Steve Jobs' hifi...
- Thread starter jon_s
- Start date
well, I have to admit, and with no disrespect intended to the deceased, that I kind of agree. At least to the first paragraph. I'll leave questions of soul and personal choices and all the rest out of it. But in a way I resent those who sort of led the digital revolution and all it did to minimize the audio hi fi pursuit. To clarify though, it's not so much the people, really, as the "revolution" itself, which I suppose was inevitable no matter who was involved.
Not saying this is the absolute truth. Just how I feel.
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myu701
Vintage futurist
"a music-killing abomination like the iPod"... funny thing to say, but believable if taken out of context.
What Apple would boast about with the iPod was how many songs you could fit on one. Yes, you could fit 1,000 songs if your bit rate was something crappy like 128 or 160. This is all portable music, though... this is just for casual listening. When it was introduced, there wasn't any thought given to feeding the output of an iPod to an amplifier driving a nice audio system. That came later...
Personally, I think Apple missed the boat. They could have released an "audiophile" version of the iPod with a kick ass built-in DAC. At least with an algorithm that would work with the limited circuitry, perhaps a variation on Brown-Burr. They could've promoted this as something for the "discriminating music listener", who would park this iPod in a dock connected to a fine stereo system. But no, they made no qualification about audio fidelity... and in that respect, yes--they failed for that small but important fraction of the general public.
Actually, it would've been nicely self serving, as people would become conscious of audio quality and then utilize more memory space in their iPods, pushing the desire to buy one with more memory.
What Apple would boast about with the iPod was how many songs you could fit on one. Yes, you could fit 1,000 songs if your bit rate was something crappy like 128 or 160. This is all portable music, though... this is just for casual listening. When it was introduced, there wasn't any thought given to feeding the output of an iPod to an amplifier driving a nice audio system. That came later...
Personally, I think Apple missed the boat. They could have released an "audiophile" version of the iPod with a kick ass built-in DAC. At least with an algorithm that would work with the limited circuitry, perhaps a variation on Brown-Burr. They could've promoted this as something for the "discriminating music listener", who would park this iPod in a dock connected to a fine stereo system. But no, they made no qualification about audio fidelity... and in that respect, yes--they failed for that small but important fraction of the general public.
Actually, it would've been nicely self serving, as people would become conscious of audio quality and then utilize more memory space in their iPods, pushing the desire to buy one with more memory.
People don't seem to remember that when the iPod was launched, it was much-derided in the press and in public discourse. People had expected Apple's announcement of a new product to be something bigger and grander than...a little mp3 player that cost $500. And that's why Jobs was good at his job. He knew what people wanted, before they knew it themselves.
The Apple iPod was made popular by the buying public. Apple just put it out there. And some of the iPods, in reference to the above post, had a decent DAC inside. All of them were good enough for their intended use.
The Apple iPod was made popular by the buying public. Apple just put it out there. And some of the iPods, in reference to the above post, had a decent DAC inside. All of them were good enough for their intended use.
simpleisall
New Member
Steve's HIFI
Steve's nice stereo includes Acoustat 3 speakers, Threshold Fet 1, Preamp, Michell Gyro Turntable, Denon TU750s tuner, lamp by Tiffany circa 1910, sell at auction for $120,000. Steve is listening to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, with Jean-Pierre Rampal on flute and Maurice André on trumpet.
Steve's nice stereo includes Acoustat 3 speakers, Threshold Fet 1, Preamp, Michell Gyro Turntable, Denon TU750s tuner, lamp by Tiffany circa 1910, sell at auction for $120,000. Steve is listening to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, with Jean-Pierre Rampal on flute and Maurice André on trumpet.
trhee
ㅇtㅈyㅅr
rnorton
Super Member
Thank the folks at Rio instead, who took RIAA to court to legitimize the MP3 rather than Jobs, who sat on his skinny ass and did nothing until others had done all of the heavy lifting.
I had a pair of Accoustats that were identical to the ones in this picture.
They did not have the solid wood cabinet underneath.
The speakers were called "Accoustat Model X". Roman numeral ten, IIRC.
They originally had a vacuum tube power supply. The vacuum tube PS had been removed from mine. I installed Hafler SS power supplies from a pair of Accoustats IIs. It was enough to drive the three panels.
I've never heard of a Model 3 Accoustat.
The Xs were really nice sounding. The Quad ESLs were much better. Several Martin Logan models also made a superior sound than my Xs. Of course mine were patch work. I gave them away.
They did not have the solid wood cabinet underneath.
The speakers were called "Accoustat Model X". Roman numeral ten, IIRC.
They originally had a vacuum tube power supply. The vacuum tube PS had been removed from mine. I installed Hafler SS power supplies from a pair of Accoustats IIs. It was enough to drive the three panels.
I've never heard of a Model 3 Accoustat.
The Xs were really nice sounding. The Quad ESLs were much better. Several Martin Logan models also made a superior sound than my Xs. Of course mine were patch work. I gave them away.
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If the Rio folks were truly the great ones here, the laws of capitalism, the free market, would have declared them the winner. That's not what happened. Because it takes more than a nifty algorithm to succeed. MP3 wasn't the genius. Packaging it in a device that people wanted to buy was. And Apple of the early 2000s wasn't what it is today. I recall most people doubting that an Apple MP3 player would do well. Job's talent was knowing what people wanted before they did. That's far more valuable than figuring out how to shrink an audio file. Or legitimizing it.
You can dislike the man all you want. To deny that he had incredible business talent, to say that he was just sitting on his ass, is living a fantasy. The price of Apple stock alone suggests (actually, proves) that he knew exactly what it took to succeed, and you don't succeed by sitting on your "skinny ass".
2DualsNotEnough
Addicted Member
I remember when the Rio first came out,thinking it was a cool idea,if it only held more songs.And as far as sound quality with ipods go,its still tons better than the cassettes we were listening to,and great not to have to carry those books full of cds.
Jimmy
That was my reaction to it as well. I got an iPod after flying from LA to Singapore, with a Discman and a paper bag full of batteries and maybe 10 CDs that I quickly got sick of over the 20 hours of flight time. I never considered it to be a replacement for my home stereo but it's been incredibly useful for bringing music with me everywhere. I don't see what could be wrong with that.
2DualsNotEnough
Addicted Member
All the way the paper bag was on your knee,huh?
Jimmy
Luckily I had a seat-back to shove it into, but that discman was on my knee whirrring away. There's still a scratch on one of those CDs from that trip. I love flying with the iPod now, letting it pick a soundtrack for the flight.
rnorton
Super Member
Through the randomize feature that has NEVER worked right in iPods?
trhee
ㅇtㅈyㅅr
I was actually about to type the same thing and then I deleted it only because many things that are said on AK fall on deaf ears (no pun intended).
As much as anyone admires or disdains Jobs, there's no denying his brilliance as a businessman who innovates products that people want, need and/or lust after.
As much as anyone admires or disdains Jobs, there's no denying his brilliance as a businessman who innovates products that people want, need and/or lust after.
SoundsAlike
Super Member
Yes, I turn it to "random" and it plays the songs in random order. Not sure why that wouldn't work, as it always has for me (which disproves your never accusation). Maybe the Ipod could sense your hatred of its dear leader? Or maybe you had accidentally purchased an "Ipud" from the back of a white van? Either way, I haven't the time today to turn this into a pissing match with the Apple hate-squad.
Ipud...