In article , Dave xxxx
wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4052123.stm

When did you last read anything about an MP3 music player that mentioned
the quality of the sound it reproduces? You'll find size, storage
capacity, the type of music files played, even the pastel colour it's
available in mentioned in advertisements and reviews, but chances are
that sound quality won't get a look in.

Well, I suspect that a genuine interest in 'hi fi' and getting a really
good sound has always been a minority interest. Most people neither know
nor care much about such things so far as I can tell, and think those who
do must be a bit batty. :-)

Which is odd, considering that not so long ago wow and flutter, rumble,
tracking error, signal-to-noise ratio and other arcane measures of sound
reproduction quality used to be vital statistics for hi-fi buffs in
their quest for the perfect sound system. No spec sheet was complete
without them.

They seem to have vanished for three reasons:

1) many readers aren't interested in reading them.

2) many 'reviewers' can't be bothered to make the measurements it would
require.

3) in some cases they may not really be relevant.

[snip]

What's going on? Don't people care about sound quality any more? The
answer is that quantity turns out to be more important than quality.

I suspect that for most people the above has always been largely to case.

[snip]

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the hard-core sound
quality freak. Vinyl and valves are very slowly beginning to make a
comeback, as a small but increasing number of music enthusiasts
rediscover the joys and sound reproduction of old fashioned analogue
record players.

The above, of course, assumes that your second statement supports your
first statement. :-)

Could it be possible that talk of the demise of venerable hi-fi buff
terms like wow and flutter, rumble, tracking error and signal-to-noise
ratio may yet prove premature...?

Dunno. When was the last time you saw a review of a turntable or an RIAA
amp that compared the lab-measured noise, distortion, etc, levels with
those you actually get playing music LPs? :-)

Slainte,

Jim

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