Michael Fremer defends Hi-Res digital while chewing out Gizmodo

Mikey's at it again...

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/gizmodo-wont-post-my-comment-so-im-posting-them-here

 

Beyond a certain point, it's all theology and the argument becomes the raison d'être.

 

"Mario Aguilar, a Gizmodo blogger with a history degree and little if any meaningful audio listening experience, recently posted a story on that site titled "Don't Buy What Neil Young is Selling" in which he condemns Neil Young and his Pono player.
His second sentence is "You shouldn't buy it". In other words, he leads with his conclusion. What a putz."

Putz is the word, all right.

 

What's wrong with stating one's bottom line up front?

 

That was my point. That's exactly what Fremer does for a living.
And exactly what is a"meaningful listening experience?" Don't we all have it, just not a blog to call other people with whom we may disagree putzes?
Judge not, Mikey.

 

He makes a convincing argument, I wonder if it'll win anyone over.

 

Thank you for clarifying. Your previous post could be read as an endorsement of what Fremer said.

 

Hi-Rez digital makes perfect sense and Fremer's angst is justified.
If you went back to way before digital and were offered a magical magnetic duplication format that matched the master tape of a recording artist spot on in every way -it would be a revelation far beyond an RL cut or Van Gelder stamp or whatever.
I used to have a 20bit DAT deck and a 20 bit Minidisc deck -the DAT deck sounded much nicer than any CD player, but only when it had recorded a nice analog source. The 20bit MD did ok as well and was noticeably better sounding than the 16bit MD deck. I could hear the differences, DAT got it's info in and out magnetically like an analog tape but it was processing 1s and 0s from that to the output -all digital formats reprocess info to output. The MD did too much in the way of information compression and that always kept it from becoming a serious format, even at 20 bit and maybe a higher sampling rate it only really shined in recording from vinyl to play in your car or some such.

A good analogy is photography which has gone finally to mostly digital because the amount of bits used create a richer amount of information than ever before and this amount or richness of info. gives you a satisfyingly realistic image not unlike film, The increase in the amount of that info used is what makes it work so well now.

All the processing and or filtering knowledge or info I don't keep up with so much, but for me I can hear the difference that more information offers -CDs can sound just dandy, especially with players that use high quality processing, but the digital format in general has for quite awhile now technology wise, been begging to move beyond the baby step of 16/44.

Who knows where the Pono will go, but for me I still have a legacy of MD portable equipment to use in the car and a large box of MD recordings -and tons of CDs recorded from vinyl over the years to digest down that path -it suits the quality of that car's stereo set up, and basically is just an archive of my history with digital recording devices.
I should be hard drive recording by now and using a smart phone or maybe a Pono player or similar as a player or some such for portable.
Point is he is correct in his rant because the Pono may not be the end all be all of what's ahead -but it is on the right track - 16/44 is just so '80s at this point. I for one agree with all of his technological points because of my own simple experience -it is 2015 for crying out loud,- and if technology is finally allowing the playback to stand nearer to the original recording, why would you go along with the 'oh the regular CD format is just fine, let's just leave it alone' rationale?
Just makes me wonder if Monsanto doesn't secretly own all the CD and CD player manufacturing companies...what else could explain blatant bone headedness?
-OK, so it's probably not Monsanto or the Illuminati trying to squash new technology for evil purposes. It crosses my mind for a second as I recall hearing how the electric motor/car technology fared against the big oil concerns -the short story is that a Prius type vehicle could have been made in the fifties, but instead...

I did read everything in the link the O.P. posted BTW.

 

And the vinyl-based technology whose audio quality he promotes is from what decade?

 

$!

 

Foamy.

 

+1 for Fremer!

I, for one, like the unapologetic tone.

 

I am a huge fan of hi rez and vinyl done well. That's not the point.
You don't win people over by calling them putzes and idiots and denigrating their choice of equipment and their lifestyle, as he did here. Fremer ought to have a rule that he wait 24 hours before posting anything, be it a tirade against something with which he disagrees, a music store clerk who displeases with him or the passing of someone whose company makes equipment he doesn't like.
He's a bully and a jerk.

 

And an ayatollah, like many self-proclaimed audio aficionados (some of whom inhabit these parts).

 

Basically that technology goes back to the wax cylinder-I think, unless they read magnetically somehow like the first recording device invented in France -but I think you are saying that I should cop to 'vinyl records are so '30s, or '20s'.
Is that it?
Yes Vinyl, shellac, glass or otherwise has had modulated grooves etched into them and played back for a gawdawful long time, and for good reason: it lasts a hell of a long time and can sound amazing.

 

He did go over the edge a bit for sure -I only read what was in the link and not the original article he was reacting to, I think it might be ok to call someone a putz for a high profile, specific and lopsided article or statement that is misleading, but it does sound like he's been carrying some baggage around and maybe he needs to go do some dirt biking in the desert or take a pill.

 

I wonder if Fermer actually owns a Pono player?

I am not surprised his post wasn't published. He seems a fella who demands respect...full of his own self importance.

 

the ayatollah of rocknrolla?

 

ditto

 

I'm not sure if he's a bully but definitely can be a jerk. He has a lot of knowledge and is passionate about sound. But, I don't like him when he preaches or is emotional, which is quite often.

 

I have no beef with Michael Fremer, but I did particularly like this part of his tirade in his Gizmodo post:

"It took me all of five minutes to tell which was the native resolution of 3 of the 4 files..."

Shouldn't it have taken 10 secs of each sample if it's that obvious?

 

Oh my word...the capability of the human eye is way different than the capability of the human ear. Apples and oranges.....

 

too much coffee -and information...

 

fer crying out loud the analogy refers to the amount of information used to sublimate an otherwise once in forever occurrence: the second the sound is made and the second the picture is snapped. chemically (old school photo technology) the image info is nice, and chemically that could be a Polaroid or traditional film or..?
Apples and oranges? what about kumquats, mangoes, star fruits, bananas, ?? What does the human eye or ear have to do with anything? -The obvious being our receptacles for intaking either optical or audio info -but I was going on about the formats of choice for duplicating events to then later be recreated by the sensory organ -not the sensory organs.
oh my...I'm going dirt biking, and whilst my appley ears are somewhat congested with 2-stroke ring a ding ding, my orangey eyes will hopefully guide me thru hill and dale, soze I don't plow into a cactus.