CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

**AnalogRocks**

It's a sad thing:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/

Survey shows increasing preference for MP3 by youngsters, audiophiles weep
by Darren Murph,

We can already envision the flame fest on this one, so we'll just cut to the chase. Jonathan Berger, professor of music at Stanford, has been conducting some pretty interesting tests on incoming students, and he's been recording results that'll surely make audiophiles cringe. He has been asking his students to listen to tracks in MP3 format as well as in formats of much higher quality, all while asking them to select the one they like best; increasingly, youngsters have been choosing the sizzling, tinny sounds of MP3 over more pure representations. The reasoning may have more to do with psychology that audiology, as many conclude that generations simply prefer what they're used to. Ever known someone to swear that vinyl sounds best, pops and all? So yeah, what we've really learned is that MP3 is more of an "acquired taste," but those still attempting to build their SACD collection should be genuinely afraid of the future.

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

Ask the average young person if they have EVER heard live music. Most of them havent. So when you start talking about "fidelity, and imaging" and all that good stuff.... they have no clue. Also even if they have been to a live performance, how much of the "live" is actually LIVE. Pre recorded licks, auto tuned voices...

Young folks have no frame of reference to compare mp3 to other non compressed sources.

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:24 pm Post subject:

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:26 pm Post subject:

Damn youth of today. Why, when I was a kid, we had to wind up the Edison to play cylinders.... Wink

scoobydoo · Joined: 06 Apr 2006 Posts: 358 Location: Victoria BC

But do you really want to hear 50cent played out of a $50K system?

I believe some of those youth will eventually move over to good audio systems as they get older, taste in music change and they become more knowledgeable. MP3 music is just a gateway into the music world. Some will stay there while others will move on and become more sophicated. Hell my introduction to music was listening to DOA, Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks on my dad's old sony tape player.

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:03 pm Post subject:

I grew up on cassettes. I finally ended up with a Nak 3 head unit about 10 years ago, but I was taping off AM (!) in elementary school like everyone else. IN high school I bought an Akai RTR which I still have, and still have probably 100 tapes that I recorded back then, including a messload of hte bands that Em mentions above. Smile

I'd say though that despite how bad MP3 is quality wise, it's still better than the analog cassettes I was listening to back in the 70s and 80s.

AS for live bands, I saw more in the 90s than in the 80s as a teenager, mainly because I had more disposable income in the 90s when I was in my 30s.

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

OOOH!

Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Anita Baker, Dave Brubeck, U2

told you i forgot some... Thumbs Up

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:28 pm Post subject:

Wow, John - That's an impressive lineup of acts you've seen. I've seen quite a few in my day too, but not nearly the roster of biggies you've collected. There's no way I can remember them all right now, but these are a few of the acts I've seen: Genesis, U2, Judybats, The Tubes, Freddy Jones Band, Deep Blue Something, .38 Special, Night Ranger, Dave Matthews Band, Rolling Stones, Sting, Beach Boys, Glass Tiger, AC/DC, Sarah McLachlan, Tracy Chapman, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, David Sanborn, BB King, Mannheim Steamroller, Motley Crue, Kiss, Winger, Slaughter, Great White, Pearl Jam, REM...

I think I still have the Ticketmaster stubs for every single show I've ever been to!

Oh, and my wife and I have tickets to see Depeche Mode at Red Rocks in Denver. Wink

Your "before I was 30" comment is funny... Most of the great shows I saw were before I was 30, too. Since then (I'm 39), I've only seen a handful, and most of those were shows that were part of a larger event I attended... i.e. I didn't specifically go just to see the show.

SC

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:44 pm Post subject:

My list:

Renaissance, Queen, Frank Zappa (3X), Dweezil Zappa (3X), Sasquatch Festival (2X), Pain in the Grass (4X), George Michael (2X), Shania Twain, Jewel, (5x), Motley Crue (2X), Metallica (3X), Def Leppard (6X), Kid Rock (3X), Saliva, Cinderella (3X), Van Halen, David Lee Roth (3X), Billy Idol (3X), Backstreet Boys (hey, free tickets!) Tom Petty, Black Crowes, Anne Heaton, Everclear, Ozzy Osbourne, Dixie Chicks (yuk!), Bryan Adams (3X), Joe Satriani, Marianne Faithfull, Kansas, Nuno Bettencourt.

I'm sure there's more, that's off the top of my head.

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:49 pm Post subject:

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

Pet Shop Boys, and Junior Vasquez... And Will smith when we both were still in High school! Smile

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:54 pm Post subject:

About the only good thing about all this technology is that 'youngsters' are being exposed to 'real' (good?) music of the 60-80s. I'll still take a 1 hit wonder band over a whole lot of the crap played on the radio today.

Per example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-atC5XLHlg

Very Happy

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12088 Location: Fort Collins, CO

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:41 am Post subject:

Yeah, we're hoping to get up your way, Gary. We'd like to check out the area for future relocation plans. Wink

We've spent weeks in Denver, but I've never been up your way, before! It would be fun to swing by and say hello if the timing worked. Be forewarned... We'd probably have the mini-me's with us.

I saw The Who, too!!! Summer 1989 in Arrowhead Stadium in KC MO! Awesome show!

I haven't been to many in recent years, either... Mostly because it costs so damn much money! Depeche Mode tickets were almost $250 for the pair! My buddy and I were lamenting how expensive tickets are these days, and recalled so many of our concert tickets in the late 80's and early 90's were $32.50, $37.50, etc. Now, $110 is standard fare, plus the all fees. Are we not remember correctly, or are concert tickets a LOT more expensive than they were 20 years ago? I mean, even accounting for inflation, of course.

SC

perisoft · Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 2920 Location: Ithaca, NY

If 'audiophiles' had any credibility left after their credulous consumption of everything from plastic "make your CD better" chips to $1500 line cords, they might be able to use it to help convince people that there really is a difference between good quality and 64kbit satellite radio.

As it is, however... with friends like these...

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:13 am Post subject:

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:35 am Post subject: