New favorite headphones/Bose hater no more!

To say I've been a Bose hater for a long time is a slight exaggeration. I don't "hate" Bose. I just hate the direct/reflecting principle as applied to speakers. The goal of speaker systems SHOULD BE to present what's on the recording, in as linear and phase-coherent a manner as possible. Any "ambience" heard should be that of the original recording venue (or in the case of pop music, that chosen by the producer and artist(s)), NOT added randomly by the room! Bouncing sounds randomly off walls may sound pleasant. But it is the antithesis of HIGH FIDELITY!  That pleasant "warm glow", that pleasing homogenous sound IS AN INACCURACY, and not being on the original recording, IS NOT TRUE TO THE ARTISTIC VISION OF THOSE WHO MADE THE RECORDING!

Alright, that's my case against Bose. Now why I've fallen in love with one of their products. For my 50th(!!!) birthday, I received a pair of the Bose on-ear headphones. Now I've been a headphone junkie since about the age of 12, when I first patched a set of (very cheap) 'phones to my parents' Magnavox console stereo, and heard that amazing, engulfing panorama of sound for the first time. It still makes me smile! It's why, I'm embarrassed to admit, I became an early addict of "easy listening" music...the best sound on early FM stereo radio came from those "elevator music" stations, and it was magnificent!

At age 15 I got my first radio job, and have spent hours a day with headphones ever since. And I've been through a ton of them...from Koss to Sennheiser, moving coil to electrostatic, closed back to "open aire". There are many that I've enjoyed (many more that I've despised), but NEVER have I heard anything as startling as the clarity of these Bose headphones. With most headphones, there's an adjustment period. It takes time to get used to the particular colorations of each new design, until I train myself to listen through the flaws, and simply enjoy the music. Not so with the Bose headphones. 

The first time I heard them, they simply sounded RIGHT. No adjustment period was necessary. The bass is FULLY extended (down to the very "bassment"...a 20hz tone will rattle your grey matter!). The midrange is delightfully smooth, and uncolored. Highs are crisp, clear, and without undue emphasis to any sliver of the spectrum. THAT is why they sounded "right" to begin with. No strange "cupped hands" (around ears) coloration in the midrange, typical of so many closed-back headphones. No low bass rolloff, as typical of most lightweight, open-back headphones. EVERYTHING IS THERE, and in proper proportion.

That's what struck me in the beginning, but not what keeps me grinning. THAT (stupid grin on my face) comes from the ability of these 'phones to lay bare hidden details in recordings I've heard dozens, or even hundreds of times...resulting in new listening pleasure from even VERY familiar recordings! THAT makes the 160+ dollar investment seem like a steal! These things are simply marvelous.

So now for the first time in my adult life, when I visit an electronics store, I walk right past the display of headphones. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN OWNING ANY OTHER 'PHONES! For a headphone junkie like me, with shelves and drawers full of Sonys, Beyerdynamics, Sennheisers, and Koss'es, that is quite a statement! Thank you Robin (my lovely wife!) Your love is the greatest gift of all. But second, is those freakin' Bose headphones!

Now, that Bose Wave Music system looks like a pretty damn nice audio system for a small room, like a bedroom! ;)

Asus EeePC--what a great gadget!

A couple of weeks ago I bought an Asus EeePC http://www.eeepc.asus.com

What a great gadget! I wanted one when they first came out with a custom version of Linux last fall, but I held off. However, when a version with XP pre-installed became available, the EeePC went from an amazingly cute "geek toy", to a useful tool. Yes it's under-powered by the standards of today's full size/full price "fire breathing" dual-core monsters. It's STARVED for storage space, as well. A 28 dollar 8GB SDHC card from New Egg fixed that. So there are limitations. But it can do more than 90 percent of what I ask of a computer. It even works well at capturing video (from the built-in webcam) at 30fps (using Windows Movie Maker).

More on my experiences later with this wonderful gadget, er...useful tool.

Welcome back, old friend!

I love headphones. Conventional wisdom is that studios should NEVER use headphones for mixing and mastering, because mixes created on headphones don't sound right on speakers. Bullshit! If you know what you're doing, understand the differences between how we hear headphones and speakers, and finally USE THE RIGHT HEADPHONES, there's no damn reason why you can't mix on headphones. It's my FAVORITE way to mix, because I can hear more clearly how every piece fits in the final puzzle that is my MIX! Each individual strand is clearly audible.

I write, voice, and produce for radio. The most important questions during the "process are:

1)-Is your music bed overpowering the voice?

