[dB Cooper]

I have been wondering about this for awhile. The middle ground has been disappearing in the Hi-Fi industry for a long time (which reflects trends in society as a whole, but that's a tangent.) There is a chasm between what the average person buys, or even considers buying, and the world of $1200 power cables and $25,000 speakers. Today, the iPod and other devices producing lo-res, compressed music are the common music delivery system for many people who seem utterly unaware that delivering sound that is capable of making you think (if even for a moment) that you are listening to Real Musicians is something that can be even a goal, let alone a reality. More and more people are using these devices as their main audio delivery source, not just for 'portable' use. Their audio systems sound like crap and they seem neither to know or care, and yet this equipment is often discussed in reviews using terminology that echoes that used in high fidelity reviews.

According to a statistic cited by Steve Jobs at today's Apple media event, a third of all prerecorded music sold in the last year wasn't even released in CD format, but only in lo-res formats used to conserve download bandwidth and hard drive space. A third of prerecorded music.

Where is the High Fidelity (I dislike the term 'high end') industry going to get new fans if the music goes away? There needs to be new music produced in high-res forms for the dream of High Fidelity to even have a shot. If there is nothing to listen to, who is going to plunk down the scratch for even a modestly-better-than-average audio system? The young people of today aren't likely to start showing up in droves at record swap meets to look for old Blue Note pressings. And specialty audio retailers were dropping like flies even before these trends started to accelerate.

Don't get me wrong, I have a player, I use it, and it can sound better than it ought to considering that it throws away 90% of the data that the parent CD had. I just don't want to be limited to only that level of fidelity, and the nature of the business seems to be heading in just that direction.

[Daygloworange]

Where is the High Fidelity (I dislike the term 'high end') industry going to get new fans if the music goes away?

I don't think the CD format will disappear for an inferior format. As Blu-Ray becomes more the norm, and the ability to store vastly more bits, The pro recording industry will jump all over that and that will lead to a better digital format eventually.

As far as where will the audio industry get new fans? Let them grow up a bit and cultivate some disposable income. They will come.

A byproduct of MP 3 is, is that kids today will become hooked on music. It's such a part of their everday lives, and eventually many will want a better system as they evolve and become more sophisticated listeners.

That's my 2 cents.

Cheers

[WGH]

Where is the High Fidelity... industry going to get new fans if the music goes away?

Home theater, that's what all my friends use their stereos for. My local high end audio establishment looks like an appliance store when you walk in with all the TVs on display.

[dB Cooper]

Yep, home theatre... Forgot to even mention HT (another highly compressed audio source). At least you have the picture to distract you from the sound quality with HT. The owner of one of the very few hi-end audio shops left in my town told me some years back that if he tried to survive on audio alone, he'd be out of business in a year.

[dB Cooper]

I don't think the CD format will disappear for an inferior format. As Blu-Ray becomes more the norm, and the ability to store vastly more bits, The pro recording industry will jump all over that and that will lead to a better digital format eventually.

As far as where will the audio industry get new fans? Let them grow up a bit and cultivate some disposable income. They will come.

A byproduct of MP 3 is, is that kids today will become hooked on music. It's such a part of their everday lives, and eventually many will want a better system as they evolve and become more sophisticated listeners.

That's my 2 cents.

Cheers

CD is already starting to disappear, which is my point: a third of all prerecorded music sold last year was sold in low-bit-rate digital download form (and more to the point not even available in CD format), and in the last year, the former #1 CD retailer, Tower Records, went out of business. I suggest that these two pieces of data may not be unrelated.

The ability to deliver higher bit-rate formats has existed since the advent of the DVD ten years ago. Things are moving in the opposite direction, and have been for some time. SACD and DVD-A, two formats based on just this premise, both seem to have flopped (another "format war" surely didn't help). In the online music biz, there is strong commercial incentive to make the file size as small as possible even if the pipeline is capable of much more. I wonder what percentage of the iTunes songs which are available in both 128K and 256K rates are purchased at the higher rate?

I was hooked on music too. Kids (and adults) have always been hooked on music; it's basic to the human spirit. Suppose the music I was hooked on was among the third that was only available in low bit rate format? There is no CD to go out and get. Where is the incentive to build a great audio system in that scenario?

[markC]

Today, the iPod and other devices producing lo-res, compressed music are the common music delivery system for many people who seem utterly unaware that delivering sound that is capable of making you think (if even for a moment) that you are listening to Real Musicians is something that can be even a goal, let alone a reality. More and more people are using these devices as their main audio delivery source, not just for 'portable' use. Their audio systems sound like crap and they seem neither to know or care, and yet this equipment is often discussed in reviews using terminology that echoes that used in high fidelity reviews.

