Logical Thinking About Gear

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Golden

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Today I read this article about "the death of high fidelity": http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity

And so I began to ponder the common trends in audio production. Especially the use of high end gear, and the growing number of engineers that decide to spend a stack of bills on adda conversion.... and the point of it all...

I realize that adda conversion is critical to the work, however, do we need to spend 2000 + for conversion in our home set-ups?

Also, after reading this article, I began to revisit Harvey's "do you really need the expensive gear" thread.... in my mind.... or, at least the title...

Anyway, I have come to a point where I feel that "the death of high fidelity" must pop up in my mind when considering gear purchasing...

Just food for thought.
 
i dont know much about music recording or editing but pitch correction and compression both change the emotional content of songs to me-i`d rather a song was slightly out of tune than made emotionally "levelled"
if you want a track loud all the way through do it with the bass or drums
 
I don't know why you posted this in the mic forum, but whatever.

I've read numerous similar articles/threads/posts over the last couple of years. I think the problem is with the music/musicians, not the engineers - they're just doing what the client wants.

I noticed fifteen or twenty years ago that "popular" music was becoming more homogeneous, especially in dynamic range. Something noisy had to be happening at all times throughout a song.

I also think that music videos have contributed to the demise of music - if the music is shit, there may at least be something (sexual usually) going on visually to hold the viewer's interest and sell the product, which of course is it's raison d'etre.

Many musicians/composers seem to have forgotten that music is composed of notes and rests, piano and forte. It is contrast that makes it interesting.
 
I've noticed...

I'm 24 years old, and I've been going to shows for as long as I can remember. Perhaps this I'm in the early stages of major hearing loss, as most of us are, but I've also noticed that rock bands, in general, are getting louder, and louder, and louder. And I'm not talking about seeing the Stones at Madison Square Garden, of course that's loud—I'm talking about seeing a no-name band opening for a national no-name touring act with like 5 people in the room and they RIP YOUR FACE OFF.

Anyone who's seen Lightning Bolt knows what I'm talking about. Whoa.

I spend $130 dollars on custom ear plugs last year. I keep them on a pouch on my keychain. If I don't have ear protection, I don't go see the show.

Of course, I'm in a rock band, and we're fucking loud as well. I dunno.

:confused:
 
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I just think that a wave form should look like one big, solid block. When played back, I think the meters should also just look like one big, solid, unmoving block ... extending vertically from the top to bottom of the meter.

Otherwise, you might as well just be listening to Karen Carpenter or James Taylor.

.
 
crazydoc said:
I don't know why you posted this in the mic forum, but whatever.
Click to expand...

Harvey Gerst posted a thread in here called "do you really need that expensive gear", or something like that anyway... so I posted this here because it related to that.... in a sense.

anyway. I wasn't really getting at the loudness wars or anything the like.... The fact is that mp3s sound like shite... people don't seem to care about high fidelity music anymore.

so why spend 3000 dollars on a converter, or a pre, or a mic? some guys are doing it...

why spend another dollar if you don't "need" to?

I'm starting to think that it's a must to ask yourself these questions with regard to gear...

just thoughts....

Personally, I won't be purchasing a 3000 dollar adda converter... I think there might be smarter alternatives.
 
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Daisy said:
I just think that a wave form should look like one big, solid block. When played back, I think the meters should also just look like one big, solid, unmoving block ... extending vertically from the top to bottom of the meter.

Otherwise, you might as well just be listening to Karen Carpenter or James Taylor.

.
Click to expand...
I agree - the ultimate music experience is 2 minutes and 37 seconds of white noise at 130 dB.

And, nice to see you around, chessnuts. :D
 
Golden said:
Harvey Gerst posted a thread in here called "do you really need that expensive gear", or something like that anyway... so I posted this here because it related to that.... in a sense.

anyway. I wasn't really getting at the loudness wars or anything the like.... The fact is that mp3s sound like shite... people don't seem to care about high fidelity music anymore.

so why spend 3000 dollars on a converter, or a pre, or a mic? some guys are doing it...

why spend another dollar if you don't "need" to?

I'm starting to think that it's a must to ask yourself these questions with regard to gear...

just thoughts....

Personally, I won't be purchasing a 3000 dollar adda converter... I think there might be smarter alternatives.
Click to expand...

Why buy a car when you can walk to wherever your going?

Why eat a steak, when oatmeal is so much cheaper? It's all gonna end up in the toilet anyway.

It's art. If you don't get that, then you're already lost.....

The gear is only a means to an end. Is it necessary? No. Where you draw the line at "good enough" is totally dependent on you. I can make a decent recording on a $20 used porta studio. Is that good enough? Not for me. Good enough will probably never happen for me. :)
 
NL5 said:
Why buy a car when you can walk to wherever your going?

Why eat a steak, when oatmeal is so much cheaper? It's all gonna end up in the toilet anyway.

It's art. If you don't get that, then you're already lost.....

