Exo

Not so much these days. Now it's more like the guy at a swans show with his arms crossed.

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LastFM

SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

The Batlord

A distinction only a hipster would know.

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Marie Monday

says the guy who is contemplating getting his septum pierced

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Ayn Marx

Depends on your perspective darling.

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DinoDavid

Nether less, I have manage to get a chance to listen to something on an Analog cassette tape before and they sound exactly the same to my ears as the digital version.
It gets to the point where I wonder why people are even obsessed with analog cassette tapes and vinyl's even though soundwise, its not very different(unless it eventually gets degraded).
The only reason why they would even like those stuff is exclusively for Nostalgia purpose only, that's it.

Otherwise, if they are so concern about the sound quality. especially those who say they want it because its superior "sound quality", they might as well get studio monitors like these....
https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=studio%20monitor#
Which is by the way, WAY more superior to the sound quality coming out of an analog cassette tapes and vinyl's, and WAY more superior to even a speaker from your radio, your computer, your laptop, and even more superiors to iphone speakers, which is why Music Studios use them.

So again, if you are concern about "Superior sound quality" and not nostalgia, maybe you should get a Studio monitor if you can afford it that is.

(then again, I have a studio monitor at home right now anyway, and I am more concerned about the songwriting of the song usually then the sound quality of what devices I am listening to so this might be a bias take but whatever)

Guybrush

I don't recommend studio monitors for general listening because they kinda do the opposite of what you want unless you're mixing / mastering.

If you're listening to a bad mix, good studio monitors should make the problems apparent so you can fix them.

A good set of just general speakers should make a bad mix sound better. They're made to promote enjoyment.

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Ayn Marx

Try telling that to Bowers & Wilkins.
I will however grant you one thing, some monitors do exaggerate recording defects. The point is they don’t have to. Underneath all this though is a nasty truth, far, far too many recordings these days when exposed for what they are reveal the creators to be fools, deaf or both.

Guybrush

Keeping it simple, people should just consider: what are studio monitors made for? Is it for music enjoyment? No. It is for music production. This includes hearing and finding errors.

Anything that masks faults will make monitors worse suited for their purpose. The same isn't true for speakers made for enjoying music. Hence, there are certain things one can conceivably do with speakers that might increase the general listening experience that one could / should not do on studio monitors.

Hence, my general advice to not buy studio monitors unless you're going to use them for their intended purpose, which is mixing / mastering. You know, consider what something is engineered for before you use it for something else.

But perhaps people could also be a little clearer on what it is they mean by good quality sound. Is it a sound that is accurately recreated or it is a sound that's enjoyable? The two isn't necessarily the same.

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Ayn Marx

You’re missing the main point, why and how do these faults get into recordings in the first place. There’s no simple answer to that. Instance, a high percentage of those who’ve spent their teenage years blasting themselves with earphones at high volume induce high frequency insensitivity. Some recording engineers pushing bubblegum pop know this and cynically up treble content in their recordings. In response some will ask ‘What are tone controls for ?” That’s another can of worms I’m not going to dive into for now.
As to the collection of two way monitors illustrated previously these are intended for near field listening and provide little or no indication of how a recording will sound in larger spaces at a distance.

‘Enjoyable’ sound - - yes, some may want all their music to mask faults and be treacle coated but what about musicians who intended their work to sound sharp and/or aggressive ?
OK, many of you may want a cuddly inoffensive sound which is fair enough. There’s a huge supply of cuddly speakers out there you’re welcome to. Count me out.

Guybrush

About mixing high frequencies, something which has gotten big in mixing the last few years is AI-based EQing. Most people's kneejerk reactions to that will be negative (and even more so with people with hard earned experience with music production), but playing the devil's advocate, I'd say a lot of people who work with music have damaged hearing and a second set of (AI) ears can be good. It will of course work to homogenize the sound of music further in the future (which is kinda boring).

Since it's been around in the production world for a few years now, I assume it may exist in the world of music consumption too, though I haven't been paying attention to it there.

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