What Is An Audiophile? … And A Quick Suggestion For Them

[Andrea Cifani]

Hello , I'm new in Audioholics, I just wanted to share with you my video where I say what is an audiophile.

I consider myself as an audiophile since long time ago, and I share my journey in my video. I also say a quick suggestion on it.

I hope you'll like it

This is the video:

And maybe you want to see it on my site:
www.jammingwave.com/audiophile-meaning/

 

[killdozzer]

I liked it for the most part. The term is not precise, so you can have many definitions.

Yes, striving for the best and keeping in mind it's never going to be be perfect is a good measure.

This notion of "having real instruments in your listening room", doesn't cover for everything. A lot of sounds in today's music, not to mention movies, have sounds with no actual instrument to be represented in your listening room. I'm not talking only about EDM, I see you have albums by Pink Floyd on your wall. They had beautifully and ingeniously used synths on their albums, but a lot of those sounds don't have an original to go by when you judge your in-room sound.

You might end up saying a synth sounds better in your room than in the concert and no one would be in a position to say: yes, but that's artificial, this is more natural or closer to real.

Our notion of what makes for a good sound isn't entirely based in natural.

 

[Andrea Cifani]

I liked it for the most part. The term is not precise, so you can have many definitions.

Yes, striving for the best and keeping in mind it's never going to be be perfect is a good measure.

This notion of "having real instruments in your listening room", doesn't cover for everything. A lot of sounds in today's music, not to mention movies, have sounds with no actual instrument to be represented in your listening room. I'm not talking only about EDM, I see you have albums by Pink Floyd on your wall. They had beautifully and ingeniously used synths on their albums, but a lot of those sounds don't have an original to go by when you judge your in-room sound.

You might end up saying a synth sounds better in your room than in the concert and no one would be in a position to say: yes, but that's artificial, this is more natural or closer to real.

Our notion of what makes for a good sound isn't entirely based in natural.

Hey Killdozer.

When I said, "having real instruments in your listening room", I meant when you listen to music in analog format. So, in my opinion, acoustic guitars and drums (for example) sound better when you listen to them with a good turntable. You can create the notion of having the instruments right in front of you. It was my bad of not setting that clear. Thank you for noticing it.

I completely agree with what you said, “Our notion of what makes for a good sound isn't entirely based on natural.”

Thank you for the feedback and have a nice day

 

[killdozzer]

Hey Killdozer.

When I said, "having real instruments in your listening room", I meant when you listen to music in analog format. So, in my opinion, acoustic guitars and drums (for example) sound better when you listen to them with a good turntable. You can create the notion of having the instruments right in front of you. It was my bad of not setting that clear. Thank you for noticing it.

I completely agree with what you said, “Our notion of what makes for a good sound isn't entirely based on natural.”

Thank you for the feedback and have a nice day

OK, but the analogue format doesn't change the fact. For example, since you've mentioned drums, a lot of audiophiles enjoy listening to Graceland by Paul Simon. On that album he uses electric drums and in my opinion they don't (always) sound like listening to a real drum kit (CD player or Turntable). So again, how would one know what is he going for. Same goes for Sade and Dire Straits.

Also a lot of audiophiles enjoy the benefits of digital source and would think that digital source sounds better. Now, this doesn't mean they're not audiophiles. There's even a portion of them that think digital source is superior to vinyl.

As I said, I don't think there's anything wrong with your definition or your video. I just had a feeling that the way you put it, some of the audiophiles are being left out. Perhaps it could be a little bit broader.

 

[killdozzer]

I'm sorry, I got entangled into the subject matter and forgot to say welcome to the forum. I hope you'll enjoy.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey Killdozer.

When I said, "having real instruments in your listening room", I meant when you listen to music in analog format. So, in my opinion, acoustic guitars and drums (for example) sound better when you listen to them with a good turntable. You can create the notion of having the instruments right in front of you. It was my bad of not setting that clear. Thank you for noticing it.

I completely agree with what you said, “Our notion of what makes for a good sound isn't entirely based on natural.”

Thank you for the feedback and have a nice day

If you think that only analog sources can deliver accurate reproduction then I part company with you. The most accurate reproduction comes from digital sources. A turntable is a crude device compared to digital playback sources. Digital sources can put a copy of the original master in the hands of the consumer, a turntable can not. Digital sources can also bring you a high definition picture with magnificent sound.

In addition digital sources are not limited by the scale of the performance. When there are hundreds of musicians on stage then the chasm between a turntable and a good digital recording widens massively.

This is a problem I have with the traditional Hi-Fi dealers. They push gold plated vintage technology and reuse to learn the new technologies and therefore are not helping there customers reap the benefits of the new technologies.