I couldn't agree more with the way that you have worded your post. If you are not exposed to the superior capabilities of a system capable of "transporting you into the recording", how would you ever know that it's possible? If that system becomes less and less main steam,(which I believe it OBVIOUSLY has already), how are the next gens gonna know?
I grew up on vinyl and then 8 track and the cassette and then cd.
What percentage of people in their 20's do you think have been exposed to vinyl playback?
I can recall a customer last year that was talking with her 14ish year old daughter about lp's and how that's the only way that you could buy music-(read mainsteam), and the daughter's reply was..."but how did you play it in the car?"

[Daygloworange]

I can recall a customer last year that was talking with her 14ish year old daughter about lp's and how that's the only way that you could buy music-(read mainsteam), and the daughter's reply was..."but how did you play it in the car?"

She didn't happen to be Miss South Carolina did she? 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Cheers

[markC]

Good one Denny! But she honestly didn't know any better.

[dB Cooper]

I couldn't agree more with the way that you have worded your post. If you are not exposed to the superior capabilities of a system capable of "transporting you into the recording", how would you ever know that it's possible? If that system becomes less and less main steam,(which I believe it OBVIOUSLY has already), how are the next gens gonna know?

And as I said earlier, if high quality source material doesn't exist, that system won't exist either. To reiterate my points:

• Audio specialty retailers are essentially extinct
• "High resolution" formats have been introduced- and they bombed
• Major CD retailers, notably Tower, have gone the way of the dodo.

Here are Steve Jobs' exact words, to illustrate my point (emphasis mine):
“This last stat I want to share with you blew my mind. In the US, of all the music releases in 2006, 32 percent were digital only releases,” said Jobs. “They were not released on a CD. Wow. Look how far we’ve come: A third of the music released in this country was not on a CD. So that gives you a feeling for how far we’ve come in the last 5 years in the digital music revolution.”

And that has happened in a mere 5 years.

[BradJudy]

CD is already starting to disappear, which is my point: a third of all prerecorded music sold last year was sold in low-bit-rate digital download form (and more to the point not even available in CD format), a

That's because labels took advantage of the low cost of re-entry and re-released large quantities of out of print albums to digital format.  It isn't that new music stopped being released on CD, it's that the technology allowed companies to blow the dust off of a lot of stuff without paying for new pressings.  This is a positive sign, not a coffin nail.  How many music junkies have bemoaned the lack of access to out of print material?

If you look across the industry, there is starting to be some convergence - download services are playing with higher bitrates and hi-fi junkies are playing with digital music. 

Naturally, the industry isn't leaning towards hi-fi, they are leaning towards multimedia.  The portable mp3 player market has become the portable media player market.  On the other hand, this also means the players have more horsepower and storage - Apple just released a 160GB ipod.  That's a lot of storage for lossless music.

As mentioned, the digital music phenomenon has brought music into a lot of places it wasn't before (for better or worse) and is connecting people with music they would have never heard otherwise (a la Rhapsody or Pandora).  It has also lowered the barrier to the creation of recorded music (a la Garage Band style software and inexpensive hardware).  Hopefully these things will lead to interesting days ahead in the creation of music.

[arthurs]

It just smells funny....wait, that's not 'High Fidelity' it's some lingering smoke wafting out of my attic....

[markC]

Better check your IB sub drivers...or is that your son burnin' one?

[arthurs]

....he better not be in my attic stash....

[lonewolfny42]

db Cooper.....

Your words are right on target....it is grim.The young care little for the quality of the sound....its just background music. Too many other things to keep them occupied. If you were to tell them you sit and listen to an album all the way through....they might look at you funny....

I miss Tower....had one two blocks away...open till midnight....now its slim pickins in the big box stores...

A link I use to "see" whats going on.....coolfer...

[DaveC113]

I think a lot of people want good music, and spend a lot of cash trying to attain it at big electronics stores who's "high end" gear is lacking and overpriced. The home theatre concept is pushed pretty hard, and lots of people end up with a terrible sounding ht instead of a decent 2 channel system.


Then there are the music haters... I offered a friend (who makes plenty) my old Mirage bipolar speakers and amp for a good price because all he has is a Bose ipod docking station in his huge house. He is happy with the docking station   

[Bill Baker]

I had someone come into my shop last week to try and sell me something. Stocks, bonds, etc. He was in his late 20's. Now, to set the scene, when you walk into my shop you see anywhere from 10-20 tube amps laying around on the floor, on shelves and equipment racks.
 The first thing out of his mouth was "what are the glass things". 