2)-Does the voice sound both full, AND crisp?

3)-Is everything in the mix clearly audible, and in proper proportion?

4)-Is the audio spectrum well filled-out. Is there something going on "down there", and if so is it balanced with the rest of the mix? Is the octave to octave balance in proper proportion? Too damn many radio and tv commercials are PIERCINGLY bright! IT'S ABOUT BALANCE!

5)-Does everything CONGEAL into a mix that's greater than the "sum of it's parts"?

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS EASIER TO HEAR WITH HEADPHONES! Especially a truly revealing pair, like the Sony MDR-7506 (also known in consumer circles as the MDR-V6), LONG MY REFERENCE! Mixes done on these things sound immaculate, and hold together on far less revealing speaker systems! YES they're a little "clinical" sounding (on the "brightly lit" side of neutral). That'll keep you from making things painfully bright! They have FULLY extended bass (down to the "bassment") without any "bloat" or bass emphasis. And they're supremely comfortable! You can wear them for MANY hours (and I have, for a long, LONG time!) My 13 year-old MDR-7506 has been out of service a while because both earcups were split. I just ordered replacements from B&H Photo ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com ), and after much prodding, the THIRD PAIR OF EARPADS IS IN PLACE! Welcome back old friend!

Recording with Vista

On Dec 21 my new computer arrived...a Dell Inspiron 531 (Athlon 64x2 5000+, 2GB RAM, 500GB hard drive), The operating system? Vista Home Premium! I decided I'd evetually have to make my peace with the new OS, so I went for sooner.

WELL, Adobe Audition can only be coaxed to work if you right click on the icon and choose "run as administrator". Otherwise, you're unable to save files. I can deal with that. What's REALLY strange is the way Vista deals with audio. My old HP system had a mute control. When I turned on my mic, I muted the speakers to avoid feedback. Well try to get feedback with Vista. It doesn't seem possible. First of all, when you plug in a board or mic preamp, NOTHING COMES OUT OF THE SPEAKERS UNLESS YOU'RE IN PLAYBACK. NOTHING! You can record, but NOTHING emerges from the speakers during recording.Then there's the record mixer in Vista. Actually there isn't (a recording mixer in Vista). Vista attempts to set levels on it's own. I can turn the input, and output on my mic preamp all the way down, and for most of the pots' travel Vista turns the level up...like an aggressive AGC! But I still had to experiment before I found an input level that yielded clean audio. I CANNOT make Adobe Audition's meters reach 0dbfs, but I can sure as hell make the incoming audio sound distorted. WEIRD!

Update: A program from a small company called "Actual Solution" fixes Vista's mixer issues, by adding back all the control available in XP (and then some). "Power Mixer for Vista" is 18 bucks, and money well spent! My computer is stable now, no BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) in many days. I'm beginning to think I will actually be able to tolerate working on a Vista PC!

Winston-Salem Journal article

Welcome readers of the article in today's (Dec 3) Winston-Salem Journal. The Journal did get one thing wrong. This blog isn't JUST about HD Radio. It's about radio, audio, video, and digital multimedia, INCLUDING HD RADIO!

Another point on the article...the comments about interference refer primarily to AM HD. And there isn't any AM HD in the Triad yet, so it really doesn't apply. FM HD works beautifully! Buy an HD Radio, and see for yourself. There are lots of great models. Read more at http://www.hdradio.com

Radios are available from MANY locations, including

Best Buy http://www.bestbuy.com
Circuit City http://www.circuitcity.com
Crutchfield http://www.crutchfield.com
C Crane http://www.ccrane.com
Universal Radio http://www.universalradio.com
J&R Music World http://www.jr.com
The NPR Shop http://www.npr.org/shop

Later I'll modify this post, and add direct links to radios. In earlier posts you can read more info about HD Radio.

Here's what HD Radio sounds like at my home, in Wilkes County (Boomer) NC

http://www.theproductionroom.net/hd.wma
http://www.theproductionroom.net/shuffle.wma

By the way, virtually all HD Radios also receive analog AM Stereo. Here's a sample of what WNMB in North Myrtle Beach sounds like in AM Stereo, as received on an Accurian HD Radio
http://www.theproductionroom.net/wnmb.mp3

The least expensive HD Radio now is the HD100/HD101 from Radiosophy, an American company (GO USA!) http://www.radiosophy.com

This article isn't finished, but it's bedtime, so I'll sign off for now. Thanks for your interest in my blog, and HD Radio!

