audiosite
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Forums
  • Audio Engineering
    • OSX audio
    • Studio Recording >
      • Loudness Wars
      • Analogue Tape
      • Recording History
    • Pro Tools
    • Sound for Picture
    • Sound Theory
    • Practical Acoustics
    • Surround Sound
    • Speakers & Amplifiers >
      • Headphones
    • Electronics
    • Snake Oil
  • Music Technology
    • Music Theory
    • MIDI
    • Synthesis
    • Sampling
    • Logic >
      • Environment
  • Keyboards
    • KX88
    • SV-1
    • P2000
    • PC3
    • ETI Synth
    • T200
    • DX7
    • PolyMoog
    • Vintage Synths
    • Vox Jaguar
  • Odds and Sods
    • Vinyl
    • Recording History
    • Calculators
    • LPFM Radio
    • Free Stuff >
      • Freeware
      • eBooks
    • Books
    • Church Sound
    • Sibelius
    • Maths
    • Guitar
    • UK visit 1999
  • Search
  • Links
    • Video Tutorials
    • Search Engines
    • Magazines
    • Sound Theory
    • Acoustics >
      • Psycho-Acoustics
    • Electronics
    • Loudspeakers
    • MIDI >
      • Jingles
      • Synthesis
    • Studio Recording >
      • Analogue Recording
      • NZ Studios
      • Digital Recording
    • Music Theory >
      • Songwriting
      • Western & World Music
    • Radio
    • Sound for Picture
    • Multimedia
    • Music Industry
    • Music & Culture
  • Site Map

High Fidelity

9/6/2012

0 Comments

 
Hi fi is defined as accuracy in an audio reproduction system. In other words, how close the end result is to the original. For most of last century hi fi was the ultimate quest for both audio designers and practitioners, but somehow we lost our way. Today a lot of the hard-fought battles to achieve improvements in sound quality have been forgotten, and even discarded. So we have ended up with a bizarre situation where the gains of hi fi can be readily observed in livesound technology, but the reverse has happened with recording technology. Here, the quality has actually gone down thanks to inferior playback devices such as mp3 files, laptop speakers, mini stereos, earbuds. Meanwhile, at the recording stage there are improvements such as 192KHz sampling, 24 bit depth, more accurate monitor speakers, and so on. Clearly there is an imbalance here, and it has got to the point where it is really academic as to whether such improvements are worthwhile for popular music. Since the 60s, Pop music (including virtually all contemporary styles) has really fallen outside the definition of hi fi. Since the music is artificially made (using sound FX, deliberate distortion, electronic sounds, unnatural spaces etc) there is no performance point of reference. This is not to say these styles ignore the concept of hi fi completely, but they certainly do not obey it. So, it seems absurd that engineers spend so long on GearSlutz forums and the like, discussing the finer points of very expensive equipment. This is very much a case of the industry serving its own needs  - the engineers, and the equipment manufacturers. The public doesn't care, and while all this is going on the loser is music. Look at the music of the 60s (both pop and rock). The hi fi-ness of many songs/ albums is quite low by todays standards, but the music still shines through.
I would make a different case for classical music. Here there is a coherent performance to reference the recording to, so faithfulness to sounding like that is the mark of the project.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Richard Hallum
    NZCE, MMusTech, Dip Tch (Ter).
    memberships: APRA, AES, 
    NZ Acoustical Society, ALMA.

    Archives

    June 2017
    August 2016
    September 2015
    November 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010

    Categories

    All
    Acoustics
    All
    Anything Else
    Audio Engineering
    Keyboards
    Leprechauns
    Music

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.