Twitter Threads: Sound Quality

Been on a quest to improve the sound quality from our record player and TVs. Turns out that the cheapest, most effective way to do it was to install some 1/4" silicone feet on the bottoms of our speakers, isolating them from the dampening effects of being on the ground.

— Danno E. Cabeza (@DannoECabeza) May 21, 2024

This absolutely worked, & it cost less than $10. Made a GIGANTIC difference in the sound quality coming from our sound bar.

Sound Addicted's Silicone speaker-feet.

I'd been thinking FOR YEARS that the kids today don't understand sound quality. Turns out that the primary reason for this is digital, dynamic music compression, aided by the use of tiny earbud speakers.

Christopher Clark's visual analogy for dynamic explains in part why music sounds worse now. This image links to a PDF of his full poster, "A Visual History Of Loudness."

Christopher Clark

So yes. There really is a reason that your records sound better, & no, it's not natural harmonics associated with converting signals from analog to digital. Or, that's not the primary reason, anyway.

Sigh. 

Why does everything in the modern world somehow make life worse?