7 responses so far ↓

• 1 Sandy // Jan 8, 2008 at 8:20 am

  Yeah! Not like the good ol’ days when most people listened through cheap speakers and FM radio where it was compressed, like, through analog, man. Unless it was played through AM, where you didn’t even have stereo.

  But hey, at least most people listened through high fidelity formats like…cassette tapes.

  Wait, what was the argument again?

• 2 Patrick // Jan 8, 2008 at 8:46 am

  Sandy did you read the article? Sound quality reduction is being done by choice and because it can be done now with technology. Loud music is more attractive in certain audio formats, but the cost is the loss of nuanced sound quality along the loud to soft axis.

  As consumers we should be aware of decreasing quality in our product and any changes that lower artistic capability, and we should respond accordingly.

• 3 Justin // Jan 8, 2008 at 10:14 am

  It’s pretty dumb to blame poor sound quality on crappy headphones and mp3s–are third generation cassettes through a walkman any better?

  And, more on point, the loudness wars started in the mid to late 90s, before MP3s were everywhere. The fact is, loud music gets your attention and supericially sounds “better”, until you actually listen to it and realize it sounds like flat, distorted crap.

• 4 Kevin B. O'Reilly // Jan 8, 2008 at 11:52 am

  Audio experts may blame MP3s and headphones, but Dylan doesn’t. And by the way, Julian, welcome to *last year* when the original Rolling Stone interview first made news thanks to Dylan’s curmudgeonly comments about how music is made today.

• 5 Sandy // Jan 8, 2008 at 4:45 pm

  I did indeed read the article, Patrick (and yes, I made very similar mocking comments when it was originally covered).

  They are claiming that the unique properties of MP3s and the headphones that go along with iPods encourage the kind of compression they’re talking about. If you know anything about the history of consumer audio, you know that’s complete bullshit.

  As to “because it can be done now with technology,” I assure you such things were possible and were done way before the advent of MP3s or even Pro Tools. It’s called compression, and it’s not even remotely new.

  Yes it’s being done by choice, but blaming that choice on the format is dishonest in the extreme.

• 6 Barry // Jan 9, 2008 at 3:59 pm

  And the kids’ clothes these days! And their hair!

• 7 Chris // Jan 11, 2008 at 10:43 pm

  I’m more deferential to Fagen than Dylan. But they agree….