[dba-Tech] OT: A big day

Hi Dan

Nope, we have Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting

with "a more smeared stereo image, and an upper cutoff frequency of 14 kHz,
corresponding to 15 kHz of FM radio." Talk about progress. It is not, thus a
newer standard, DAB+, has been introduced. However, it has not yet been
implemented by any broadcaster here.

/gustav

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] På vegne af Dan Waters
Sendt: 20. februar 2013 14:00
Til: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues'
Emne: Re: [dba-Tech] OT: A big day

Hi Gustav,

Can you listen to HD Radio where you are?  I bought a Zune a few years ago
specifically because it does have an HD receiver.  Using this plus a JVC
HAFX67W in-ear headphones, I now hear songs with voices and instruments that
I've never heard before even on my audio system, let alone listening to an
MP3.  You can get an HD receiver for your audio system as well.

Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 6:42 AM
To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues'
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] OT: A big day

Hi Jim

Thanks, I will.

MP3 - in its low sampling versions - is terrible but, I must admit, serves a
purpose. Listening to music on the street with traffic noise doesn't call
for true hi-fi even though it is possible. MP3 and WAV files can be very
good, and my wife has a pair of mid-range Sennheiser earphones which play
surprisingly well.

The real strange thing is, that broadcasted audio quality hasn't evolved a
single step for the last 40 years or so while technology has moved a quantum
leap going digital with DSPs and computer control and digital recording. DAB
radio listening could be excellent but most channels, even those with
classic music and public service, use limited sampling rates to save
bandwidth and compression of 3-6 dB or more to obtain a "sound wall paper"
suitable for cars and cheap players. Even transmissions from summit
meetings, where money and equipment cannot be an issue, carry most often an
awful sound. I just don't get it.

/gustav
 
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] På vegne af Jim Lawrence
Sendt: 19. februar 2013 19:25
Til: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues'
Emne: Re: [dba-Tech] OT: A big day

Congratulations.

There is nothing like a great sound system...something that those who only
listening to MP3s and the like will never truly understand. It also seems
you have the right music, with the right media to be able really appreciate
such a nice system. :-)

Enjoy

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:47 AM
To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues'
Subject: [dba-Tech] OT: A big day

Hi all

More than 30 years ago when in the audio business, two of our clients -
audio-visual producers - asked for new top-notch monitor speakers for their
studios. We toured several suppliers listening to the well-known brands,
quite expensive, and then we stopped by at Technics as they had gained much
attention due to a major lift in quality.
That settled it. I still recall how we listened carefully to our selection
of "difficult" music but our real test was the reproduction of high-quality
recorded human voice which is far more difficult to reproduce than most are
aware of. There was no doubt - the SB-7000 speakers with the
phase-correcting speaker alignment were convincing and the price couldn't be
matched:

  http://www.thevintageknob.org/technics-SB-7000.html

At that time I neither had the money nor the space for such speakers but
ever since I've dreamed of obtaining a set of these. By pure accident,
Saturday I browsed a local second-hand site, and there they were, right in
front of me on the screen, at a bargain price - and I have the room. Through
the years I have struggled with some compact wife-friendly speakers - very
good of course, but still - nothing beats a 15" high-quality speaker (except
an 18" but they are so rare).

Now, this set could really be anything - burned out units or misbehaved in
many ways. So I had to go and listen: I brought some music that can bring
down most systems and reveal any sort of misbehaviour: Chick Corea, My
Spanish Heart, and Miles Davis, Tutu, on CD:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Spanish_Heart

It was like coming home! They reproduced perfectly and exactly like I had
imagined with the transparent and completely neutral sound I remembered.
They've two owners only, and no disco youngster had succeeded destroying
them.
So, today I picked them up and can hardly wait to get home and power them
up. Should this day come? From time to time I thought No and resigned ...
but today: Yes.

Through the years I've kept (some sort of intuition or instinct?) this
bright Sony amplifier to power them:

  http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA-N86B.html

Though I have quite decent equipment to feed this, I might be looking for
the matching preamp:

  http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA-E88B.html

But that's another story.

/gustav