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Mid-fi, Hi-fi... Difference?

chicks said:
Like these SS-AR1's, you mean? :scratch2:

sony_ss-ar1.pair_.jpg
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I'm sure he wasn't referring to something with ScanSpeak drivers.

Hmmm, I wonder how much those would cost as a DIY kit. :scratch2:
 
Sorry for not having read the entire thread but as i stumbled upon
this question it got me thinking....

Well,for me the term "midfi" means a sloppy or simply insufficient
engineered piece of equipment with a highly polished/stylized
surface that appears to be better than it is. This is entirely
price-class independent,because make believe courtesy of clever
marketing doesnt make up for lacking quality. As simple as that.
 
Bluesbassplayer said:
For me with mid-fi - you get clarity in two dimensions and with hi-fi you add the third dimension.

Let me explain -

Mid-fi:

in mid-fi you can really get a good enjoyable sound, in fact if you have any sense, you will not want to ever hear a hi-fi system and get bit by that bug! Mid-fi is good - you can tap your foot to it. You can get a chill up and down your spine with the right song. A trumpet sounds like a trumpet, etc. It sounds MUCH better than your boom box, etc. Bass will be pretty good. If you have this system, enjoy! It's a good system.

Hi-fi:

Want to hear the difference between hi-fi and mid-fi fast? Listen to some expert cymbal work, especially jazz, with brushes, etc. You will notice a lot of "space" around that cymbal. It seems to float in the air, and you almost feel like you can see the brush touch the cymbal because the illusion of it being there is so great. In a nut shell you get more of the third dimension, that sound stage is more real. A great recording on this system not only sends the chill up your spine, but it makes you want to quit your job and remain in that chair 24-7 with your breath being taken away. :music: You will only come back to reality when the power company cuts off your power for forgetting to pay the bill. The same thing happens with vocals, instruments, bass, etc. But those cymbals really make it easy to hear the difference, I think. With classical, you will be arguing with your buddies on whether or not you are in the third row or the fourth row of the performance. With hi-fi you get more of the "you are there" feeling. Also you will feel your money walking out of your wallet, but try not think about that while listening. :yes:

Hot tip --- if you have never listened to a hi-fi system, don't ever listen to one. Just enjoy your decent mid-fi system and enjoy going out to a live performance. Remember I tried to warn you... Once you get used to hi-fi, the bar is forever raised and the bug will have bit! It is a world of beauty, but it is highly addictive.
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Could not of said it any better myself. I started with a mid-fi system and now that I have a hi-fi system, there is no going back. More telling, the only place from here is up, and that means high expenditures, which is never easy.
 
Pandovski said:
Otto there is no fidelity indicated on that graph. Those are market segments, value/$. I wouldn't know where to begin drawing a curve on fidelity.
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Oh, OK. I have nothing to say about market segments. I thought we were talking about high fidelity. Carry on!

Cheers,

Otto
 
I love the generalizations.

Sony is mid-fi but the SS-AR1's are VERY HIGHLY rated speakers by world standards, and a TAS category winner. You can tell those who do their homework or not.

I would not group all Japanese companies in this group as every Japanese company had/has its own high end division and the gear from these groups will go toe-to-toe with any high end brand, any day.
 
:D...It's a gateway term.

Dialog between future customer and salesman (aka, the pusher man)

You start out with no-fi>>>Someone gives you sample of some "lo-fi">>>mmmm that sound pretty good>>>yeah, but
wait til you hear mid-fi>>>oh wow, this is as good as it gets.>>>No sir my man, there is, it is... "hi-fi">>>OOOOHHH, I have arrived. This is it, isn't it?>>>No, there is "higher-fi">>>Higher-fi? Where does it end? I've maxed out all my credit cards, my wife has left me, and the house has been mortgaged to the hilt>>>It doesn't, it just keeps going on. It never ends. There will always be something better. But you are hooked now, come see me again when you have some more money.

I think hi-fi is short for high-five, which is what the salesmen are doing in the back room when you leave the store. God damn, the pusher man. (song from Easy Rider).

