Tympanic Membrane

return of the listener

CBuck — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:25:58 +0000

i realized recently, that i wasn’t enjoying music as much as i did when i was younger. i’m not one of those boneheads that moans and complains that, “music is dead. it’s over. music used to be good, but now it’s just crap!” i believe, no, i know there’s plenty of great music out there that’s just waiting for me to discover it and i’ll keep looking. but, this isn’t about that silly argument. this is about my listening habits of late. i’ve been listening to a lot of music, HOWEVER, i fell into the trap of listening to my gear. i would carefully select only source material that i thought would sound good on my system. back in the day when i worked in record stores, i grabbed whatever music was laying around in the promotional boxes. i read all the magazines and reviews in the newspaper and listened to the radio hoping to hear something new. (this was before two or three companies owned all the stations and they have no desire to play anything other than the most popular drivel. that’s the stuff that the, “there’s no good music,” people are complaining about.) i went to other record stores and even stereo shops to see what they were spinning to get people interested, not to mentioned checking out the record, tape and cd collection of every person i knew. all this is to say, that i listened to whatever caught my attention, and if it sounded good (quality recordings), that was a bonus! i was always interested in getting better equipment that would make my music sound better; even though i couldn’t afford anything because i worked in a record store, but i never chose the music just because i hoped it had good sonic quality. i just aquired it and listened.over the past few months, i began picking music that i already knew sounded great. it was only the best recorded and engineered and produced music by only the most proficient artists. subsequently, there was very little new music and little of the music that i’d formerly enjoyed just because i liked the songs. this was beginning to depress me. now, enter the new maggies (previous post). i’ve been listening to everything i own and loving it. yes, admittedly, it’s mostly due to the novelty of owning what are ostensibly my dream speakers (unless i win the lottery. there’s a bigger pair of maggies i wouldn’t mind having). but, i have been completely enraptured by the music i’ve heard over the past few days. this evening i’ve listened to sharon jones (lp), fiona apple’s tidal and her second release extraordinary machine (both cd’s), a couple art blakey records (lp’s), rachmaninoff’s piano concerto no. 2 also on vinyl and i’m currently listening to sugarcubes cd, stick around for joy. i haven’t heard this in years and it’s just as fun and enjoyable as ever! (bonus: it sounds really good.) this is what i miss about listening to music, the joy of listening.so, i guess thanks to the new maggies, the listener has returned. time to buy more music. when nuprin boy gets out here to the coast, that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. crap. i just bought new speakers and i’m pretty broke. oh well, happy listening.

enter the sound

CBuck — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:55:00 +0000

so i’ve spent some time, here and there, listening to music on my budget audiophile system: onix a-2150 dual mono amp, nad 314 integrated amp (as a preamp), harman kardon hd7500 cd, rega p1 tt and my pride, a pair of magnepan mmg’s. sounds great with most music, which includes everything i listen to, but i was always wanting to upgrade somewhere. the first thing i did was change the stock cartridge on the turn table (ortofone om-5 to rega bias 2). nice upgrade on the turn table, but i still felt i was lacking the complete full sound i like. don’t get me wrong, the little “budget” maggies were great, as was the onix (though i thought it lacked punch) and the cd player is a hold over from the 80’s and still kicks much butt. but, i just wasn’t hearing all i wanted to hear. i decided i was gonna take the plunge and get a new power amp, no a new integrated amp and lose the onix and nad. then i thought, what about upgrading the speakers? i love the sound of magnepan magneplaners, so i looked at the mg 12’s and considered the mg 1.6qr’s. they were a grand and two grand respectively. so back to considering an amp, or an integrated.after a couple of weeks of waffling this way and that, i committed to the speakers. no, the amp. well, the integrated… you get the picture. then the stars aligned. i made my first ebay purchase with the help of nuprin boy. (i’m afraid to by things through ebay, audiogon and worse, craig’s list.) but, together we closed the deal and i’m now the proud owner of…a great pair of magnepan mg 1.6 qr’s.turns out the onix amp has plenty of punch. i’ve found the sound i was chasing. but, now i have a new problem. i’m addicted to listening to music again. other than bathroom breaks, and work today, i’ve been listening to everything! at this point, i’m just grabbing cd’s and records off the shelf and putting them on and enjoying the hell out of it! (note the dust on the speaker feet. i haven’t even cleaned them up yet.) i just can’t stop listening and enjoying the sound of the music.

