Archive for 'February,2012'
A without B
In yesterday’s post about my dislike for Sample Rate Converters I must add one more thought: all sample rate converters are not equal. Some actually help the sound while most do the opposite. This is important [...]
Bottom Five
Lawrence Schenbeck talks about his favorite music by his least-favorite composers. Some surprising choices, both ways. [...]
The conspiracy
There’s a quiet conspiracy afoot and something you should be aware of. The conspiracy is one of “don’t ask don’t tell” from DAC manufacturers. PS Audio is just as guilty as the rest. The issue is [...]
Laziness
A couple of days ago I mentioned one of the emerging trends I am seeing is the desire of people to have someone else build their systems for them so they don’t have to do the [...]
Wes Montgomery
In my book, Wes Montgomery is one of the greatest and the most influential jazz guitarist who ever lived. He had a style and a sound that was uniquely his and would influence every jazz guitarist [...]
Build your own
In yesterday’s post I mentioned the trend of Audiophiles wanting complete packages delivered to their doors that provide a wonderful listening experience. A pre-packaged approach. I was imagining just the opposite this morning. How cool would [...]
Simple and easy
In my travels I am seeing a shift from “hi-fi assemblers and tweaks” to the “gimme it all finished” mentality. In the not too distant past the trend was for Audiophiles to read the reviews, discuss [...]
Adding value
I’ve written recently about increasing the rewards of creators who add value to something and reducing the amount of those that bring the value to the table yet create nothing. With that thought in mind I [...]
EULA
Every time I install a new version of our free music management software, eLyric, I am asked to agree to the EULA before I can use it. It’s annoying and I never read it. In fact, [...]
Apple turntable?
You probably read that Steve Jobs of Apple listened mostly to vinyl instead of his fabled iPod creation. He was a real music lover and preferred the sound of vinyl to that of digital. What you [...]
Imbalance
I have written a lot as of late about the issue of musicians and how they get rewarded for their work. It has ruffled a few feathers and I think that’s good. To be clear, I [...]
All purpose audio
One of Paul’s Posts readers, Mark S, asks the question of why we manufacturers seem to work so hard at building kit that serves all music and all tastes equally well. I think it’s a good [...]
One foot in front of the other
Why do we innovate? Because innovating means jumping feet first into the new and that leads to being a craftsman of our future. [...]
Do warnings lie?
Do you think the gas meter on your car lies? You know the one – it tells you there are 10 miles to empty. I am guessing it’s “conservative” which is a kind way to say inaccurate. [...]
Kick start it
We’ve discussed plenty of controversy about how musicians and artists will get funded in this day and age of the internet. I haven’t any magic to offer but when I do see a small ray of [...]
Twenty five cent improvement
One of the cleverest solutions to amplifier designs came to our attention through our old friend Nelson Pass, then of Threshold. We always referred to it as the “sliding class A bias circuit” and what was [...]
One more thin mint
Remember the Monty Python skit of the fat guy exploding after eating one more thin mint? When it comes to music, do we ever have enough? When I look at my shelves full of physical media [...]
I want more!
The sorting order of a major music library is critical as I have written about as of late – composers by their last name, artists, orchestras and bands by the first/last names. Once you get the [...]
What happened to composers?
As I have been immersed in building my big library I have noticed something interesting. In classical music you sort your library by the name of the composer – Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak and in pretty much [...]
The Nest
In yesterday’s post Dedicated Hardware we talked about the beauty of buying a product dedicated to a specific task – simply because it is designed to do one thing – and do it well. Such a [...]
Dedicated hardware
A community member asked an interesting question. ”Why go to all the expense of purchasing dedicated high-end hardware to stream music when you could do the same thing with a computer?” In fact, isn’t a dedicated [...]
Good news: they are mostly dead
After several of you read yesterday’s post about tagging the question came up about how would we ever write rules a machine could use to sort out our libraries. After all, the music industry is ever-changing, [...]
Tagging
In my post Tag you’re it! posted a few days ago, we discussed the issue of tagging your music collection. I’d like to expand on that a bit because it is one of the keys to [...]
I am 100% certain!
I always smile when one of our customers has a problem and he is “100% sure” it cannot be this or it cannot be that causing it. In almost every case I have dealt with over [...]
Who cares?
Why do some speakers sound like music while others sound like anything but music? My chief engineer Bob Stadtherr was trying to find a problem in one of our DACS and was having trouble hearing the [...]
Here’s my problem
This issue about copyrights and protection has so many layers and hooks into society’s fabric that it’s hard to pick on just one but I will certainly try. It is legal for me to stream music in [...]