On a more serious note: don't worry about labels and don't compare yourself to others. Be your own man.
 
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For myself, I define "hi-fi" as sounding comparable to decent headphones, especially the resolution of detail and overall timbre. It's tough to know exactly what any particular recording really sounds like, so that's the reference I use.
 
Maybe High Fidelity of the modern times is a goal at fidelity of sound at all costs, even if it shuns honesty of the recording, of the performance, of the musical sounds itself.

thedelihaus said this back in 2008, and it isn't a question of maybe, it's a definite yes.

How do you NOT process a signal coming from a line or a mic? Any recording ever made was processed, unless you gather sound into a cone and scratch wax with a stylus... I'd surmise that the physical makeup of the materials used, however crude, processes the signal. So, in my mind, anything that doesn't consist of standing in front of a sound is processing.

Oh yeah, your brain processes the sound.

Processing is therefore inevitable, on any discernible level.

How much processing you can tolerate determines what hi-fi consists of in your mind and experience set.
 
JoeESP9 said:
4315s are not more "hi-fi" than cheap Samsung HT speakers to me. I simply don't like the sound that most JBL or Klipsch speakers produce.:smoke:

IMO all speaker choices are subjective and cost/class isn't usually the deciding factor. For instance, I prefer a $600 pair of Magnepan MMGs over most "monkey coffins" costing up to ~$1500.:yes:

There are speakers that posters here have raved about. You couldn't give me a pair of most of those raves.:scratch2:

Well, you could but they'd be put up for immediate sale.:D
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But the sound of 4315 is more detailed than a typical Samsung HT. Is hi-fi purely subjective, or only partially subjective?
 
Yes, it's purely and/or partially subjective.

To me the sound of 4315s is so "in your face" as to be in the "Hyper-Fi" category. Hyper-Fi IMO is not a good thing.
 
I'm not "messing" with anyone. I'm being totally honest about my feelings concerning the speakers in question.

Depending on the specific HT system, I may very well prefer it's sound to the 4315s. I'm really underwhelmed with most JBL speakers.

I'm now going to open and drink the first of several Pikeland Pilsners.
 
As far as Cost Goes...Getting from Mid-Fi to Hi-Fi is not so much Different than Drag Racing, or Atomic Half-Life...If you're at 90% Hi-Fi, it will Cost you 100% more to get to 95%...And then, 200% more to get to 97%...Etc...In the End, if 100% is your Goal, you will Never Get There...It's All in Your Ears...
 
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blackfly said:
I love the generalizations.

Sony is mid-fi but the SS-AR1's are VERY HIGHLY rated speakers by world standards, and a TAS category winner. You can tell those who do their homework or not.

I would not group all Japanese companies in this group as every Japanese company had/has its own high end division and the gear from these groups will go toe-to-toe with any high end brand, any day.
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Back in '85 I was walking down the Ginza in Japan and heard some speakers that were just mind-boggling. TOTALLY blew - me - away. I walked inside the stereo shop and guess what! They were domestic Sony!! :yes:
 
I've always considered these terms to to be the following...

Consumer: Best Buy, Circuit City. HTIB, sub $400 equipment. gear that leans towards the masses who only want to buy something that makes music.

Mid-Fi: NAD, Martin Logan, Adcom, Emotiva, Definitive, etc. Specialty gear for those venturing into uncharted territory.

Hi-Fi: Never used this term. This is a HUGE category with no name. It's above the mid end category with a bazillion names occupying it. Onyx, Monitor Audio, B&W, Brio, Dynaudio, etc.

High End: Krell, Boulder, McIntosh, Cary, etc...

Esoteric: Wilson, Rockport... Stuff you see in magazines.

That's my view on it...

Esoteric:
 
Without reading through 10 pages of thread, I can wholeheartedly say this-Difference between 'Mid-fi" and "Hi-fi" = about ten grand :smoke:
AKA, who cares, since ratings are too subjective anyway...audio guys will never ever tire of 'defining what is high-end'...for some reason.
 
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