The Roots: ’nuff said

Nuprin Boy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:49:05 +0000

new byrne

Nuprin Boy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:17:38 +0000

Been a long time

Nuprin Boy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:33:45 +0000

It’s been forever since I’ve posted here. A lot has been happening and well, I’ve just been lazy. So, once again I am going to try and poet more regularly.Got a few audio related things rolling around in the noggin.But first, a funny bit about the power of music and the art of mis-communication:

Shine A Light

CBuck — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:54:17 +0000

performance: it’s the stones

sound: shrill

mood: okay

Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light entertains a bit, but ultimately doesn’t illuminate anything, least of all The Rolling Stones. It may be a film made for true fans by a true fan and I’m not. I like some Stones songs, but they’ve never hit me the way they hit others. The movie is categorized as a documentary. I guess it is if you’re using the old Blockbuster Video categories; It’s not a narrative film so therefore it’s a documentary. The only thing I found out about the stones was that they are old and still doing what they’ve been doing for 40 years and I ain’t knocking that. However, I’ve seen concert video of them before and the only thing this film brings to the table is a smaller venue and Martin Scorsese. There’s very little that makes this a cinematic experience beyond the editing (which was fairly typical for a concert film) and the sound editing (which was awful!). (more…)

gear heads

CBuck — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:27:36 +0000

I used to think audiophiles were gear heads, and they (we) are. But I must say; after researching the camera market recently (I got a nice DSLR. I’m very happy), I’ve discovered that photography hobbyists, camera enthusiasts, prosumer shutterbugs are the biggest gear heads around. They make audio junkies look like sane people. When audiophiles talk about gear at least they include the music the gear makes. I mean, that’s always the point. But photo hobbyists may talk for an hour and never once reference a photograph. They quote stats with as much religious fervor as hardcore audiophiles do, however, they are also downright zealots when it comes to brands. Audio people will mix and match, try different combos of amps, preamps, turntables; different brands, etc. But camera gear heads are married to their brands. Admittedly, they have to be because so many things are proprietary. That said, Canonites can’t stand Nikonians and nobody likes the Pentaxians. I think a Canonite mother would disown her son if he brought home a Olympian girlfriend. I hear there’s trouble brewing between the Sigmarians and the Leicans. And did I mention nobody likes Pentaxians? It’s because they’re jealous of us.

the great debate

Nuprin Boy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:14:58 +0000

in school I had a great teacher who posed an interesting query of me and my work: Do you want to be the guy who makes great paint, or the guy who makes great paintings? I took it to mean, that obsessing over tools and techniques can take away a bit from obessesing over process and results.

Artists, Musicians, Coders, anyone in a specialized field probably has had some sort of experience with this… “I need the latest and gretest, that will make my work AWESOME!” Probably not, but you will certainly amass lots of equipment that will gather much dust.

With music (listening for me) I’ve amassed cables, stands, power conditioners, headphones, sources, speakers, etc. My collection of gear thankfully is spread throughout the country and in the hands of people who can actually use the stuff. In all this time, my favorite speakers are still my old Spica TC-50s (in a box), my favorite CD player is still my old Marantz 63se (in jackson), and my fave turntable is my Rega P2 (in my house). Learning to make the best with what you got is hard, but can be so rewarding. Because you can enjoy the music and relax.

I’m thinking about all of this because I saw this article today: REZNOR TWO

And this one last week: REZNOR ONE.

In the end, there seems to be a place for everyone, so whether you make music, sell music, produce music, whatever; just enjoy the music.

Sharon Jones

Nuprin Boy — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:58:06 +0000

Well, I am going to try and write more this year (even if it’s just infosnacking) hopefully it’ll be more. first real post is about Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Thanks myspace music. They’ve been around a few years and are a joy to hear check out the tracks below.

and see more info about her here
eventually CBuck and I will recommend something besides R&B, Soul or Blues (not that there’s anything wrong with that)

wow.

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:42:01 +0000

I just actually read the new itunes agreement.. it’s very long. I never had to read this stuff when buying vinyl at a store.A few things of note:

3. Objectionable Material. You understand that by using the Service, you may encounter content that may be deemed offensive, indecent, or objectionable, which content may or may not be identified as having explicit language. Nevertheless, you agree to use the Service at your sole risk and that Apple shall have no liability to you for content that may be found to be offensive, indecent, or objectionable. Content types (including genres, sub-genres and Podcast categories and sub-categories and the like) and descriptions are provided for convenience, and you acknowledge and agree that Apple does not guarantee their accuracy.

ohhhhh, dirty.

(iv) You shall be able to store Products from up to five different Accounts on certain devices, such as an iPod or iPhone, and Apple TV at a time; provided that each iPhone may sync ring tone Products with only a single Apple-authorized device at a time, and that syncing an iPhone with another Apple-authorized device will cause any ring tone Products stored on such iPhone to be erased and, if you so choose, to be replaced with any ring tone Products stored on such other Apple-authorized device. Additional restrictions apply to Movies Rentals, as described below.(v) You shall be authorized to burn an audio playlist up to seven times.(vi) You shall not be entitled to burn video Products or ring tone Products.

Damn, I wanted to plop everything on my Zune.

(xv) HDMI. An HDCP connection is required in order to view movies (purchased or rented) and TV shows transmitted over HDMI.

The movies are copy protected, well, I couldn’t rent HD via iTunes anyway.Here’s the entire agreement