entirely.  Which person are you most like and why? Most important of all, are you happy?  In the end what really matters to me, of course, is that you...

Enjoy the music!

 

There's No Place Like Home...

     Ya know, i truly regret starting off a fresh page with a partially unhappy article. For those of you wondering why there will be no coverage of the Canadian show by me here's the scoop. The Canadian border folks seem to be prejudice and you are guilty until proven innocent (among other things). During my waiting to cross the border it seems they allow folks dressed more, um, normally to easily pass through yet my attire and look are a bit more progressive. More on this later.

Driving to the border was long, and fought with snow, ice, and fog. Well, it's the least i can so for you, my loyal readers. My hopes were to report on what new, great, Canadian-made yummies would be available. Of course there were a few Canadian friends and manufactures i was very much looking forward to meeting as well. Once at the border they asked me a few questions where they couldn't verify my claims because their computer was down. So the waiting began per their suggestion in hopes of them verifying my information. After two hours they still couldn't verify the information so they sent me back to my homeland, America. During these two hours i decided to observe what was going on.

It seems that during these two hours they were very casual with folks who dressed more conservatively. Those folks could cross the border with little effort. Those who dressed more progressively (like me) were instead asked more questions and scrutinized harder. It was as though prejudice still lives and thrives in the Canadian government (at least in their border officials). Now i'm not claiming nor ever desire to be Mr. Perfect, yet my records of misdoing are over a decade old! In America we have what is called statues of limitations and one can repay their debit to society too. Canada must be different. In America we are also innocent before proven guilty. Again, in Canada they must have different laws.

After the two hour wait they suggested i try back tomorrow hoping their computers there would be working to verify my claims. They also said that if their computers still weren't working there i would be in the same 'wait and see' situation. So it was time to leave and call it a day, but only after they fully searched my car during my wait and found nothing illegal or unordinary Then again they did take two free cartridge alignment tools from the many i was carrying to give away to others. Well, even Canadians enjoy music on vinyl so they can't be all that bad :-{)+ . While driving back i needed gasoline. At the gasoline station a good idea came to me. Instead of driving home which takes many hours, i would try another border crossing which was one hour away in hopes their computer system was operational. At the second border crossing they let me right through. No problems at all! Unfortunately i wasn't in Canada more then five minutes did some border police stop me while in a phone booth calling Canadian friends. They escorted me back to the first border crossing facility which was almost an hour away where i was waiting for their computer to output my data.

Once at the first border crossing facility again they made many false accusations! It seems you are guilty until proven innocent in Canada (at least that's the feelings about it). They threatened to throw me in jail! They took away the keys to my car, my passport, my drivers license and my car registration! Then started to interrogate me for what must have been about two hours or so. It's funny... they started going on and on about jail and fines, then asked me (for the first time ever) how much money i was carrying. Hmmm... at that moment it felt like Canada might be more like a third world country where one can buy their way around the police or various situations. Of course i'm not rich so after all the interrogation they let me go back to America. This was a very, very sad day in my life. Actually the worst day in my life in over a decade!

During my long drive home there was time to go through many feelings. In the end it brings me joy to be a citizen of a wonderful country, the United States of America, where one's freedoms are protected. We highly value independence, freedom of expression, and you are innocent until proven otherwise. The American border folks were as amazed and shocked as i was about all this! During my drive home came many realizations. There are many things which are taken for granted daily, yet one should be more grateful for. Enjoying whatever music is available, the freedom to roam about this great land, driving a car... and even receiving mail via ground or electronically. Some countries still govern the internet and limit access! America was founded on freedom and there are many other great countries in the world too which are planned for a visit.

So as today is a new day and looking back on the events of yesterday in Canada has brought me many newly realized freedoms and deep gratitude. It's time to realize just how good life truly is. As a person who has traveled into many different countries, there are many wonderful places to visit. France, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Denmark, Australia, Germany, Estonia, and many others. It saddens me that at this point in time Canada will never, ever, no way in my lifetime be in my plans to visit. This truly saddens me considering how it's only a few hours drive away. Germany has a great countryside, beer and the autobahn, France has wonderful food and museums, there are many friends in the UK and have lived there too, and all my friends in Singapore would be great to party with! Then there's Norway, ooooh, what beautiful countryside! i hear that Denmark is great and Australia has some killer surfing! Just sooo many possibilities in life yet so little time and money.

In the end there is no place like home. Of course anywhere i roam, where i lay my head is home. Home resides inside all of us. Home is what you make of it too. Music, gratitude, freedoms, no prejudice or discrimination... In complete darkness we are all the same . It's only our knowledge and wisdom that separate us. Don't let your eyes deceive you.

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