High Fidelity #socs

Just Jot It January, Stream of Consciousness Saturday 2 Minutes
Image by Webster2703 from Pixabay

NOTE: I can’t remember the last movie I saw. I don’t think we’ve been to the movies in ten years, we don’t watch movies on TV, and when Mary subscribes to Netflix, it’s to watch TV shows. Movies just don’t excite me like they used to. Anyway, this is a movie I remember seeing and enjoying, so it’s the one I’ll use here…

I’m not what you would call an audiophile. I love music, of course, but you probably figured that out already. Having said that, it has never really mattered to me how I got it. I’m just as happy listening to a song on a transistor radio with a 3" speaker as I am listening to it on a $1000 hi-fi stereo system. In fact, I’d go so far as to say some music just sounds better on a transistor radio.

I remember reading an article in Guitar Player magazine about 30 years ago that quoted Neil Young bitching about compact discs and how the quality couldn’t compare to vinyl records. I tended to agree with him until I actually sat down and listened to a few CD’s and realized, yeah, it sounds at least as good as what I remember the vinyl record sounding like, at least to my unsophisticated ear, and a CD doesn’t take up as much room as does a vinyl record, and the technology is such that, with a reasonably good CD player, I can pack a dozen or more CD’s and the player into my briefcase and have enough music to get me through a week on the road. If I run out or get bored with what I brought with me, I can always go to a music store and buy a couple more CD’s and entertain myself further. And when the iPod came out, I could bring my entire music collection with me.

I realized it was an economic decision: how much sound quality was I willing to part with in exchange for greater convenience and accessibility to my music collection. Turns out, I didn’t have to sacrifice much in the way of quality in favor of having it all with me. Audiophiles would disagree, of course, but screw ’em if they can’t take a joke.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you each week by Linda Hill and this station. During January, it’s also used for Linda’s excellent Just Jot It January.

And now this word from Avon beauty products. DING-DONG, Avon calling!

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

33 thoughts on “High Fidelity #socs”

  1. Do you find it interesting there’s a new trend in the millennials to buy vinyl again? My youngest loves them and her little record player. I agree with you – getting to listen to music, no matter what format is what I enjoy too!

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            1. There are; in fact I worked with a guy who owned one (which, unfortunately, has gone out of business). Mary has disposed of them, sadly, with my consent. Most had been sitting in the garage since we moved here over 30 years ago and probably were in no comdition to play…

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  2. Pingback: The Mid-January Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  4. I just listen to the music and don’t care about the quality of the sound as long as it doesn’t hurt my ears. In my car the sound is perfect and at home I seldom listen to music, as teenager yes, but that is looooooong ago !

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  6. We have a large collection of vinyls taking up space in my husband’s garage and don’t have a “record player” in the house so…and I agree with CDs being so much more convenient. Now though I listen to my iTunes on the phone or through the computer. I get a lot of CDs from the library, download them and there we go. Nicely done today, John.

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    1. I’ve gotten rid of nearly every physical medium (LP, cassette, CD). All my music is on an external drive now, but mostly I use Spotify, YouTube, and Prime Music for my listening enjoyment. Sure is different from the transistor radio days…

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  7. I just played 10 album covers from bands/musicians that influenced my taste in music in 10 days no explanations on FB. Whoa what a mouthful. Something about the scratch of the needle brings back vivid memories. Awesome times. I’d dare say the sound quality was worse though. But what do I know? My ears aren’t classically trained. 😂

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  8. I love music too, John. Don’t think I could ever live without it. That being said, I much prefer having a CD or listening from the laptop. No iPod here, so I’m out of the loop in that sense. Maybe when I retire, I’ll get one for those odd occasions when I need to plug myself in for motivation during a walk or bike ride.

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  10. My unsophisticated ear prefers the convenience of an iPod too.

    But even that technology is fading in favor of streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and Amazon…

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    1. The iPod Touch I just bought connects to wifi, so I can use it to listen to all the streaming services. A lot of radio stations broadcast over the Internet, too, and it’s kind of fun to listen to them. Not to mention podcasts, and YouTube, and…

      Technology is a wonderful thing when it gets used right.

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  11. I remember that article, John and I had much the same reaction. The best day in music was the day my day conf home with a transistor radio for me. My own music!

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    1. And you could attach the earphone and listen to ballgames at night. That helped after the expansion in ’69, when the White Sox ended up in the AL West and had night games in Oakland, Anaheim, and Seattle (remember the Pilots?).

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        1. They only played in Seattle one year, then Bud Selig bought them and moved them to Milwaukee, thus preventing him from buying the White Sox and moving them to Milwaukee. Interesting thing, though: the Sox almost moved to Seattle when the city sued for a baseball team after the Pilots left. Instead, the American League expanded by two teams, the Blue Jays and the Mariners, which is why for about 17 years there were 12 teams in the NL and 14 teams in the AL…

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            1. That would have been when the Astros and Pirates were in the NL Central, from 1994 to 2012. The NL expanded to 14 teams in 1993 (added Florida and Colorado) and both leagues split into three divisions in 1994. There was another expansion in 1998, with each league adding a team (the Diamondbacks in the NL, the Devil Rays in the AL), then Bud Selig decided to push his Brewers into the NL Central, so then there were 16 teams in the NL and 14 in the AL. The Astros moved to the AL West in 2013, making each league 15 teams and making interleague play a permanent thing.

              What did we ever do when there were just 10 teams in each league?

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