How many people out there do you know that have really sweet audio set ups and a full array of cool gadgets, yet absolutely no idea how any of them work, what the meanings to all the confusing words are, etc. etc.?  Probably a lot.  That’s because the world of audio terminology is for pros—roadies, musicians, recording producers, system installers.  The average person doesn’t have the need to know exactly what the difference between mono and stereo is, as long as the tunes sound good coming out of the speakers.  Speaking of which, what’s the tiny speaker for, and what’s the big one for, you may ask?  Again, as long as they produce a clean, pleasant sound, most customers don’t really care.  For those who do, however, and want to reach a slightly more nuanced understanding of the audio terms that so constantly perplex them, let’s go over a few basics which pop up all the time, and therefore extend beyond the realm of the professionally trained and qualified.

A good start for anyone looking to polish their understanding of audio terminology is to take a high school physics class: that’s where almost all the basic ideas get explained.  Was that too long ago for you?  Oh well…perhaps some of the basic ideas lingered on in your mind.  We’ll focus more on the meanings, and not worry too much about getting into the nitty gritty details of how things work, and so on—let’s leave science lessons to the real teachers.

For starters, how about mono and stereo?  They sound like sidekicks on a cartoon show; so, what are we dealing with here.  Before the early 1950s, all recordings were in mono.  The meaning of mono—not just in audio terminology, but in its general etymological sense—is “single,” as in monotheistic (believing in only one god), monopoly (only one business dominating a market), or monogamy (only having one spouse).  Hence, when music was played in mono, all speakers to which it was routed were playing back the same channel, which results in a duller sound format.  The great innovation in music recording and playback (that came in the 1950s, as stated) was to introduce stereo playbacks, meaning that two separate channels, with similar but not identical sounds, are being routed to the amplifier or speakers.  The result of this innovation was the perception that the sounds were more dynamic, and much more enjoyable.  For example, on any given recording, certain instruments/noises may be more pronounced on one side compared to the other (what is referred to as panning left or right), and therefore when played back gives the listener the perception that certain sounds are originating from one side of the listening area, and other sounds from the other side.  Sounds confusing?  Just remember, stereo is about left and right—though today, with advances in digital music technology, multi-channel music is where the future lies.

Moving on from what’s being sent to the speakers to the speakers themselves: why do we have those dinky little one’s up top, and those bulky one’s down below?  And why do they seem to be playing the same music very differently?  That’s because they are!  A woofer, which would be the larger variety of speaker, is a low-frequency playing device, and gets all the bass tones of a song or voice; conversely, a tweeter, the little one, plays high-frequencies of a given song or sound.  What exactly are frequencies, you may be wondering?  All sound is made up of waves, and the frequency is the measure of how many cycles that wave completes in a second, and is measured in Hertz (Hz in its abbreviated form).  The lower frequencies produce low, bass sounds, whereas the higher frequencies produce crisp, shrill sounds.  A good audio set up includes both woofers and tweeters, because neither one of them is able to produce both ranges of frequencies (though they both play a certain amount of middle frequencies, though that’s not important).  Think about the difference between a stand-up bass and a ukulele: the noises they create are vastly different.  That’s because the technology needed to produce low frequency sounds and high frequency sounds is not one and the same.  It’s always obvious if somebody has got an audio configuration with only one of these two types of speakers, and not the other.  Only having tweeters will give you dry, piercing sounds (really annoying), and only having woofers will give you a muffled, creamy variety of the song (less annoying, but still annoying).  What’s important to know about them in the end?  Have both.

Or how about amplitude?  This word brings us back to our sound waves: think of the X an Y axis of a graph (X is the horizontal axis, Y the vertical axis).  If frequency represents a measure along the X axis, then amplitude represents a measure along the Y axis—how “tall” it is when observed on a graph.  Amplitude, therefore, is literally the volume of a sound.  Amplifiers, therefore, take quiet sounds and make them louder, by stretching the sound wave on its Y axis (messing with a sound wave’s X axis would change the pitch of a sound, say from a C to a D).  A lot less complicated than the other two sections.

Hopefully these explanations have helped the average music listener appreciate their audio set up just a little bit more, and understand the technology going in to reproducing all your favorite tunes.  Keep listening!

Please visit our speaker stands and equipment racks pages to see all of the products we have that compliment audio technology.

