Conclusion to Analog versus Digital Music

Overall I think getting into records is a good idea for some. For the people who have the time to sit back and close your eyes and really enjoy an album. Digital music for me now is an audition for my affection, if I end up loving it I will get the vinyl. But if it is just good I will be content with listening to it in the digital format. Honestly though I don’t see my self getting too crazy over vinyl. It can sound better but it is just not that convenient, especially in this day and age of go go go.

turntable listening test Part II

On the rush of this new found love for listening to music, after the record was done I quickly put on another favorite album of mine. Paper Chase’s “God bless your black heart” I was so excited I could hardly contain my self, unfortunately I was greeted with undeniable disappointment. It was just making a horrible popping and hissing. The sound was just awful. It was a HUGE let down. I had to take it off immediately. I quickly when online and did some research. And found out that dust and static could lead to those nasty pops. Which relieved me a little bit. I had my carbon fiber brush to try out. I soon found out, the brush was a pain in the rear to use. It even left behind little hairs which ended up being even harder to get rid of. But the sound was much better, but there was still some pops, so I checked the alignment of the cartridge, and checked the tracking weight as well. Everything was good, so it just left me with the conclusion that either disc was dirty and I would be able to clean it with a disc washer (yet another purchase) or that it was scratched. I hope it was just dirty.

Anyways, from that disappointment I continued on. This time I went and bought a brand new record from the store, Pink Floyd’s “dark side of the moon”. This is another one of those perfect albums, just brilliantly made. As I put the record on I made sure that it was dust free, and everything was good to go. I set the needle down and waited patiently as the faint heart beat started creeping in, to the roar of the opening cymbals. This was amazing. The voices in the background had more definition, the whole album just has a better soundstage. More open yet more personal at the same time. Perfect.

turntable listening test Part I

Finally I got my tools I got a SHURE SFG-2 tracking weight tool, a mirror cartridge alignment tool, and a carbon fiber brush. I am now ready to take try out this turntable.

First setting up the cartridge is needed in order to listen to anything, and precise measurement must be taken into account in order to get the most optimal performance from your cartridge. I got a Dennon DL 110 cartridge to replace the Rega Elys that came with my turntable, since the Elys looked warped and really worn out and I don’t want it to scratch up my records. I personally wouldn’t recommend the mirror aligning tool, the reflection on the mirror with the drawn guidelines make it a bit confusing when attempting to align it. The Shure SFG-2 worked like a charm though.

The DL 110 is significantly bigger than the Rega Elys so I hypothesized that it was going to sound more bassy than the Rega Since the tone arm was at more of an angle so I thought I might end up having to get a VTA adjust to to make the tone arm more or less parallel, but much to my surprise the sound that came out was much better than I had anticipated.

The first record I put on was Refused “ The Shape of Punk to come” which was an anthem to the last few years of my high school days. One of those albums that has changed the way I view other people’s perception. I most likely wouldn’t recommend it to most people since it has a very heavy hitting sound that is an acquired taste. But the drums are certainly amazing, which isn’t too surprising since apparently the drummer wrote this album. I was pleasantly surprised at how it sounded, it was like hearing the album for the first time again. I sat down and listened to it with my eyes closed and I could hear the drums sound like real drums. This album however wasn’t the one that blew me away.

The next album I put on was The Beatles’ “ Let it be... naked”. This is one of my favorite Beatles record, if not the favorite. My wife and I have spent countless hours listening to this album over and over again. It is safe to say that we know this album like the back of our hands. From the beginning you notice a dramatic improvement to what we had been listening for years. From I dig a pony to I me Mine... there were sounds that I had never noticed before. The guitars were just absolutely amazing, the seems so personal like you were right there. The sound was just warm and clear at the same time. I switched back and forth a few time to see the difference. And I used my FLACs of this album, the quality was just superior on the vinyl. There is literally no comparison, I mean the FLACs sound good too, we’ve been listening to it for years, but this was just mind blowing.

Encyclopedia versus Wikipedia

The encyclopedia has been around forever, however, it really doesn’t stack up against wikipedia.

Encyclopedia’s have agendas and usually very bias. Wikipedia is bias on a lot of subjects on their site, but thats the beauty of it, it can be disputed by anyone at anytime and have public debates. Wikipedia also has banned people for trying to force their own personal agendas on the site, most recently The Church of Scientology.

blocks versus fancy plastic toys

Which is a better child developer?

Blocks have been around forever and that is a testament to its value, plastic toys are a dime a dozen and constantly changing.

blocks help with coordination, being able to stack them higher and higher requires steady hands.

blocks help with concentration, kids who play with blocks usually have longer attention spans than kids who watch television all the time, or kids who play with shiny plastic object.

tylenol versus chicken soup

when our daughter used to get sick we would run to the doctor’s office. And they would do their check ups and by the end of it would tell us give her tylenol and send us off. Every time! made us wonder what the world are we paying them hundreds to thousands of dollars for? One time our daughter got an ear infection and we were told to give her some antibiotics... It was one of the most horrific times of my parenting experience. My daughter hated it, and would vomit every time that we tried to give her the medication. Recently I read in an article that the medicine for ear infections are more or less bullshit, and patients actually get better quicker without it! Like fevers... we would told to give our daughter tylenol to bring her fever down and that always prolonged the sickness. There is a biological reason why are bodies heat up... to kill off the germs. Too often do we run to the medicine cabinet when we have a head ache and just treat the symptoms of an illness instead of the the root of the problem we just cover it up.

I have nothing good to say about tylenol. Maybe the fact that it can temporarily stop some one from feeling to much pain long enough for the person to get treatment.

books versus e-books

written text have come a long way. There are so many different ways of presenting them, which way is best?

Every time I open a new book the fresh smell of the pristine crispness of a new page always excites me, and bring a huge sense of nostalgia. Turning the pages one by one waiting for me seems second nature. I can flip to any page at any second without a loading screen. The font is perfectly and clearly printed. Most productions of books are straight from source without the quality of degrading through multiple reproductions. The intimate interaction with a physical manifestation of the work, there is no screen in you and the work to separate you subconsciously from the work. It has great picture quality of color... a little bit dotty but not pixelated. The e-book readers take too long to switch pages, and the quality isn’t quite as sharp. the size of the book is also limited to form of the machine its one. You can make notes easy, underline what you need... fold pages. writing notes helps especially if you are kinesthetic.

The kindle is one of the leading e-book readers out there. It has free internet connection where ever there is sprint service. You can carry thousands of books with you at a time, and you can order pretty much any book at anytime and/or download any book this is in you country’s public domain for free. The battery last for about a week. you get access to thousands of books where ever you are. Change from book to book without leaving the couch. You can also search for exact quotes or words on the fly, as well as looking up a dictionary.