Sure the new technologies are complex, but we are all called to life long learning and need to understand this new world and implement it properly. The benefits and pleasure they bring are enormous.

Seriously if your best source is a turntable, then you have a lot of catching up to do.

Don't get me wrong, I have four excellent turntables in use, but I don't pretend they sound better than my digital players, my HTPC or DAW, because they don't and it would be mechanically impossible for them to do so.

 

[herbu]

acoustic guitars and drums (for example) sound better when you listen to them with a good turntable.

Hey, Andrea. Maybe you can help clear something up for me.

Take a guitar in a band. The player hits a note and the string vibrates, (analog). That analog is converted to digital in the amp, and amplified. That amplified digital is converted back to analog and sent to the speaker. That analog from the speaker is picked up by a microphone and sent to some kind of processor or mixer where it is converted back to digital. It is mixed and altered to suit the taste of the sound engineer. Then it is either written to digital media or converted back to analog and pressed into an album. Then you play it. If it's an album, (unless you have ALL analog equipment), it's converted back into digital by your receiver and amplified. Then converted back into analog for your speakers.

Here's my confusion. With all this process and all the conversions that occur regardless of end-user media, how much does that final conversion really affect the accuracy of the sound? It seems like for most folks, digital media will in fact get fewer conversions than analog media.

Just wondering.

 

[Andrea Cifani]

I'm sorry, I got entangled into the subject matter and forgot to say welcome to the forum. I hope you'll enjoy.

Ohh. Yes, I got what you mean. I didn’t clarify that the definition I mentioned was what I think it is an audiophile (and with just a few words). Now that I think about it you’re right, my definition has VERY few words. And I left aside a lot of audiophiles with it.

Personally, I think that there is not an absolute truth about how to be an audiophile. If it would, it was like tagging somebody and having tons of people that think the same way. Music is something that I think must be appreciated without thinking too much about it, just felling it (in my opinion of course). I feel relaxed and very pleased when I listen to music, and that feeling is what I want to transmit with my blog/channel.

You mentioned that there are some audiophiles that prefer digital source and not analogue. In my case, I think that depends on an infinite number of things. There are some records that I prefer to listen to on cd and others on vinyl.

Thank you so much for your welcome, I think that I will learn a lot about here and meet a lot of people interested in music.

 

[Andrea Cifani]

If you think that only analog sources can deliver accurate reproduction then I part company with you. The most accurate reproduction comes from digital sources. A turntable is a crude device compared to digital playback sources. Digital sources can put a copy of the original master in the hands of the consumer, a turntable can not. Digital sources can also bring you a high-definition picture with magnificent sound.

In addition, digital sources are not limited by the scale of the performance. When there are hundreds of musicians on stage then the chasm between a turntable and a good digital recording widens massively.

This is a problem I have with the traditional Hi-Fi dealers. They push gold plated vintage technology and reuse to learn the new technologies and therefore are not helping there customers reap the benefits of the new technologies.

Sure the new technologies are complex, but we are all called to life long learning and need to understand this new world and implement it properly. The benefits and pleasure they bring are enormous.

Seriously if your best source is a turntable, then you have a lot of catching up to do.

Don't get me wrong, I have four excellent turntables in use, but I don't pretend they sound better than my digital players, my HTPC or DAW, because they don't and it would be mechanically impossible for them to do so.

Hi TLS Guy.

I don’t think that analog is better than digital.

I do not think that there is, in some part of the world, a room where you can find the best turntable possible and the best digital player possible. Then the fight starts, CD vs. Vinlyl… Ready, set… GO! When the fight is over, there is a machine that says: CD won for a score of 100% of accuracy against the 95% of the vinyl. So everybody will listen digital because that is better.

I don’t think that is the case because the judges are humans. And there is going to be somebody that will prefer some format and others will prefer other format. We are all different from each other. I don’t think that is a big deal.

As I said before, there are some albums that I think they sound significantly better in digital format. But there are other that I personal prefer to listen to in analogue. Why is that wrong?

I see that your language for speaking is very technical, and I’m sure that you have a lot of experience in this field. It can tell that and I respect that. But I don’t think there is a best way to listen music, I think that will depend in our personal preferences.

Thank you 4 your comment and I hope to speak you with frequently.

PS: very… VERYYYY COOLLL SOUNDING ROOM YOU GOT BACK THERE MAN!!!!

 

[lovinthehd]

Welcome to the forum. I couldn't just view the embedded link FWIW (error occurred with a suggestion to try later), I was able to go to your site and view it. The sound quality in your video could use improvement, due to the reverberant qualities it was hard to understand you. I couldn't even listen to the whole video....come on, you're an audiophile

I don't know about the never ending journey, that sounds more like consumerism.

