| Alan Parsons speaks about the A/V world [message #71324] |
Thu, 09 February 2012 16:54  |
FloydV
Messages: 124
Registered: November 2011
Location: Boise, ID
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An interesting interview with Alan Parsons, that I found on AVS forum. Someone at Audio Round Table was just talking about room treatments being as important as equipment. Parson's goes into that.
http://www.cepro.com/story/alanparsons.html
Some statements that caught my attention:
Beatles, Pink Floyd Engineer Alan Parsons Rips Audiophiles
Alan Parsons, producer, musician and sound engineer of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, says audiophiles overpay for equipment while ignoring room acoustics.
You've been on record as saying that surround sound offers listeners a much more immersive experience for music. Can you clarify/explain why you feel this way?
Yes, I think it's surprising that it hasn't taken off. Back in the 1970s, the science of producing four channels of music for vinyl was very inadequate. Now that we have the technology to do 5.1 surround, I wish there was more interest in using it for music as well as film. Not enough music people are interested in it. Surround is to stereo what stereo was to mono; it makes a huge difference.
What do you think about the market evolution that has seen the CD format losing sales while the vinyl and digital download categories increasing their respective sales?
I'm not sure vinyl is selling beyond audiophile purists, and I'm not really one of them. I'm reasonably happy with the quality of CDs, but I'd really like to see high-resolution downloads become more widely available.
It is encouraging to see people listening to high-resolution audio. Eventually it's going to be an all-download world ...
What is the biggest thing that both electronics dealers and enthusiast consumers should do when setting up home theater/sound systems?
...the hi-fi world will tell you if money is no object you can get better results out of every component... Pro sound people have different expectations; they are only concerned that a piece of gear works and allows them to do their job. Hi-fi people spend huge amounts of money for tiny improvements, and pro sound guys will say, "I can spend half as much and get the results I need."
He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. -- Albert Einstein
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| Re: Alan Parsons speaks about the A/V world [message #71353 is a reply to message #71351] |
Sat, 11 February 2012 17:58  |
FloydV
Messages: 124
Registered: November 2011
Location: Boise, ID
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I always listen to music in surround sound now. One of the things that annoys me about my Pioneer Elite TX-47 (old), is that the MCACC settings are always flat and have weak bass to me.
There is a button labeled acoustic calibration that has settings for front align, all channels align, and something else. It also has an off position which is what I choose. The sound becomes much warmer and the bass more present.
But, by using Dolby Pro-logic II in music mode with the acoustic cal. off, I get a really natural sound that beats the heck out of straight stereo. It anchors the vocals with the center channel and offers some ambiance from the surrounds.
After re-reading your post, I think you were speaking of music recorded in multichannel and not stereo. I spent so much time writing this, I'll post it anyway ;-]
Floyd
He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. -- Albert Einstein
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The most overlooked part of most listening setups is the contribution the room makes (or doesn't make). I am inclined to agree that the concept of higher cost equates to better sound is somewhat flawed. I have seen several inexpensive components that are quite excellent and many high cost ones that do no better than the cheaper ones. There is no one that can convince me that wire costing $1000 a foot sounds much better that stuff that sells for about 1/100 that price. I am easy to convince that $400 cartridges sound better than $4 ones though. 
