Is forward technology going backwards?[u]

Please accept that this is only MY opinion as a pro musician/producer/dj

Ok, i admit, there has been a MASSIVE leap forward in music technology and i don't dispute that the ipod/download/fileshare/plug-in-and-play era has vast advantages in the ease of ease of use stakes but......

Honestly, am I TOTALLY ALONE in this?

we went from vinyl to cd.
personally, i loved the warmth a record had and it was FAR more dj friendly for club work. You could see scratches and if a record stuck... a little nudge did the trick. With cd's... you play them at your peril.... too much bass on a denon can cause it to stop with no warning. Great, it's always gonna happen when you run the loo or outside for a ciggie!

Digital recording.... I LIKE tape compression. ok so a good digital take is an acurate recording of the frequencies the instuments make. Fine there are enough plugins to emulate anything and if you can find one you could always buy a euri of fairchild compressor.
Then we master it at full sample rate... job done.

I've seen people spend a fortune on oxygen free copper cables and speaker stands...funny how some MASSIVE hits have been recorded in studio's that use twin and earth as speaker leads with monitors on paving slabs and breeze block to absorb the bottom end!! (And yeah i know about how many generations it takes to notice digital overdub depletion and about checking your mixes on a crap mono speaker etc.)


I'll get to my point (thank God you say.)..
and remember this is just ONE MANS OPINION...

MP3's are now the way most people listen to music
MP3's sound SHIT compared to full sample rate WAV or Vinyl or heaven forbid even 8 Track! (ok maybe not 8 track.)
Digital sample compression sucks and we've all accepted this format as the way forward.
A string section on an MP3 player may as well be a midi file for all the dynamics and richness you're left with. Just imagine the reaction in 25 years time of someone listening to a classic song recorded on 2" tape mastered on 1" played at full quality if all they've ever heard is MP3.

It's always bugged me that the A+R depts of so many labels keep ALBA in business. If the song was MEANT to sound like it was down a well the PRODUCER would've drowned it in reverb... no the bass isn't supposed to bounce yor glass off your desk... Leave the F**king EQ set to FLAT. Not stadium or club or psudo whatever.

These days, too much over production, too many crap bands and a shit format.
Listen to how good things were played recorded and sung 40 to 50 years ago. We're no-where near that anymore.
A handfull of people some mic's and LOADS of talent.

Rant over.
F**KED my chances of getting anything signed by anyone who reads your forum JK. Sorry about that. I'm just so sick of hearing shite and failing to get excited.

Ethan
www.myspace.com/ethanallenmusic

'cor you ain't 'alf angry, mate!

I don't many think many people would disagree with you. The crappiness of the MP3 is no less crappy than the little trannies we used to listen to music on. And there is a parallel: they are both low-cost transportable forms of listening to music. Some people go on to listen to better quality recordings, some people are not bothered.

My son just bought himself a fancy pair of headphones that he uses to listen to his iPod. I'm wondering how long it will take him to notice that it's an expensive way of showing up the limits of ultra-compressed music.

Flash production is only really needed to compensate for a lack of a song, I'd say.

I like the post, but theres not much one can add really.
The thing that gets me, is I can spend hours mastering something, and it comes back from the digital aggragator sounding different again!
I don`t like MP3s at high volume at all, but I think we probably have to accept that the majority of people are unaware of the sound differences.

The hardest task in recording will allways be creating perfect natural silence,I don`t believe this will ever be achieved and, generally it is not required, the majority of our works will allways be someones background soundtrack to their life at some point.

All this is true - if you knew how many hours John Mackswith spent getting the right bass drum sound - but I have to tell you, often this detracts and distracts from the key points - melody, lyric, performance.

If those aren't right, nothing will be.

And if they are, the rest matters little.

Michael wrote:
'cor you ain't 'alf angry, mate!

I don't many think many people would disagree with you. The crappiness of the MP3 is no less crappy than the little trannies we used to listen to music on.
<snip>

I have no idea of the reliable figures but... "we" did progress to better things to hear our music.

Is the new generation (going to) moving on from mp3s to higher fidelity?

Also if anyone has a tame young person to ask, do they appreciate the difference in sound quality and if they do are they likely to invest in a decent system to hear it?

Speaking as someone who has a vast vinyl collection, nothing beats the sound of a decent turntable, amp and speakers.
You cannot play about with the sound of anything digital and it's a bit like bashing the keys of a harpsichord. No matter how hard you bash them, you always get the same sound.

That all said, a small run of our products has just arrived here on cds, and they completely flatten the previous downloads that are currently available.
I really think anyone could tell the difference and, I am a vinyl fan, I just know we would not shift any copies in that format.

I don't know about any available figures (although they probably exist), but I would love to think that the mp3/iPod format is a taster format, and that people that find something they really like will move up - but I wouldn't count on it if I was a label. If people want mp3s, who are we to tell them to clear off? Here's a topical parallel: champagne makers absolutely hate the idea that "Crissie" is being used to pour over my "my ho's ass" by the swimming pool. Some of these champagnes actually do fall into the category of fine wines. But what can they do if people want to spend

I'd also state the obvious and say that if all you are exposed to is the sound from mp3's, your ears are going to get used to it. As a kid I always wanted better, more "pure" sound - upgrade the little transistor radio, then upgrade the little record player with the speaker in it, then actually get a component system, upgrade that, etc.

I find it interesting that my improving the hardware improved the sound of the vinyl (or tape). As has been said here, that's not necessarily the case with mp3s, especially when listened to through tiny, tinny ear buds.

The hardware side HAS to push the technology. Right now I'm not convinced that they care. The future is supposed to be digital only and the mp3, like the CD in it's day, is the perfect medium for bulk sales.

PS - As the "Do You Hear The Difference..." thread shows, there CAN be sonic improvements to mp3s. If the goal is for the music to sound "better", the permutations of hardware and software can be tweaked infinitely.

Now if someone would only try and mimic the "sound" of the golden days of record production (George Martin, Glyn Johns, etc.) we'd be much better off than the bass heavy "tennis shoes in a dryer" sound that we now have...

mics, talent and tape...there was nothing wrong with it, however, I believe you can still record a class record with fairly basic equipment and talent now. Nothing has changed really...if the music is shit and the song is shit the record will be shit in whatever format.

T-racks does the mastering job for me since there is all the warmth you will ever need. The trick is getting the eq and compression right.

I don't know why you are moaning about this. You can sell downloads as wav audio. You can sell it on your own site but also from sites like www.junodownload.com who do dance music.

Also the move is for mp3 to be higher in quality. 320k mp3 are a lot better than standard mp3.

Mp3 are "radio quality". Most times you discover music from the radio and can go out and buy it if you like what you hear. You can still sell CD or vinyl for the purists. Do it from your own website and on demand using either:

Premium Gold CD-Rs (the best quality). Giving them wavs as well should the CD go belly up.

DVD-R for the surround sound or DVD audio quality.

Custom made vinyl selling it at 20.00 quid each (7 inch).

If you have enough pre-orders you can go for a pressed vinyl or CD solution.

Vinyl will cost you 300.00 for a run of 100 records and CDs will cost less than that for a minimum run. Around 180.00.

Downloads for the masses and on deman physical for the fans. Chuck in a t-shirt as well.

We are doing this now and setting up our on-demand shop this week.