 

[rojo]

Welcome to the forum. I couldn't just view the embedded link FWIW (error occurred with a suggestion to try later), I was able to go to your site and view it. The sound quality in your video could use improvement, due to the reverberant qualities it was hard to understand you. I couldn't even listen to the whole video....come on, you're an audiophile

I don't know about the never ending journey, that sounds more like consumerism.

Enabling closed captions helps. "A keyboard or other files is to capture the experience of a left music performance in a room with bamboo sticks, and reproduce it at home. It is probably a cream that is very difficult, and that even the best recorded reported on plate X distance rarely if ever achieve it. In a few words, another foul it's a person that is very touchy asking about blue music in the best possible way. His goal is to set in front of his or her criminal parties..."

Sorry Andrea, I couldn't resist. YouTube's auto transcription for closed captioning struggles even with native English speakers. I don't blame you for the captions. I do agree with @lovinthehd that your vlog recording room could use some acoustic treatments though. Check out this video for a cheap way to make DIY acoustic panels.

As I said before, there are some albums that I think they sound significantly better in digital format. But there are other that I personal prefer to listen to in analogue. Why is that wrong?

I think this has more to do with mastering than with the medium. Many albums have fallen victim to the loudness wars. It's not uncommon to find CDs that are so compressed that they've lost almost all their dynamics, whereas the vinyl release of the same album retains all the artistic peaks and valleys. TLS Guy is speaking from the perspective of one who masters original recordings, and who is more likely to listen to symphonic than to pop music.

 

[agarwalro]

It seems that anyone actually referring to themselves as an audiophile has less concern with quality and more about social posture.

So, what do I call myself? Audioholic, of course .

I completely agree with Andrea on one thing, and have noticed this in myself, the tendency to lose sight of the end goal, to enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

 

[Andrea Cifani]

Hey, Andrea. Maybe you can help clear something up for me.

Take a guitar in a band. The player hits a note and the string vibrates, (analog). That analog is converted to digital in the amp, and amplified. That amplified digital is converted back to analog and sent to the speaker. That analog from the speaker is picked up by a microphone and sent to some kind of processor or mixer where it is converted back to digital. It is mixed and altered to suit the taste of the sound engineer. Then it is either written to digital media or converted back to analog and pressed into an album. Then you play it. If it's an album, (unless you have ALL analog equipment), it's converted back into digital by your receiver and amplified. Then converted back into analog for your speakers.

Here's my confusion. With all this process and all the conversions that occur regardless of end-user media, how much does that final conversion really affect the accuracy of the sound? It seems like for most folks, digital media will in fact get fewer conversions than analog media.

Just wondering.

Hey, Herbu

There is a lot of steps in the process of recording an album. There are a lot of ways to capture the sound of a guitar. Depending on them you will have to pass from analog through digital (and vice-versa) several times, as you said in your comment.

I would like to clarify that I’m not a music engineer nor a producer or anything like that (unfortunately ) so I’m sorry but I cannot give you a technical answer to your question.

But I will share with you my personal experience of listening records. I have in my music collection a LOT of albums. There are few of them that I possess both in CD and Vinyl. All the CDs were mastered in digital (this is kind of obvious, I’ve heard that digital mastering is cheaper). And for the vinyl, there are some of them that were mastered in digital and then pressed and some of them were mastered in analog. I have found, based on my experience that when the vinyl are pressed from a digital master, they lose sound quality, so in that case, the CDs sound better. Or that’s what my hears are saying anyway. When the vinyl comes from an analog, I prefer them rather than CDs.

Again, this is only my experience. What I think anybody can’t discuss nor argue is that their sound is different. CDs sound DIFFERENT from vinyl. That is a fact, period. So, what I think you should do is to go out and listen both and find out what is better for you. What is better will be based on your opinion. Because, all in all, you are going to be the one that will enjoy the music.

I have another article where I share the differences between CDs and Vinyl. If you want to check it out this is the link: http://www.jammingwave.com/why-vinyl-is-better-than-cd/

I hope I have helped you in some way.

Keep those horns high

 

[lovinthehd]

You might want to fix your tag line at the bottom of your 5 reasons you like vinyl page....right now it reads "Be a Music Lover, Not a Heater". I think you mean "hater".

 

[Andrea Cifani]

Welcome to the forum. I couldn't just view the embedded link FWIW (error occurred with a suggestion to try later), I was able to go to your site and view it. The sound quality in your video could use improvement, due to the reverberant qualities it was hard to understand you. I couldn't even listen to the whole video....come on, you're an audiophile

I don't know about the never ending journey, that sounds more like consumerism.