Tag you’re it
I have been fully immersed in a project to tag a big library of classical music properly. It has been a real eye opener – both by the amount of work necessary and by the prehistoric [...]
Warning labels
I am always tempted to do whatever it is I am told not to unless there's a good reasonable explanation of why I shouldn't. This is good advice for manufacturers to understand. [...]
Sharing the future
A 5 year old girl is reprimanded by her teacher for not sharing with her classmates. “Don’t you like to share?” Asked the teacher. “Yes I like to share, I just don’t like other people touching my stuff.” [...]
Protection!
I have been thinking a lot as of late about protection for musicians, writers and inventors. The core question is this: does it make sense in this age for society to protect their property to the [...]
Do what works
The debate over long interconnects and short speaker cables vs. the opposite rages on. My opinion is unwavering and counter to the rule of thumb: long speakers cables and short interconnects are best as power amps [...]
Recent Comments
- Treat the cause or the symptoms? (12)
Soundminded: I’m quite curious and I must admit somewhat skeptical about how effective these frequency tuned bass...
Paul McGowan: Aging memory Mark. I wrote what I remembered and then went back and actually measured it.
The Q...Soundminded: Paul, on April 27 you posted “The main listening room at PS Audio is approximately 16 feet wide...
oliver T. Finch: Simple. Treat the cause and there won’t be any symptoms.Regards.
Brooklyn: A listener’s ears adjust to the room. If you were to walk with me from one room to another as I...
- Get that mole! (5)
Paul McGowan: You’re certainly correct and I’ll do my best to give a full report.
Paul McGowan: Thanks! Glad you’re enjoying.
petewilson: As suggested above, it’s a Good Idea to fix the cause(s). But, in general with real-world rooms,...
Soundminded: In response to the question about treating the cause or the symptom in medicine it’s my...
jb4: Thank you for very interesting posts and video’s. I totally agree with your approach, cure the cause,...
- The best way to organize music files and folders (3)
countessouroboros: I realize this post is a bit old now, but for future viewers I feel I need to point out that...
- Jelly rolls (3)
oliver T. Finch: Excellent posts. I look forward to them everyday. Very informative too.I am being convinced more...
Paul McGowan: Oh my goodness yes, depending on the capacitor type the inductance is certainly an issue – for...
coppy: Great articles, Paul, Thanks. And thanks also to all those knowledgeable folks who add their comments as...
- If you have to ask ….. (1)
demeter: “…You cannot hear 1Hz – but you can hear 20Hz and you can feel 16Hz and even...
- Capacitors (1)
Bassman23: It’s been a very long time since I earned my Third Class broadcasting license. Thanks for the...
- Direct coupling (3)
Paul McGowan: The 20 year period between 1973 and 1993 peaking in the early 80′s
oliver T. Finch: What is the second golden era of audio? This a new term to me. Regards.
Soundminded: The purpose of capacitors in the signal path in amplifiers and preamplifiers is to allow independent...
- Gas pedals and plucks (9)
Soundminded: Yes as I pointed out in another thread some time ago the sound of the string itself is barely audible...
Paul McGowan: Sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest “more energy” in a literal sense – I guess...
Soundminded: If you could get more energy out than you put in without an external power supply or built in stored...
Paul McGowan: I’d have to agree with Mark on this one – it really depends on whose hands to instrument...
Paul McGowan: You are absolutely correct about resonance build up – just think about how a whistle or a pipe...
- Ringing (3)
Soundminded: I don’t agree. One way to measure frequency response is one frequency at a time. The input and...
Paul McGowan: Well, correct me if I am wrong but those frequency response peaks won’t occur without...
Soundminded: “We don’t see this added energy in typical audio measurements such as THD and IM because these...
- Just pluck it! (1)
Soundminded: Bowing a string is just like plucking it many times a second. As the taught rosined horsehair on the...
- Music loving animals (5)
Mike48: Our late cat listened with me often. I always thought he enjoyed the music, and he especially seemed to...
- Lion’s roar (9)
Soundminded:
Oh but I am horrified. I went into the wrong profession. Had I only known I could have this...
Treat the cause or the symptoms?
I’m quite curious and I must admit somewhat skeptical about how effect
Get that mole!
You're certainly correct and I'll do my best to give a full report.
Get that mole!
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying.
The best way to organize music files and folders
I realize this post is a bit old now, but for future viewers I feel I
Treat the cause or the symptoms?
Aging memory Mark. I wrote what I remembered and then went back and a