Coping in an Age of Uncertainty

Let's see been in this hobby since 1957, been married since 1969 to a former aka March 68. Have seen just a ton of gear in those 47 years. Some of it really stellar and has made a dramatic impact on the world of audio.

One of the young guys I work with recently bought an I-Pod.Once again lets thank Steven Jobs and the other morons who live on to polute the ears of the newbies into thinking they are actually hearing music.

So I dragged this newbie over to the humble abode to listen to some high end. The transformation on his face said it all.

So now he is in the process of putting together a high rez system. And when he left he threw the I-Pod in the trash can. The conversion is underway. And no I don't have the I-Pod he threw away. I took it out to the trash with the rest of the garbage that night.

So as far as we have come in all these years, it is safe to say that high end has not truly done its job, except for a very few of us. For if the realm of high end was to expose the possibilities of the music medium to a greater audience it has failed.

So in the final analysis it remains for us the hobbyist in high end to do our job, for the newbies. This endeavour is about the music, so much more than the gear. The components are there only to serve the music, as we perceive it. We all hear things differently and what is right for you, most likely I will find fault with.

With that being said however crap is crap. I-Pod,MP3,down loaded music, etc, you get the idea, does not serve music,but does serve the manufactuer, who proposes that this is music and reaps hughe rewards for polluting the ears of our children.

Jeez, I think the iPod is a great invention, which raises the bar for mobile sound for most people. Whoever said it's meant to replace your home stereo?

I agree with Drubin. When I tried to get my stereo in my car, I hurt my back. Then I tried the iPod and my back did not hurt at all. I sure like having almost my entire music collection on the road with me in my car. It is foolish to compare an iPod with a thoughfully assembled home stereo. Each has it place.

It is true that no portable medium can ever capture the essence of a home setup.

However the portable medium does not have to sound like the dreck it is. At this point in time there is not any incentive for the manufacturers to raise the bar of development as the masses have voted with their wallet to accept mediocrity. And believe me they are doing hand springs down Park Ave, with the excessive profits of these portable mediums. Music means nothing to them, just profit,thats it, nothing less.

During my days with CBS/Columbia if we had ever put out a LP,cassette,reel to reel that has the sonic signature of this medium, our heads would have been on pikes.

I for one would dearly love to see a portable medium I could live with and no it doesn't have to be as good as a
home system. But it does have to sound like music. It can be done and it will happen, when the masses finally turn thier back and demand more from the portable medium.

Until it does I vote no with my wallet.

Hey Dave, when you are back from having this amazing life you claim to have ask yourself if you also earned the tittle of "pain in the ass to pay attention to"?
OK so you are an old seasoned audio guy, usually all that means is you have made more errors in audio the younger folks in this hobby, but I forgot you have a life so you never read this.