Hey lovinthehd,


Thank you for the welcome!


The acoustic of the room where I record the videos is awful. What you hear in the video is an edited audio. I use Pro Tools for the editing. Even if you hear some echoes on the audio now, there were a lot of them before. Trust me


Unfortunately, I can’t record the videos in another room (for now at least). But you’re absolutely right, I should find some better way to improve the audio even further. I must see if I can do something with the room or better audio editing with the software.


Yes, it is a never-ending journey… That is why I suggested to not get crazy buying the best gadget because there is always going to be something that will “improve” the sound quality. I was trying to be against consumerism rather than on its side


Cheers mate!

 

[Andrea Cifani]

You might want to fix your tag line at the bottom of your 5 reasons you like vinyl page....right now it reads "Be a Music Lover, Not a Heater". I think you mean "hater".

Thank you!

 

[Andrea Cifani]

Enabling closed captions helps. "A keyboard or other files is to capture the experience of a left music performance in a room with bamboo sticks, and reproduce it at home. It is probably a cream that is very difficult, and that even the best recorded reported on plate X distance rarely if ever achieve it. In a few words, another foul it's a person that is very touchy asking about blue music in the best possible way. His goal is to set in front of his or her criminal parties..."

Sorry Andrea, I couldn't resist. YouTube's auto transcription for closed captioning struggles even with native English speakers. I don't blame you for the captions. I do agree with @lovinthehd that your vlog recording room could use some acoustic treatments though. Check out this video for a cheap way to make DIY acoustic panels.



I think this has more to do with mastering than with the medium. Many albums have fallen victim to the loudness wars. It's not uncommon to find CDs that are so compressed that they've lost almost all their dynamics, whereas the vinyl release of the same album retains all the artistic peaks and valleys. TLS Guy is speaking from the perspective of one who masters original recordings, and who is more likely to listen to symphonic than to pop music.

Hello @rojo

Man! Thanks a lot for your suggestion. I will improve the audio of my videos with the help of the video you shared with me. I’m gonna buy some towels

Yes, I agree with you. I think that the mastering of a record is maybe the thing that define the final sound of an album the most. For example, if you compare the CD of Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” with its analog, the digital version lacks (almost) all the dynamics.

Cheers

 

[Andrea Cifani]

It seems that anyone actually referring to themselves as an audiophile has less concern with quality and more about social posture.

So, what do I call myself? Audioholic, of course .

I completely agree with Andrea on one thing, and have noticed this in myself, the tendency to lose sight of the end goal, to enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

Yes! all in all, in the end what we really should concern us is to enjoy music

 

[killdozzer]

And for the vinyl, there are some of them that were mastered in digital and then pressed and some of them were mastered in analog. I have found, based on my experience that when the vinyl are pressed from a digital master, they lose sound quality, so in that case, the CDs sound better. Or that’s what my hears are saying anyway.

It's even more complex than that. This doesn't have to be the case.

Again, this is only my experience. What I think anybody can’t discuss nor argue is that their sound is different. CDs sound DIFFERENT from vinyl. That is a fact, period.

Even this is not a fact. I seem to remember @TLS Guy managing to make these two mediums indistinguishable for his audience.

So, what I think you should do is to go out and listen both and find out what is better for you. What is better will be based on your opinion. Because, all in all, you are going to be the one that will enjoy the music.

Yes, because @herbu simply didn't think of this before I'm kidding, don't let this get to you. It's just chat. Everyone here "went out and listened to both". That's a given'.

I read your blog.

Look, you like what you like. No one here is questioning that and no one can so it's pointless. But you keep mixing what you like with what is flawed or not flawed and what you prefer with what is more natural and so on.

The crowd here is a bit tougher.

You can like what you want, but when it comes to faithfully recording music onto a medium, digital prove to be far more successful (this is not my preference I'm talking about). ALTHOUGH, just to keep things interesting, even today you can still find albums that sound better on vinyl, and if you want things even more interesting, vinyl is to blame for those albums sounding better on vinyl.

You should really read this, it was so fascinating to me, I can't stop thinking about it. You can read it all and I wholeheartedly recommend that, but you can jump to post No.10 and read on from there. This gives you a short version of this topic. It is very well written and very easy to understand.

It basically says this: like what you will, but if you're preoccupied with getting a faithful copy of the recorded material, still to this day nothing beats digital.

 

[3db]

My definition of an audiophile is a person that believes their hearing is superior to any or all measurements and dismisses audio and electrical theory as incomplete.