HD Radio in the Winston-Salem Journal

The Winston-Salem Journal is preparing an article about HD Radio to appear "late in November", and this morning they interviewed me about the technology, at the suggestion of Denise Franklin, General Manager of my favorite public radio station, and one my wife and I support...WFDD/Winston Salem (88.5FM).

I pointed out the many advantages of HD Radio, including vastly improved sound quality for people like me in "deep fringe" areas, where my choices formerly were "noisy stereo or mono".

I also told him that my first impression of HD Radio was to be stunned by the utter clarity. Individual instruments in an orchestra can be clearly heard. It's the audio equivalent of "cleaning the window". EVERYTHING is crisper and clearer. The background is dead silent. You can hear EVERYTHING in the room when an announcer speaks...papers rustling, chair squeaking, coffee slurping. It's like being IN THE STUDIO.

But more important for people who aren't audiophiles or "radio geeks" is the added variety in programming. HD made it possible for WFDD to continue with the news and talk programming which are so popular, AND return 24/7/365 classical music to the Triad (Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point) area. I pointed out the "extra channels" that I enjoyed on other local stations as well.

I'll let you know how the article turns out. I told the reporter that "there are some people saying nasty things about HD, but if you dig a little you'll find it's VERY FEW PEOPLE who speak in VERY LOUD VOICES", and most of them are owners of small-market stations which can't afford to stay up with the latest technology. Either that or they're owners of AM stations. And to be fair, I pointed out that "while FM HD works just great, I have yet to be convinced that AM HD is an equally wonderful idea". I made him aware that there are some LEGITIMATE concerns about interference, reduced sound quality to existing listeners, and reduced coverage for AM stations.

I know "HD Radio SUCKS", the technology is "DEFECTIVE", I'm a "SHILL", and it's all "A FARCE". That should keep the ONE PERSON who consistently tries to get this crap on my blog satisfied. No need to post your "well-informed" opinions, I've already done it for you.

Skullcandy "Smokin' Buds" Ink'd

What a terrible name for a consumer electronics company..."Skullcandy". What a horrid company logo...a SKULL! What ugly products...pink, blue, green headphones! I didn't expect much when I saw the "Ink'd" earbuds on sale at Staples yesterday (10/28/07) for 12.99! But I love earphones, and love finding a bargain, so I thought "what the hell".

The first thing I discovered was that the rubber tips that come fitted were perfect for my ears...no reason to try the two other sizes which were supplied. So I inserted the plug into my Sandisk Sansa E250 mp3 player, running a customized version of the Rockbox operating system (this version allowing "bookmarking" of MPEG video files, and allowing starting video files at any point simply by entering the time...other than that, it's pretty comparable to the current build of Rockbox. More coming on this player, and Rockbox firmware).

The first thing I noticed was that isolation is near total. It would be hard to hear someone standing next to you, even if they were SCREAMING! Time to listen to some music! First up, "Forget about it" from Alison Krauss....featuring her whisper-quiet voice at it's sweetest. I immediately noticed something quite different from the vast majority of earbuds...the midrange and highs sounded RIGHT! Voices didn't sound hollow, bloated, nasal, or any of those other nasty things that earbuds usually do to them. The timbre was pretty much spot-on! Highs were also clean and extended, without obvious emphasis or peaks! Then the song reached the chorus, Alison's voice soared, the bassline sank, and my jaw dropped. These 'phones are unbelievably full, and extended on the bottom-end...going clean to the "bass-ment". Yes they're on the "warm" side of neutral "down there", but not bloated or "one-note" in any way. Everything was clean as a whistle. WOW! I suddenly came to realize that these were among the best headphones or earphones I'd ever heard at ANY price...and that includes multi-megabuck Stax electrostatics, high-end Sennheisers, BeyerDynamics and others. I just heard more detail! A case in point was a tune from "Windham Hill Sampler '86" that I bought new during the Reagan Administration. I've listened to this disc countless times, but never noticed accents on snare drum on this one particular track ("Dolphins" by Mike Marshall). WOW! That's the very definition of high-end gear...allowing you to hear deeper into a recording, bringing you closer to the music. And this extra clarity wasn't the result of an over-accentuated, soon-to-be-fatiguing high end. Not on your life!

Are there faults? Of course...in this, and every other audio product. But they're too few, and too small to mention. Ok...I'll mention one...left and right channels are not labeled. I labeled them by wrapping a piece of freezer tape around the cord of each channel at the dividing poing of the "Y", and color coding the one for right red, and left black with "Sharpie" pens. That's it. Buy the damn things! Hell, buy two pairs of 'em. I'm going back for a spare!