Michael Fremer Interview

[PeterA]

It sort of is in my opinion. Maybe if enough of us take offense to the word, we can have it made politically incorrect to use and we can choose a new term to be called that we would find less offensive. Just as illegal immigrants didn't like the word "illegal" in front of the word "immigrant" and they are now referred to as "undocumented immigrants," we could come up with a new term and demand that people use it. Maybe bank robbers will be next to complain and we will have to refer to them as cash-strapped opportunists. There is no end to this nonsense, I promise you.

As someone who does not have a digital player in his system, I guess I'm "digitally challenged."

 

[Shaffer]

It sort of is in my opinion. Maybe if enough of us take offense to the word, we can have it made politically incorrect to use and we can choose a new term to be called that we would find less offensive. Just as illegal immigrants didn't like the word "illegal" in front of the word "immigrant" and they are now referred to as "undocumented immigrants," we could come up with a new term and demand that people use it. Maybe bank robbers will be next to complain and we will have to refer to them as cash-strapped opportunists. There is no end to this nonsense, I promise you.

LOL!!

Personally, I don't mind referring to myself as an audiophile, when talking to other audiophiles. When speaking to others I sometimes say, "I like audio." If they ask for more details, no problem. No one ever does. OTOH, I do think that High-Performance Audio is a much better descriptor of what we're after (in 2013), than High-End Audio. High-End has become synonymous with a ridiculously high cost coupled with wretched excess. The idea doesn't really reflect the bulk of the market.

 

[mep]

As someone who does not have a digital player in his system, I guess I'm "digitally challenged."

Ditto if you had all of your fingers cut off.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

LOL!!

Personally, I don't mind referring to myself as an audiophile, when talking to other audiophiles. When speaking to others I sometimes say, "I like audio." If they ask for more details, no problem. No one ever does. OTOH, I do think that High-Performance Audio is a much better descriptor of what we're after (in 2013), than High-End Audio. High-End has become synonymous with a ridiculously high cost coupled with wretched excess. The idea doesn't really reflect the bulk of the market.

I agree Felix! And like you I rarely refer to myself as an audiophile...an audiophool maybe, but not an audiophile. I also honestly don't know enough about audio to consider myself a "phile".....People tell me I have a nice audio system or (mostly) "stereo" and I just nod. I tell them I love music so I wanted something nice to play that on.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Let the arrows start flying.

http://www.monoandstereo.com/2013/06/exclusive-interview-with-michael-fremer.html

I can smell the kool aid from here.

Just kidding. Sort of. The guy has a good sense of humor. He'd probably be fun at a party, make a good friend. Nice enough guy, I'd guess. He's wrong about much but right about "audiophile" being pejorative to most civilians, even most music lovers, if they understand what we are at all. If he were a friend, at a party, and the subject came up, I'd have to tell him that's his fault and the fault of audiophiles like him. There is so much superstition, and so much extremism in the hobby that most people can't see the reality at all, they just dismiss the whole thing as nutty. Once you've heard of people paying thousands of dollars for turntable matts, hundreds of dollars for rocks on tables and pyramids on walls, swear up and down that black cds burn better copies than silver ones...need I go on?...the impression is formed and it would take more than a good-sounding system to change that. And that's a shame.

Tim

 

[Bill Hart]

I enjoyed reading it as well. It seemed like MF at his most balanced, having seen him go off on tirades on his site. And, I do think 'audiophile' means someone who is more focused on gear than music, so I avoid the term, but as someone who frequents this forum, I'm also the first to admit that I am a gearhead (as well as a music lover).

 

[Shaffer]

I agree Felix! And like you I rarely refer to myself as an audiophile...an audiophool maybe, but not an audiophile. I also honestly don't know enough about audio to consider myself a "phile".....People tell me I have a nice audio system or (mostly) "stereo" and I just nod. I tell them I love music so I wanted something nice to play that on.

The public perception of audiophelia doesn't help. I blame the media. No, really. Witness the news coverage surrounding audio shows [often seen on Youtube]. What does every story start with? "$20,000 cables!" It's always an extreme. This being said, for whatever reason, telling folks that you play LPs (because they sound better) has become acceptable. More than acceptable. It's understood. People respond with a knowing nod, a sympathetic smile. Imagine that 10 years ago.

 

[puroagave]

ive been reading Mikey's articles and reviews from the beginning since his TAS days and many of his hardware reviews back then were somewhat awkward and amateurish, even for this—at the time—neophyte. through his writing I sort of feel as if along the way we both learned together (so to speak) as he wore his heart on his sleeve more often than not.

Fast forward 25+ years and he's not only a guru of sorts but a jaded one. hardly a review goes by that he doesnt commit heresy in one shape or form. i've adjusted to it and see it for what it is, one man's life-long crusade to get the word out on the supremacy of analog and vinyl in particular. It’s those that hang on his every last word that have an issue with him and take what he writes too literally. What MFs writing has illuminated for me over the years is to use my own judgment and draw my own conclusions on what sounds go to me and not anyone else.

 

[mep]

The public perception of audiophelia doesn't help. I blame the media. No, really. Witness the news coverage surrounding audio shows [often seen on Youtube]. What does every story start with? "$20,000 cables!" It's always an extreme. This being said, for whatever reason, telling folks that you play LPs (because they sound better) has become acceptable. More than acceptable. It's understood. People respond with a knowing nod, a sympathetic smile. Imagine that 10 years ago.

