Perfecting Sound

[Bogey]

Talk of the Nation, June 22, 2009 -  In his book, Perfecting Sound Forever, Greg Milner explores the evolution of sound. His history covers the analog days of Thomas Edison through the present day of digital recordings, and the quest for sonic perfection. Technological advances have complicated the debate about the value of the most accurate reproduction of a sound, versus the most enhanced. Whereas Edison set out to perfectly capture a live performance, today's sound engineers have the ability to create recordings from musicians who aren't in the same room — or aren't even alive at the same time.  Milner takes the reader through major breakthroughs and massive failures in recording history. He also digs into specific recordings from Lead Belly, the Beatles, Mission of Burma, Steve Albini and Massive Attack.

You can download the entire interview from here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105762127

Compressed sound is discussed, along with analog v. digital.  Even the "loudness factor" is touched upon.

Enjoy.  I look forward to your comments.

[DavidRoss]

Thanks for the tip, Bill.  They did a nice job of discussing some of the basics.  Among all the audio samples, I would have liked them to play a comparison of well-recorded (i.e. "audiophile") acoustic music with the highly compressed electronic pop music of today.  I also think Milner glossed over the superiority of analog sound a wee bit, even considering the brief radio interview format--but it was nice to hear him gush about how great recorded music sourced from a top-line turntable sounds.  (Now where can I get some very strong magnets but with a very concentrated and focused magnetic field?  )

[Valentino]

(I have some in my speakers. And if you're into turntables there are some in the Dynavector XV-1s pickup.)