 I think what is disappearing is the mid-fi world. You have plenty of low-fi and a small but steady clientele of high-end. We can only hope we can educate them enough and allow them to experience truly great audio systems so they will want to start making the transition on their own.

[IronLion]

As probably one of the youngest people on these boards, I can confirm that I am the only person I know who is my age (mid 20's) that cares enough to even consider getting a stereo other than the boombox acquired for college from Best Buy.  I've tried mentioning it before to some of my friends but when they realized that these things cost money, more money than they think is rational, they just think I'm crazy; then again, they haven't heard my system either though so maybe that will change their minds.  In any case, I think that for much of my particular generation, hi-fi is defined as anything big and powered by a receiver.  As someone pointed out, home theatre seems to mean good sound automatically somehow for many young people these days; or those iPod docks with built in 'speakers'. 

[Steve Eddy]

Then there are the music haters... I offered a friend (who makes plenty) my old Mirage bipolar speakers and amp for a good price because all he has is a Bose ipod docking station in his huge house. He is happy with the docking station   

I don't know that I'd call those folks music haters. Good music is good music even if it's being played on a Bose iPod docking station. Good music can transcend even a Bose iPod docking station. Hell, I spent countless enjoyable hours as a youth listening to music on a small seven transistor pocket radio.

Personally, I tend to think that people like your friend, those who can be satisfied with something like a Bose iPod docking station are the true music lovers of the world. They take in the grand view. The forest if you will. They're not upset just because a handful of trees may be missing or out of place. The music still comes through. It still touches them in a deeply emotional way.

To hear many "audiophiles" go on and on about things such as "soundstage," "microdynamics," etc. one is left wondering just how much a part of their world music actually is and whether or not the music mainly just serves as a means for them to connect with what they're really in love with, the equipment.

I mean, when some people are worrying about things like wire purity down to the sixth decimal place, it really makes me wonder.

se

[Zero]

High Fidelity stereo is by most accounts, among the slowest developing industries in electronics. While experienced audiophiles will be quick to boast of the gains made throughout the years, the bottom line is that there has been nothing absolutely ground breaking enough to catch the attention of the general public. The only device to have caught the eye and wallet of the general public is the iPod. Previously, it was the Bose Acoustimass cubes. That’s within a 10 year time frame. As the rest of electronic industries move full speed ahead – stereo remains almost stagnant, appealing primarily to existing audiophiles. While the ranks do continue to grow, the numbers are small – causing concern among many as to what this means for the future of hi-fi.

Being 25 years old, I am part of the generation that has had little exposure to high quality sound.  I didn’t grow up with vinyl or tubes.  I never had friends over to listen to music for extended periods of time, or visa versa. If I wanted to let them hear a CD, I would have brought my little portable CD player outside or to school and let them listen through some headphones. There was no such thing as stereo wars, unless you count “bass loudness” contests from the trunk of a car. That’s close enough right? Large hunkering stereos were relics of our parent’s generation. Oh we listen to music alright. Maybe if there weren’t so many other cool toys available today – we’d listen the same way our dads did. Then again, back in the day – computers were in their infancy stages and far from being a house-hold device. There were no cell phones, large flat screen LCD and PLASMA televisions, iPods, Portable CD players – hell, there was barely even CD. There was Intellivision – but that’s nothing compared to today’s gaming consoles and games. There was no high speed internet, or tons of channels on TV.  While cars are still the money pit they were years ago – car stereo’s and goodies to trick out your ride have exploded.

The list could go on. Top all of these distractions off with being young – wanting to spend less time at home (with the parents) and more time hanging out with friends – or for the older crowd; paying off those cell phone and cable bills while staying afloat in a market that’s very tough to live in, and well, the room for hi fi stereo is nil.

Yet, younger people are as connected to the music as you were as a kid. We listen while in the car. We listen while using the computer. We listen while hanging out with friends. We listen when on vacation with the family. The one thing that seems universal through generations over the past 50 years is the connection made with music. It is a very real part of our culture, and lives.  Nothing’s changed there. What has changed and continues to change is the way that experience is felt. 

Sitting around and making note of the problem doesn’t make it go away, nor does pointing fingers. Since no true high end company has managed to make a significant impact in the lives of younger people – I feel it is up to YOU to take in younger people and let them experience what good music sounds like on a good stereo system. Yeah, some of them may not get it. That’s fine. I’m not into cars or boats. The point is showing the effort to make that difference – and to give these people who otherwise have not had the chance to hear a good system – the opportunity to do so.

Even if you open their eyes and ears – you can’t change the usual status of “young and broke”. But you can take solace in knowing you’ve done your part – all the while potentially sparking an interest in someone to take their love of music to the next level. 

[Steve Eddy]

Great post!

se