Vinyl endures

From vinyl to cassette to CD to digital, music formatting has come a long way.  Each advance has certainly changed the way we use and listen to music, and each has contributed something to the medium, but it doesn’t mean that each advance has necessarily been an improvement, or that older forms have been rendered irrelevant.  Although they seem like ancient relics compared to new technologies, vinyl records have not lost any of their cool.  Just like a 1960 Cadillac is never out of style, vinyl still has a firm claim on cool, even now in the 21^st century.  What is it that makes this dated technology so timeless?

First and foremost among reasons that vinyl has remained so magnificent is the sound quality.  The sound of a vinyl record cannot be matched by any newer technology.  The jumps and crackles lend such a pure authenticity to music, especially as compared to over-produced studio music that sounds listless and lifeless.  A flawless recording has no spirit, but vinyl is raw and real.  It is interesting to note that some digital music players have an option to add those rough vinyl sounds to digital music.  Of course, these digital attempts do not produce the same quality as the real deal, but it does go to show that raw sound quality is something lacking in CDs and mp3s, and that this has not gone unnoticed by music producers.

If you are not convinced on the grounds of sound quality alone, don’t forget about the physical aspect.  A vinyl collection is a tangible treasure hoard.  Each record is lovingly tucked into its sleeve, carefully organized amongst its fellow records.  You know each disc, its grooves, and the weight of it between your finger tips.  There is something visceral about vinyl, a connection that doesn’t exist with a shiny CD or an intangible mp3.  Having a physical attachment to a favorite album is nothing to scoff at.  It is the same as the difference between your beloved, beat up old copy of Charlotte’s Web, and reading the same text on an impersonal, glaring white computer screen.

The physical aspect is not just about emotion, it is also about the appearance and presentation of an album.  Those big, square covers have lots of room for great artwork, which you come to associate with the music itself.  And there are the gimmicks. – do you remember the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album?  Designed by Andy Warhol, the cover features a picture of a man’s crotch in tight jeans, and had a real, metal zipper that could be pulled down to reveal cotton briefs.  That sort of thing is simply not possible in other forms of music.  The Sticky Fingers CD was released with the same image, but the zipper is reduced to part of the photograph, and the whole physical appeal is absent.

One further aspect related to the physical is the actual act of shopping for records.  When shopping for records you tend to find yourself among like-minded people who also grasp the coolness of vinyl.  You might head out to used stores, flea markets, or garage sales, and there you browse through piles of records, looking for the one that will brighten your day.  Sometimes you find unexpected gems forgotten in these dusty bins, other times you buy something on a whim and end up discovering a great band or album that you didn’t know before.  When you buy music online, you go straight to what you were searching for, pay money for something you can’t see, and don’t have the opportunity to make those leisurely meanderings that result in so many great finds in record stores.  There is something deeply satisfying about the search and discovery process of shopping for vinyl.

There is another subtle feature of vinyl that makes it so classic and cool in the face of digital music.  It is the fact that a vinyl record is a complete album, recorded just as a band planned.  The tracks are presented in an intentional order, and the album as a whole represents a significant period in that band’s career.  Much of this is lost with modern music formatting.  People tend to know hit singles and download just these individual songs.  Listeners are less familiar with entire albums, and thus their understanding of the evolution and growth of any band is limited.  The shuffle feature on iPod is the epitome of this loss – one song follows another with absolutely no relation, no plan.  Artists, eras, genres are a chaotic mess of random play.  In contrast, an album is premeditated; there is harmony and purpose in the flow, and vinyl records perfectly capture this intention.

We are not here to say that vinyl doesn’t have its drawbacks.  The players are not portable, so you can’t listen just anywhere.  The discs are fragile, prone to scratches and easy to break.  They take up way more space than cassettes or CDs, and obviously more than non-physical digital music.  Yet it is these qualities that add to the timeless charm and appeal of records.  The fact that they aren’t portable means that listening to records is more of an event, a personal moment in your home.  The fragility is also what gives vinyl its powerful, raw sound.  And the fact that they are physical and take up space is what allows us to become attached to them, to know and love each one like a dear friend.

Music is too important to take for granted.  When you sit down and listen to vinyl, you are experiencing the music, rather than being an accidental eavesdropper.  You have a connection to the music, both emotional and corporeal, and you listen to an album from start to finish.  Technology marches on and we will never go back to just vinyl records, but the march of progress will has not stamped out the enduring popularity of vinyl.  In fact, the contrasts just go to show why vinyl is and always will be so cool.

Please visit our speaker stands page to find all of our products that compliment vinyl.