"3.So fine in texture that it can be seen through; sheer. See Synonyms at airy."
Now transparency can also mean a level of being clear, but in my system if I change a cable the speakers will reappear and the music will still be produced with great clarity. If I replace the original cable the speakers will disappear again or the sound will exhibit a "airy or sheerness",and the music will still have great clarity.
I tend to think of clarity possibly in two ways: one could talk about intelligibility of vocals--as well as the ability to "see" the musician. I think of transparency as the ability to see and experience the space between the instruments as well as to the back of the soundstage. For instance, the old cj gear had a great ability to localize musicians on the stage yet they there was a sense of something like a curtain being between the listener and musicians.
Like Albert, as a photographer black background has always made sense to me and it is a term that has knocked around in the audio industry and hobby for quite some time. To me and as I always understood it a black background in audio just meant quiet dead silence. Taking this a little further it is also applied to when an instrument or voice can be heard and the background around the instrument or voice is black or totally absent of sound.
The AIA (American Institute of Architects) defends and promotes the title of "architect" to be reserved for licensed professionals in the traditional sense. However their declaration of war was not heard by many because they have a tiny voice and tiny little fists to back it up with. I'm no longer an AIA member, and my comment was perhaps meant to get a raise, but in good humor and with some self defecation tossed in.
This is what they do in Texas, but hey it's another country. http://www.architectmagazine.com/legal-issues/trust-me-im-an-unlicensed-architect.aspx
Perhaps the term black background should be defended by the turntable reviewers.
George, I think you meant self deprecation did you not?
Amir -- Like George, I'm a "real" architect. The meaning of the word 'architect' in Greek is "chief builder" and "architecture" though referring to something more than simple 'shelter', nonetheless refers to a tangible structure containing habitable spaces for human beings. That is until we became engulfed in bits and bytes; and some uninspired, unimaginative, and I dare say poorly educated techies, thought it would be sexy to refer to their virtual, and very unsubstantial structural confections, as "architecture".
A "black background" is indeed a very old term which was first offered as a way of describing (mostly to "hi-fi" customers) a principal difference between tube and transistor equipment (along with the term "(lower) noise floor" ;--))
Amir -- Like George, I'm a "real" architect. The meaning of the word 'architect' in Greek is "chief builder" and "architecture" though referring to something more than simple 'shelter', nonetheless refers to a tangible structure containing habitable spaces for human beings. That is until we became engulfed in bits and bytes; and some uninspired, unimaginative, and I dare say poorly educated techies, thought it would be sexy to refer to their virtual, and very unsubstantial structural confections, as "architecture".
I believe the origin of the term came from IBM services employees in 1960s coining the phrase as they went through their design. And there was some mention of certain IBM employees with the same tile in the book "Mythical Man Month." Seeing how IBM was god of computer technology then, I would say they rank above above poorly educated techies .
Not so. They were all classmates of mine at MIT in the late 50's and early 60's and I assure you, they were all retards when it came to the fine arts -- which is why that unfortunate mistake was made. Further, the figure of the "architect" has always carried a sexy/romantic connotation in literature and history (who am I to argue ;--) -- so co-opting the term put a little pizazz into what was a rather drab appearing industry -- so there!
Love the retards comment, but there are always exceptions! No, I don't work at IBM but do work with them at times.
Here in Africa black background has a number of connotations, but the best one is when power fails and you get... SILENCE. No spurious electrically generated electronic noise, either audible or visual. Does that fit?
Love the retards comment, but there are always exceptions! No, I don't work at IBM but do work with them at times.
Here in Africa black background has a number of connotations, but the best one is when power fails and you get... SILENCE. No spurious electrically generated electronic noise, either audible or visual. Does that fit?
I'm bothered by a new term entering its way into our general audio lexicon and audio reviews. That term is black background. To me, a black background is a coloration, not a goal to be aspired to. This black background obscures in part the differences between recordings. When I hear live music, it is open and clear and has no color associated with it. That is unless I'm attending a concert at a terrible live venue such as Town Hall in NY.
When I read a review where the reviewer describes and touts the gear's black background, I immediately think of the distortions characterizing the early generations of SE tube amplifiers. Or some of the early Classe gear such as the DR6. I'd also be listening for some upper octave rolloffs or suckouts in the upper mids. To me, this black background is desired by those who have some sort of upper midrange brightness, room aberrations, harshness, etc.
Pretty funny. Thanks Al for finding this. I guess the term is only eleven years old, and from the very beginning there are people objecting to it. Right on Myles! And from a reviewer to boot. His second post is pretty awesome too.
I use the expression quite a lot. The idea is that if music is light, it has to be presented on a black background; think about what occurs with a TV. In terms of audio equipment this means a lack of background noise and also a lack of intermodulations and inharmonic distortions making up what noise there is.
If you were describing an amplifier you might also use the idea of a really good, clean first watt. But this concept turns up more often with respect to preamps and sources, both analog and digital.
Pretty funny. Thanks Al for finding this. I guess the term is only eleven years old, and from the very beginning there are people objecting to it. Right on Myles! And from a reviewer to boot. His second post is pretty awesome too.
What does the age of the post have to do with the opinion? Have you asked Myles if he has changed his mind? I think that his commonsense opinion stands up very well years later. It explains why the term "black background" keeps being such a contentious one up to this day.
I don't. I don't see a good argument against it, but I have a specific definition on what it means. Myles had a thread like this on his own site too- this must really bug him. People use all sorts of words to describe things they hear, so its to be expected that it will bother some and not other.
(weirdly enough, I can't put the hyperlink in the title, you need to copy and paste the above link for access)
The thread is from 2019, so Myles did not change his thinking -- nor would there be any reason he should. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment in the thread title.
Wrong guess, Peter, it was introduced much before - it was even used in an old Forsell turntable review. Anyway Myles was not successful in his crusade - ten years later the words are being used more than ever by the high-end community.
Last time I heard from Myles I was a bit disappointed - he moved from conrad johnson to Goldmund Telos and Mimesis solid state, keeping the Magico's. Conrad johnson always had a special place in my audiophile life - and Lew Johnson is really a nice guy. He even persuaded me to buy my first Wilson Audio speakers!
You have a point on the people objecting to it. Fortunately there were always plenty of debates on the high-end, there was always a diversity of opinions, people agreed and disagreed a lot. How else could we have had the interesting debates in each monthly issue of magazines such as The Absolute Sound?
(weirdly enough, I can't put the hyperlink in the title, you need to copy and paste the above link for access)
The thread is from 2019, so Myles did not change his thinking -- nor would there be any reason he should. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment in the thread title.
Fantastic. Tens of reviewers use the words, most of the industry uses it and you feel acomplished because you found that a couple of them disagree with it ...
You have seen very little. This discussion has been mostly on semantics, the fundamental aspects were mostly ignored. Do you have a better word that expresses the main idea that reviewers expressed with "black background" or you are just objecting to it?
Again "many people"? Where are they?