The gear is only a means to an end. Is it necessary? No. Where you draw the line at "good enough" is totally dependent on you. I can make a decent recording on a $20 used porta studio. Is that good enough? Not for me. Good enough will probably never happen for me. :)
Click to expand...

interesting... I'm thinking about investing... investing some of my time into thinking about what can be done for a reasonable price... when I think of the end result as it pertains to planning for retirement, one has to make wise choices to get to the desired landing spot... in most cases, this will involve cutting down on meaningless spending...

with sound, and knowing that you will never be satisfied, isn't it insane to spend money on puposeless items... or say items that make little difference in the grand scheme?
 
by the way, I have a $3000 guitar. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Nonetheless, I argue for making wise choices.

The article made me think a little deeper... closer to the reality, which is the listening public. us!
 
Golden said:
so why spend 3000 dollars on a converter, or a pre, or a mic? some guys are doing it...

why spend another dollar if you don't "need" to?

I'm starting to think that it's a must to ask yourself these questions with regard to gear...

just thoughts....

Personally, I won't be purchasing a 3000 dollar adda converter... I think there might be smarter alternatives.
Click to expand...

I can agree in regard to converters - I have contemplated buying a nice (probably 1-2k) 2-channel preamp, some really good omni mics, and a nice acoustic, since that's what I play (along with other acoustic instruments that would be best served by some nice omnis). But I still assume I will be running them into my Presonus Firepod. Its a personal opinion, like any in this thread, but I think converters are probably the last concern of a home recordist, once you want to get into nice gear.

If you have good instruments, and even semi-decent mics & pres, you are pretty well set, IMHO.

NL5 said:
Why buy a car when you can walk to wherever your going?

Why eat a steak, when oatmeal is so much cheaper? It's all gonna end up in the toilet anyway.

It's art. If you don't get that, then you're already lost.....

The gear is only a means to an end. Is it necessary? No. Where you draw the line at "good enough" is totally dependent on you. I can make a decent recording on a $20 used porta studio. Is that good enough? Not for me. Good enough will probably never happen for me. :)
Click to expand...

I also believe this to a point, that I want to strive for the best sound, regardless of what mass media published music is putting out - how many teens and college kids with earbuds stuffed in their ears are going to be listening to my folk songs anyway? How many people in general? Its a hobby like any other - in the end, it really won't make a difference for most of us, but it'll have been a lot of fun and hopefully rewarding.

Golden said:
interesting... I'm thinking about investing... investing some of my time into thinking about what can be done for a reasonable price... when I think of the end result as it pertains to planning for retirement, one has to make wise choices to get to the desired landing spot... in most cases, this will involve cutting down on meaningless spending...

with sound, and knowing that you will never be satisfied, isn't it insane to spend money on puposeless items... or say items that make little difference in the grand scheme?
Click to expand...

Like NL5 said, its all about how you define "purposeless". If recording is as much a passion for you as music, and you can invest in it without bankrupting yourself in the long-run, then I suppose there's nothing wrong with it. That isn't to say, though, that if you don't have a lot of money for this stuff, that you can't produce something halfway decent.
 
Golden said:
with sound, and knowing that you will never be satisfied, isn't it insane to spend money on puposeless items... or say items that make little difference in the grand scheme?
Click to expand...


See, they are not purposeless. They serve a very important purpose. Now, the other benefit to spending money on high end gear, is it most times will go up in value. (analog gear anyway)
 
NL5 said:
See, they are not purposeless. They serve a very important purpose. Now, the other benefit to spending money on high end gear, is it most times will go up in value. (analog gear anyway)
Click to expand...

very true....... good point.
 
Yes, you can get very good results with modest gear. That has been proven over and over. But let's not forget that wise spending, all other things being equal, depends on your pocket book.

If you don't feel you can afford it don't buy it. That is a simple rule to follow.
 
While I'm not a proponent of wanton spending for its own sake, I also think there's a point where one can be too frugal.
 
Is more expensive gear needed? sure...
Is the most expensive gear needed? I highly doubt so..
However,
Music, or art in general is alllllll 100% perception..what sounds good to you...i have a 80 dollar digitech pedal that i get ambient clean sounds of that i like more than a vox ac30...u might not think so, but i do. If you think you need high end gear, and thats what makes u happy, go for it. personally I know, im never really gonna be content with what i have..and its not that i want better, i just want more...i have a digitech multi fx right now, and i want a pod x3 in the future...i think that also drives people. No one ever stops with what they have, they always want some more.

High fidelity gear might not be a big deal to you, but hey..maybe to some guy its the reason he has it that helps to get out of bed that morning ;)
 
hear's kinda what I'm thinking.... As far as the final master product is concerned....

You have your CD master playing on your living room stereo system... Are you happy with what you made? Great!

I'm sure you can reach that goal without the $3000 ad converter. Especially with the quality of todays budget gear... Nothing wrong with getting an ad converter, but for home recording, let's keep it around a grand. :D

Ultimately, I think the high end gems were intended to sit in amazing rooms.

but yeah, there's a lot of factors....
 
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