As We See It

"CD Quality": Where Did the Music Go?

John Atkinson Feb 13, 2008 First Published: Feb 13, 2008

"Where did the music go?" I remember vividly the crestfallen looks on the faces of the listeners when, at the demonstrations I did at last October's Rocky">http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2007/">Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I played the MP3.

As We See It

Is It Real? Or Is It...

John Atkinson Jan 27, 2008 First Published: Jun 01, 1987

Enid Lumley accosted me in the corridors of Santa Monica's BayView Plaza Hotel in March: "That doesn't sound like a real piano!" I was taken aback. The sound to which the redoubtable Ms. Lumley was referring emanated from a 7' Steinway we had hired for James">http://www.performancerecordings.com/">James Boyk to play at the Stereophile show. Jim was conducting a series of tutorials on how the sound of a real piano is constituted, so Enid's criticism, on the face of things, seemed absurd. As my face obviously showed this conclusion, she hastily explained that, of course it was a real piano, but the fact that it overloaded the 40-seat room in which it was being played caused it to sound different from the sound of a real piano played in a concert hall. To lead visitors to the show to expect piano records to sound similar to what Jim was producing was dishonest.

As We See It

Measurements, Maps & Precision

John Atkinson Jan 14, 2008 First Published: Jan 14, 2008

As I wrote in this space last month, test-equipment manufacturer Audio Precision has loaned Stereophile a sample of their top-of-the-line SYS2722 system, which has both significantly greater resolution and greater bandwidth than the Audio Precision System One Dual Domain we have been using since 1989. The reviews you can read in this issue include the first measurements I have performed with this impressive piece of gear, though there are still a number of graphs I produced using our System One. In fact, with the equipment I tested using the SYS2722, I performed duplicate sets of measurements using both the System One and the Miller Audio Research QC Suite in order to get a handle on how close the three systems agreed. (They did on the tests where the SYS2722's improved resolution was not a factor.)

As We See It

Stereo & the Soundstage

John Atkinson Jan 04, 2008 First Published: Dec 04, 1986

The accuracy of a hi-fi system's "soundstage" reproduction seems to be of paramount importance these days, just as a component must now have "transparency" to possess hi-fi righteousness. If the system in which that component is used doesn't give good soundstage, then the system's owner has definitely fallen by the wayside. But what defines a good soundstage? Stereo imaging must have something to do with it, I hear you all cry. (I would have said stereo imagery until Larry Archibald pointed out that imagery has far less to do with hi-fi than with good writing, something I'm sure we agree has no place in a hi-fi magazine.) OK, what defines good stereo imaging?

As We See It

Anniversaries, Appreciations, Aleatorics, & an Apology

John Atkinson Dec 17, 2007 First Published: Dec 17, 2007

It was the strangest feeling: to be part of something yet without any understanding of how what I was doing fit into the whole. Back in the early 1980s, I had graduated from playing miscellaneous instruments in an early-music ensemble to devoting myself to the recorder (the end-blown fipple flute, not the audio archiving machine). My teacher, Nancy Winkelmann, had introduced me to various ensembles, and one Saturday afternoon, an ad hoc group of us was working with a composer of so-called "aleatoric" music; literally, music by chance.

As We See It J. Gordon Holt

The Last Word on Fidelity

J. Gordon Holt Dec 13, 2007 First Published: May 01, 1989

Last October, in Vol.11 No.10, Stereophile's Founder and Chief Tester J">http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/66">J. Gordon Holt stated, in his acerbic editorial "The">http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/111">The Acoustical Standard," that, in his opinion, only recordings for which there is an original acoustic reference—ie, typically those of classical music—should be used to evaluate hi-fi components. And that in the absence of a consensus over such a policy, high-end component manufacturers were losing their way over what does and does not represent good sound quality.

As We See It

"Plus ca change..."—The Information Superhighway

John Atkinson Dec 10, 2007 First Published: Feb 01, 1994

When I browse through early issues of this magazine, I envy J">http://www.stereophile.com/historical/712">J. Gordon Holt. When he foundedhttp://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/711">founded; Stereophile in 1962, there were aspects of society that stood as solid as the Rockies overlooking his current Colorado home. Back then a magazine was a thing forever; the main means of serious communication would always be the written word; records would always be LPs...recorded in stereo; the US had a large, prosperous consumer electronics industry; computers were huge mainframes made in the USA by IBM (of course), and required air-conditioned rooms and armies of white-coated attendants; everyone watched three broadcast television networks; once a film left the neighborhood cinema, it was gone forever—or at least until it appeared on the "Late, Late, Late Show." And most importantly, people took for granted that progress in sound reproduction meant improvements in quality.

As We See It Recommended Components

Recommended Components: Really Recommended

John Atkinson Dec 10, 2007 First Published: Apr 01, 1994

The very first "Recommended Components" listing appeared in Vol.1 No.5; this is the 16th time I've put the listing together since I took over the task from J. Gordon Holt in the November 1986 'phile. No other Stereophile feature seems to be as popular, or as misunderstood. While it might inform, it never fails to offend, particularly when it involves the dropping, or—horrors!—the not listing at all, of components that the magazine's readers own.

As We See It Audiophile Essentials

Audio Conflicts: Home Theater & The High-End Put-Down

John Atkinson Dec 10, 2007 First Published: Jun 01, 1994

Have you noticed how developed the art of the high-end put-down has become?

As We See It

Home Theaters, Music Systems, & the Live Experience

John Atkinson Dec 10, 2007 First Published: Dec 01, 1994

As easy as it is to communicate electronically, some things are still better done in person. At too-infrequent intervals, I visit Stereophile's writers, listen to their systems, and basically get them to show'n'tell the components they're reviewing. In this way, if they describe what I'm hearing, I have the confidence to publish their review, even if its findings run counter to accepted wisdom.