referencing vs plug & play


This last couple of months more of you have been getting ahold of me, it's cool don't stop. I enjoy working on your systems and especially enjoy some listening together. Something though is coming up often and it's making me wonder if somewhere along the way someone has dropped the ball when it comes to comparing components. In talking with a few of you I've learned that a lot of you are dropping components into your systems and comparing without dialing your system into the new set of conditions. Back in the early days of referencing, before plug & play, when we made changes to a system we treated the system as if everything was starting from scratch. We knew that if making a component swap took place that we were going to need to make the rest of the audio chain suitable to accommodate the new signal path. "make a change anywhere in the flow and you've made a new flow"

When the plug & play audio clubs started popping up my friends looked at me as if these folks were off their rockers. I just figured they were doing something interesting but weren't really serious about club night, more than a chance to mingle. It's kind of the same thought as a trade show. You don't really take them serious, but it gives a chance to meet and greet. Saying this, I'm starting to think possibly I was wrong and plug & play has become the norm over actually referencing systems. My mind tells me this is nuts, right, but I'm hearing more and more that HEA folks are actually simply dropping components in mid chain and that's it. So I have to ask.

You do realize plug & play is different from referencing a system change don't you?

please be respectful to each other, thanks

Michael Green

128x128michaelgreenaudio
Yes, Michael, your Rev80 speakers are very sensitive to everything, and that's a good thing. 
Don't know about Koss, I only voice guitars. Final touch in voicing - you read aloud particular lines from Classical Persian poetry in a particular way, different of course for each instrument. 

Hi inna

My season for wood voicing started about a week ago. I have over 200 pieces I’m working on right now. This stock of wood has been curing for over a year now with me doing a flip every morning and every night. I voice from 100 grit to 6000, and up to 12 layers of finish with curing and sanding in between each application. Each piece is hand sanded and some when requested human oil rubbed by me personally. Likewise the Rev Signature Drivers are done by me personally. The baskets are hand voiced redwood that I mix special and apply myself. The development of these designs are done in a tunable room with mechanical adjustments every 14.5".

By your post it didn’t appear you knew how much listening and voicing I actually do. It’s pretty much non-stop all year around, every year, every day. The next tunable room I do here maybe you should come visit and see for yourself what I do. I think you will be satisfied by the amount of effort I put in. It’s probably hard to tell on these audio forums what someone does or doesn’t do, and the hype is staggering, but that’s when people should see for themselves. I will admit I disagree with the amount of negative spins that happen on this forum and feel it comes from people who should possibly come experience for themselves instead of jumping on workers doing and loving their lifetime of experiences. If members really took the time to do a little research on the people they toast, for no good reason other than to get a rise, I think there would not only be a better understanding but also a respect for others efforts. Maybe I’m being too sensitive but that’s because I pour every bit of my sensitivity into what I do. I’d like to win over your support since you happen to own my designs. I also appreciate Audiogon letting me come here and share, and who knows maybe a little of the tune will rub off here.

I think this place needs more respect for each other and curve back the bad karma vibes a tad. Music is the last place bad vibrations should be happening, and when people ask others to have a thicker skins I can't help but feel this is the opposite thing we should be asking.

MG

Can we go a step or two back?


What does the word "referencing" mean here? How did it find its place in this context?

Hi glupson

Referencing is a recording term we used as far back as the late 70’s that I can remember. I’ve probably explained this a couple of times on this forum but for this threads sake, when a tape runner was in charge of referencing a recording it meant we went along with the tape to the different studios to make sure the sound was the same each place it went. For example if I ran a tape from the main studio to one of the private studios for the BeeGees when I got to one of the listening rooms I would explain what was going on so if Robin wanted to make a change I could "reference" that change when I got back to the main studio. Or we could do a dup and make a change right there for me to take back for the others to hear. I’m trying to give a short version of this, but it’s more or less involved depending on who the artist or engineer is. Many musicians have their private studio and play around forever and some guys could care less once they do the actual playing.

You’ve heard of "Mastering" or "Re-Mastering" a recording. A Master is either an original cut or an original cut of a change. With Mastering you vision that first generation of a recording but that’s really a generalization with multi-mixing. That first cut may be laid down but as soon as you start making passes it’s no longer a virgin cut. It depends how picky you are and how many versions you want hanging around, but referencing for a tape runner meant you were the guy who knew the recording as it went through the different stages and what tape was where and what generation of the tape it was. Referencing referred to "a point of reference". As Multi-tracking and storage became more involved referencing evolved. Keep in mind the technology of recording changes very quickly.

For me referencing carried over into playback naturally. With the audio chain referencing is a matter of knowing the original setup sound "reference" as a whole and then being able to see how the sound changes as a physical change is made to the chain. Plug & play is when you do a basic setup "plugging something together and then playing it without tuning the sound in". Referencing is when you put into action changes and want to follow the sound changes to the Audio Code. The Audio Code is the signal + mechanical conduits interacting with the audio signal.

MG

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