"D.M. Procida" wrote in
message
...


I don't actively enjoy vinyl's pops and crackles, but I don't mind them
that much. My brain seems to tune them out, unless they're very bad. The
same goes for tape hiss. I can hear it if I listen for it, but unless
it's excessive, it gets tuned out. In fact, the more I listen to the
music, the less I hear those defects.

and:

And in the case of MP3, the more carefully I listen
the more I hear the distortion and the more it spoils the music.

Indeed. The more you listen to the music the less you hear the defects, the
more carefully you listen to the distortion the more it spoils the music,
'twas always thus.


On the other hand, I strongly dislike MP3s compression, and in
particular the way it can turn things like cymbals into an undefined
mmssssshhhhhh sound.

Analogue tape does the same thing.

Sonic defects that are laid over the sound (such as vinyl surface noise,
tape hiss) I find easy to ignore.

Those that distort the sounds themselves (MP3 compression, the glassy
distortion of a badly-tracked record) I find much more unpleasant, and I
remain bewildered at the boundless ability of other people to tolerate
them.


There's a lot that bewilders me about other people's behaviour and beliefs.

David.