We are witnessing the dawn of dramatic format changes for audio delivery. On the one hand, we now have streaming audio and, on the other hand, we have the movement away from compressed digital formats toward higher-resolution digital files. The CD...
head-fi: n, audiophile-grade headphone systems.portable: adj, able to be easily carried. The record industry is about twenty-five years into a massive devaluation of its products. This devaluation is not due to some invisible calculus the way, say,...
As we exit the era of digital audio data compression and begin the ascent into higher sample rates for consumer consumption (via multiple platforms, though most popularly Neil Young's PONO system), we are finding ourselves as a community of...
Subconscious Auditory Effects (SAE) is a term I have cobbled together to encapsulate a broad range of phenomena in this barely-studied field of inquiry. An SAE is any measurable effect on a person caused by a sound, or change in sound, that is...
THE ERA OF HI-RES DIGITAL AUDIO IS HERE I’ve been watching the rise of hi-end digital audio recently, and as I put the individual pieces together over the past year or so a picture is emerging that has inspired me to claim that we are...
I just read an excellent new essay called The Case Against Free in which the author suggests that the "free economy" is drying up the economic resources needed to make quality creative works. The article focuses on recordings. It's a well...
This is a fascinating article about a brand new study in human auditory perception that is showing that there have been "naive" applications of mathematical formulas onto our understanding of human auditory perception. I cannot claim to...
I'm about to write something that at first will seem like another gray-beard waxing nostalgic for a by-gone analog era. But, stick with me, because I think the tables are turning to where going analog might be as forward-thinking as it gets. Let's...
In the never-ending, century-old battle between corporations and content producers: I give you the latest bit of pro-artist activism. This is taken directly from the Grammy Foundation's website: Tell Congress to Save Music and Stop the "Pandora...
A band I work with is two weeks away from their release date. They've worked tirelessly to prepare for this release, hired an excellent publicist, shot videos, toured....they've done it all right and without fatigue. That record is the most...
In a fascinating and really open Facebook debate initiated by fellow producer, cycling enthuiasist, and coffee-drinking pal, Eric Ambel (www.ericambel.com), I was alerted to what was finally a clear insight into how and why Spotify could possibly...
With news of Neil Young pushing to get studio quality audio out to the consumer, it occurred to me that it would be good to get some perspective on how we go about comparing audio quality. One of the most problematic issues surrounding audio...
Like any war, the loudness wars are a total mess brought on by territorial tendencies amongst those who fear losing their place in the world. And like a real war, the loudness wars cause people to throw rational thought out the window and replace it...
