It's a curse in the sense that the technology exists for perfect--as in, it sounds like the band or orchestra is there--however, the record studios aren't interested in trying, and the mainstream speaker companies (Sonus Faber, B&W, Kef [to a lesser degree]) produce speakers with fundamental sonic defects out of laziness. Sean Olive at Harman has done a lot of work on what humans prefer for sound--it's all scientific, all double-blind--but no-one seems to care about trying to fix the fundamental issues with audio reproduction. Ah well.

Is audiophile people who don't enjoy cheap bad chip quality 16 bits low 48HZ cattle audio quality when there's way better audio equipment upgrade for a reasonable sum?

Or is it audiophile idiots who keeps spending outrageous money(because they can) on fucking bullshit like cables and super expensive meme audio gear that virtually offers no difference compared to what's good value?

The same problem exists with musical instruments, why would you spend 100K for an old smelly stradivarius with it's characterisitc sound( defects)? Why buy a Bosendorfer when you could buy a Yamaha? Get where this is going?

>fundamental sonic defects out of laziness
It's not out of laziness though it's an intentional profit move. If popular manufacturers (who can often cheaply and easily)eliminate all the defective qualities in their low end it would eliminate their higher end market. Which means loss of profit. So there is no incentive. On the other side this means smaller entry brands however have more of an incentive to cheaply and easily fix problems and produce a good product at a reasonable price.

>>141
This.

>>215 I think you make valid points except about old string instruments like the cello or violin. There is clear cause for seeking these out as the inherent value in them is more than just the sound they make. You really cannot compare manufacturing and product advertisement to something that can have historical value or even just familial value, or traditional. No reason to call them defective either when they aren't. Fuck you.

>>136 I'd imagine. I'm glad that most YouTube rips are up to my standards. In terms of recordings I'm the opposite of an audiophile though. I always imagine how much more I'd like music that was recorded to a cheap cassette tape. I love the sound of wow and flutter, tape compression, and even the momentary dropouts they sometimes have. >>215 >why would you spend 100K for an old smelly stradivarius with it's characterisitc sound( defects)? "Defects" are in the eye of the beholder and are sonically desirable to a lot of people. Just look at the connoisseurs of classic analog synths who strongly prefer things like voice tuning offsets over the more precise modern analog synthesizers.

They were extraordinarily talented.

Literal Nazi eugenics. Not even joking, look it up.

>>754 And ironically it was Anni-Frid Lyngstad who was the Lebensborn babby, and not the more stereotypically Nordic Agnetha Faeltskog.

>>183 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBjAw8VC1Ok

I like the sound effects you'd hear in '80s arcade games (or even on systems like the Atari 2600). Robotron 2084 is an example of one where the sound work gets me fired up. Ben Burtt's Star Wars sound effects were admittedly fantastic, even if I dislike pew-pew weapon sounds outside of old video games.

>>194 Instrument on the box next to him on the right is a baronet

>>288 Sorry I meant Baritone

>>194 The one in his hand is a rotary valve trombone(first pic related), the one on the counter might be a Cimbasso(second pic related) that was almost exclusively used in Italian operas in the 19th century or a contrabass valve trombone. Hope that helps.

Can't embed here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY-nsVj5o4I That's Ichiko Aoba, you'll probably like it.

>>285 I see

Heres the album for download:
https://archive.org/details/InTheCourtOfKingCrimson

>>186
I much prefer Discipline.

Level Five/The ConstruKction of Light is their best work, although In the Court of the Crimson King is definitely up there. I think half the fun of King Crimson is how much they change genre even within an album.

It's my 2nd favorite with Red and Islands in-between it, I like that "electric tube" tone the former has and just has 5 extremely solid songs while Court is marginally less so. >>226 They're one of the few progressive rocks bands that are (or were) progressive which is why Fripp dismantled because of the state of prog at the time.

I like Starless and Bible Black and Larks' Tongues in Aspic better.

>repetitive vocal samples, especially when they're pushed to the forefront of the mix >rock bands playing parts in unison >dopey "classic rock" guitar work >when a song is booking along nicely with propulsive drumming and guitar work and then slows the tempo down to some crappy, plodding riff that sounds like a bucket of diarrhea I'm looking at you, "Rusty Cage." >rock vocalists that imitate old negro bluesmen >guitar strings squeaking >clicky double-bass drumming, wimpy drums in general >songs focused more on lyrics or furthering some gimmicky concept than creating a solid piece of music

I could be here all day, but I'll stick to just 5 things off the top of my head that really get on my tits: >fade-outs Just make a proper fucking ending, even if you just suddenly cut to a crash cymbal or a reverb tail or something, anything but a lazy fucking fade-out. >overusage of sidechain compression / turning up the kick so loud that everything else audibly ducks when it hits I've hated this nauseating sound ever since it came in fashion in the early to mid 00s, it honestly makes me feel sick. It only ever makes things sound worse, I don't get why anyone does it. >ADHD hi-hats doing 32nd note autism Nigger please stop that shit, your "beat" isn't "sick" just because you went full parkinson's on the hats. >wonky beats / early/late kicks/snares It doesn't sound good or make you sound cool, it just sounds out of time and like you don't know how to trim the silence from your drum samples. >shitty breakdown cliches: pitched 808 snare rolls, sweeps out the ass, synths rising in pitch, the bit at the end where everything drops out except for some dumb vocal line, coming back in with just the kick and a shitty synth patch It got old a decade ago, dump that shit the same place you put your autotune abuse and the word "shorty".

>>257 >vid related nigger everyone

>>257 I'm tired of looking up DAW-related videos and coming across these clueless hip-hop "producers" who think everything is a "beat."