Apart from going to Argos and buying the one with the most buttons....

[cloughie]

Whenever I put on a Colin Davis CD, I always think a soft porn soundtrack has somehow got superimposed.

Don't try Erroll Garner then!

[MrGongGong]

This is one way of dealing with iffy CD's


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UACmvCVDdg

Nic is a genius IMV

[OldTechie]

Does anyone know, are 'Bose' and 'Roland' related?
My otherwise excellent Roland piano has developed a nasty humming noise with a definite pitch, sounding a low A flat an octave and a third below middle C. Even nastier, it sounds that note at 'classical' pitch ( A 430).

That Ab based on A=430 is 101Hz - that is almost twice mains frequency. I think you need a new power supply - which will probably fix the tuning as well. I don't think Bose and Roland are related. It's worth fixing it and it will cost a lot less than a Steinway.

I wish I could get the BBC to fix the hum they insert on Radio 3 at my local radio relay station (though it's not loud enough to drown out Glenn Gould's vocal accompaniment when they insist on playing his discs.) It's an octave lower than your hum, and pretty well midway between G and Ab on my piano.

[MrGongGong]

That Ab based on A=430 is 101Hz - that is almost twice mains frequency. I think you need a new power supply - which will probably fix the tuning as well. I don't think Bose and Roland are related. It's worth fixing it and it will cost a lot less than a Steinway.

I wish I could get the BBC to fix the hum they insert on Radio 3 at my local radio relay station (though it's not loud enough to drown out Glenn Gould's vocal accompaniment when they insist on playing his discs.) It's an octave lower than your hum, and pretty well midway between G and Ab on my piano.

Un Loup de Terre n'est pas

(I know I know ............ but I did say this once to a Belgian sound engineer many years ago when my French was even worse than it is now )

[Ariosto]

If you want decent sound then don't buy anything British. (The exception is one or two fine small companies that build equipment in their back rooms).

Miss out anything that says it's from Cambridge, as most of this Hi Fi equipment is rubbish. (Cyrus, Arcam and all that lot of overpriced junk).

Some American and Japanese equipment can be excellent, but get rid of most of the speakers you see around, and use medium quality headphones. Then you will hopefully get the real sound. The rest is cotton wool.

[Stunsworth]

If you want decent sound then don't buy anything British. (The exception is one or two fine small companies that build equipment in their back rooms).

Really? I'd better send my Audiolab, Musical Fidelity, EAR, Quad kit to the landfill then.

Reading your posts you do come across as a very angry person, time to relax perhaps.

[Ariosto]

Really? I'd better send my Audiolab, Musical Fidelity, EAR, Quad kit to the landfill then.

Reading your posts you do come across as a very angry person, time to relax perhaps.

What a strange post! Yes, if it's British (and made in the last 15 years) you should send it to the landfill. Or have your ears checked. Or both.

I only get slightly angry when I read posts written by people who suggest that strong opinions are something that needs to be addressed. Maybe YOU need the tranquilisers and the services of a shrink?

[MrGongGong]

Phew I've just avoided financial ruin as I was about to buy a pair of B&W speakers
ATC are rubbish as well as they are British

so lets stick with "medium" quality headphones .............

[Stunsworth]

I only get slightly angry when I read posts written by people who suggest that strong opinions are something that needs to be addressed. Maybe YOU need the tranquilisers and the services of a shrink?

I've nothing against strong opinions, but worry sometimes about the way those opinions are expressed - especially when they are obviously incorrect to someone with a pair of (unbiased) ears.

[Ariosto]

Phew I've just avoided financial ruin as I was about to buy a pair of B&W speakers
ATC are rubbish as well as they are British

so lets stick with "medium" quality headphones .............

I'm pleased you mentioned the B&W speakers Mr Two Gongs. What are they, £8-10K? So I've saved you some real lolly.

Yes, I've been in studios where they have used them (I think Decca did once upon a time). They sound like £500 speakers and I could never see where all that money went. Must have been the trendy plush cabinets they were in.

Headphones are best even if inconvenient sometimes, but with old recording they are not so good as you get all the surface noise close up, and the boxy reflections and resonances. But for CD and modern 16/24 bit recordings with modern mics they are the best. Of course some people can't hear the difference.