August 22, 2006
Thank You, Bob Dylan
Today, Bob Dylan pointed out how awful most modern RECORDINGS sound. Notice the all-caps on the word recordings. This is because many news outlets have headlined the story to insinuate that Dylan thinks most modern music sucks. This is not what he said. Rather, he laments the way the music on the CDs sounds. The recorded music sounds bad. Here is a great blog post on the subject. It discusses what Dylan most likely meant by his statements, as well as some of the more technical aspects of why CDs sound so awful. (The author of the post is known simply as Sundog, so I cannot credit him using his actual name.) Dylan even says that his own new studio recordings sound great in the studio (where they're being played from master recordings on a high-quality sound system, before being "compressed"), but the CDs sound dreadful.
I own dozens of vinyl 33 RPM records. (I've got Donna Summer, War, The Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash and Percy Sledge, to name a few.) Some of them are very dear to me, particularly the ones from the 70's. It's hard to explain, but beyond the hiss of the stylus (needle), the actual sound (audio) is much richer and fuller than what you'll hear from most CDs. Listening to disco/funk/soul tunes from vinyl is a wonderful experience.
I suppose now would be a good time to apologize to several of my past roommates for playing my 33s so darn loud on a few Saturdays each year. Sorry, guys, I couldn't help myself. That stuff sounds so darn good!
Today, Bob Dylan pointed out how awful most modern RECORDINGS sound. Notice the all-caps on the word recordings. This is because many news outlets have headlined the story to insinuate that Dylan thinks most modern music sucks. This is not what he said. Rather, he laments the way the music on the CDs sounds. The recorded music sounds bad. Here is a great blog post on the subject. It discusses what Dylan most likely meant by his statements, as well as some of the more technical aspects of why CDs sound so awful. (The author of the post is known simply as Sundog, so I cannot credit him using his actual name.) Dylan even says that his own new studio recordings sound great in the studio (where they're being played from master recordings on a high-quality sound system, before being "compressed"), but the CDs sound dreadful.
I own dozens of vinyl 33 RPM records. (I've got Donna Summer, War, The Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash and Percy Sledge, to name a few.) Some of them are very dear to me, particularly the ones from the 70's. It's hard to explain, but beyond the hiss of the stylus (needle), the actual sound (audio) is much richer and fuller than what you'll hear from most CDs. Listening to disco/funk/soul tunes from vinyl is a wonderful experience.
I suppose now would be a good time to apologize to several of my past roommates for playing my 33s so darn loud on a few Saturdays each year. Sorry, guys, I couldn't help myself. That stuff sounds so darn good!