Comments on Gathering Evidence: Stereo Types

Jake, The speakers from our office still work lik...

2008-04-01T17:02:00.000-04:00

Jake,
The speakers from our office still work like a charm. I hear the full complexity of the Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N'Roses, and Feist. Proof, that an expensive system isn't necessary.

Did you hear about Dr. Pepper offering to give a soda to everyone in the U.S. if Axl Rose produces "Chinese Democracy?"

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN2735728520080327

Jake,Interesting and intriguing post, especially t...

2008-03-30T16:22:00.000-04:00

Jake,

Interesting and intriguing post, especially to a guy who is addicted to looking at electronic gadgets online but who never buys them.

I'm looking forward to the day when you add a record player to your stack and you can tell us whether the commonly-heard snobbery that the old analog ways of recording and playing music are in fact better, or clearer, or more satisfying, than the newer digitally-based ones.

I often equate the claims of those analog-o-philes with the way my grandpa used to say that he liked things better in the "good old days" (travel, books, candy, whatever). I usually concluded that he was remembering the good (candy cost only $.05!) and forgetting the bad ($.05 was about 10% of his daily wage!) But I would appreciate an opinion from someone who, like you, recognizes and appreciates subtlety in music while recognizing the great advancement that digital technology promises, and brings, to contemporary music.

Geeky to post first in my own comments section, I ...

2008-03-27T17:04:00.000-04:00

Geeky to post first in my own comments section, I know, but I feel obliged to say, against my post, that one certainly DOES NOT need expensive equipment to listen to classical or any other complex, arty music.

In the three years I rocked my iPod/computer speaker set-up, I've had any number of revelatory experiences listening to exactly the sort of stuff I say is so "frustrating" in my post (i.e. Xenakis, Perotin, Mingus, etc.). Headphones are good in a pinch, too.

Granted, this new system goes a long way to increasing enjoyment, but to say complex music requires rarefied tools or knowledge is exactly the sort of message I don't want to send. It ain't so.