Should Sound Quality of Computer Audio be improved


Unable to respond to, "Mach2Music and Amarra: Huge Disappointment"- Thread. Other Members take free pop-shots!
Apparently some have more Freedom Of Speech than others! I
don't know how many times I have said it, I want Computer
Audio to succeed! It will only succeed if Computers are designed from the ground up to reproduce Music (Same minimum standard applied for Equipment of ALL Audio Formats)! This is common sense Audio Engineering Design. Bandaid Modifications cannot be substituted for absence in design to produce Music! Design it right to EARN the right to become a New Audio Format- same as all other Audio Formats! No Freebee's, No Cutting Corners! Lack of design is what's causing such varied results in S.Q. between
listeners of Computer Audio. I see about 50% negative
responses here on these Threads. It will continue to happen unless you fix it! Blaming me won't help! I am an
Engineer, and I can read results! 50/50 success/ failure
rate- you have an inherit Engineering Design Flaw for the
reproduction of Music via Computers! Shock! Suprise- since
they were never designed for Music! So when is someone finally going to properly design the Equipment/Computer
(From the ground up) for Computer Audio? Do we continue
to treat any real criticism as "HERESY" in the lack of
design in Computer Audio for Music? You tell me what I am
allowed to talk about, and we will both know!
pettyofficer

Showing 2 responses by richardfinegold

I'm a silver disc and vinyl guy, but having dabbled in computer audio, I have seen where it can sound pretty damn good. My beef is that it isn't as plug and play as other media. I disagree that one requires a dedicated computer for audio. I have gotten great results via a FireWire output of a MacBook or with the V link. Is this a band aid? I think it is more analogous to the RIiAA curve for playing vinyl.
My take on computer audio is that it is another source to compete with silver disc spinners and vinyl. I listen to classical music and am currently most interested in High resolution recordings, although i've got several thousand "red book" cds. Classical music lovers seeking high res are spoiled for choice because there are several thousand sacd classical recordings available. I wish that every red book recording would be remastered in at least 24 bit DSD but realize that these will be few and far between. I have noticed that fewer new sacds are coming out with the rise of downloads, and realize that sacds may disappear from this niche one day. Blu rays are becoming more frequent but are far from prevalent.
I have dabbled in downloads. They sound impressive but I don't like them because they, and the playback equipment, are buggy. I spend enough time at work dealing with unwanted IT issues and have no wish to spend my free time similarly engaged. More computer savvy than myself are undeterred by these issues.
Petty's complaints about computer audio are more relevant if silver discs and vinyl should exit the marketplace and leave computer audio as the only way to sample high resolution recordings. For the moment, however, at least in my corner of the listening world, this is not the case. I say Long Live Physical Media! and I am glad that I do not have to rely on the computer as my only source of high res listening. If the situation changes, and computer audio becomes the only high res show in town, then I do believe that it is incumbent upon the industry to make their products more user friendly.
If it were only from my mouth to Silicon Valley's ear...