I don't know what "folks" you are talking about unless they are fellow music lovers that play vinyl, but where I live if you tell people you still play LPs, they look at you like you have 3 eyeballs. There is no "knowing nod" or a "sympathetic smile." It's more like a look of disbelief and a puzzled look of wondering about what other weird stuff you are into.

 

[puroagave]

I don't know what "folks" you are talking about unless they are fellow music lovers that play vinyl, but where I live if you tell people you still play LPs, they look at you like you have 3 eyeballs. There is no "knowing nod" or a "sympathetic smile." It's more like a look of disbelief and a puzzled look of wondering about what other weird stuff you are into.

my experiences resembles Felix's. we get small 'pizza' boxes delivered almost daily to our office, everyone knows they're for me and that they contain vinyl records. without exception nearly all of them have remarked to the effect "yeah, I heard [or read] that vinyl LPs sounds better..."

then again living near (or in) a large metropolis it less parochial

 

[mep]

my experiences resembles Felix's. we get small 'pizza' boxes delivered almost daily to our office, everyone knows they're for me and that they contain vinyl records. without exception nearly all of them have remarked to the effect "yeah, I heard [or read] that vinyl LPs sounds better..."

then again living near (or in) a large metropolis it less parochial

Many, many people have no idea that LPs are still being manufactured or that turntables are still available for purchase brand new. Of course where I live they pipe in sunshine.

 

[still-one]

My only issues with MF's positions is that he thinks they are facts rather than his opinion on the subject. He has every right to state them and truly believe in them but that does not mean they are correct for all.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

My only issues with MF's positions is that he thinks they are facts rather than his opinion on the subject. He has every right to state them and truly believe in them but that does not mean they are correct for all.

Or at all.

Tim

 

[rockitman]

My only issues with MF's positions is that he thinks they are facts rather than his opinion on the subject. He has every right to state them and truly believe in them but that does not mean they are correct for all.

you mean the parts about analog vs digital ?

 

[Bill Hart]

my experiences resembles Felix's. we get small 'pizza' boxes delivered almost daily to our office, everyone knows they're for me and that they contain vinyl records. without exception nearly all of them have remarked to the effect "yeah, I heard [or read] that vinyl LPs sounds better..."

then again living near (or in) a large metropolis it less parochial

Today, I happened to look out the front window of our NY house (in the country, not the city) at the precise instant our dumb **** mailman was deciding whether or not to just leave the record out on the street (because it wouldn't fit into our 'rural style' mailbox) or to walk it up to the front porch. I could see him engaged in that internal struggle, then he shrugged, and surprisingly, walked it up to the house.
We have a rotating series of dumbshit mailmen. Some just leave the vinyl boxes in the rain, or on the driveway, because they are too lazy to carry them up to the house.
In Austin, the mailman seems to know what vinyl is. And the mailbox is big enough to accommodate large boxes.

 

[Conde]

The interview with Michael Fremer was interesting. I always appreciated Fremer's opinions, and trusted that if he thought something sounds good, it usually does. I agree with Fremer's "audio philosophy" to not obsess. People should listen to music, not to their systems.

With analog vinyl, there is a different kind of obsession which perhaps Michael Fremer takes for granted. In order for vinyl to sound its very best, LPs must be kept clean. The records must not warp or get scratched. Turntables, tonearms, and cartridges on occasion may require adjustments. For some, that may not be obsession, but a true dedication to something they love, to achieve the best possible sound. For me, that would take borderline obsession to consistently get the best sound out of vinyl recordings.

 

[mep]

Today, I happened to look out the front window of our NY house (in the country, not the city) at the precise instant our dumb **** mailman was deciding whether or not to just leave the record out on the street (because it wouldn't fit into our 'rural style' mailbox) or to walk it up to the front porch. I could see him engaged in that internal struggle, then he shrugged, and surprisingly, walked it up to the house.
We have a rotating series of dumbshit mailmen. Some just leave the vinyl boxes in the rain, or on the driveway, because they are too lazy to carry them up to the house.
In Austin, the mailman seems to know what vinyl is. And the mailbox is big enough to accommodate large boxes.

I have you beat with dumbass mailman LP stories. Remember the time I bought an LP from a guy in England and the mailman bent it in half and shoved it in my rural mailbox?

 

[JackD201]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry Mark that is just too funny!

 

[JackD201]

The interview with Michael Fremer was interesting. I always appreciated Fremer's opinions, and trusted that if he thought something sounds good, it usually does. I agree with Fremer's "audio philosophy" to not obsess. People should listen to music, not to their systems.

With analog vinyl, there is a different kind of obsession which perhaps Michael Fremer takes for granted. In order for vinyl to sound its very best, LPs must be kept clean. The records must not warp or get scratched. Turntables, tonearms, and cartridges on occasion may require adjustments. For some, that may not be obsession, but a true dedication to something they love, to achieve the best possible sound. For me, that would take borderline obsession to consistently get the best sound out of vinyl recordings.

I truly believe that is why a lot of people don't like vinyl. It takes a level of commitment in time and effort. It does start with the software and relies heavily on proper set up. That's what happened to me in the early nineties. As a teen, I didn't know how to set up a turntable. I promptly rebuilt my collection in CD form. I was later re-introduced to analog a few years later and I was bitten hard. Fortunately for me there were two guys who were patient and taught me how to set things up right. They would even do house calls.

 

[Shaffer]

I have you beat with dumbass mailman LP stories. Remember the time I bought an LP from a guy in England and the mailman bent it in half and shoved it in my rural mailbox?

View attachment 10464

OMG!

Hope it was a Dynagroove.