# Best/worst inventions??



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

I was watching a TV show about 80s tech and it brought a question to my mind. What do you think are the best and worst inventions in the last ~20-30 years as far as 2 channel audio is concerned? 

My answer for_ best _would be the CD player. It allowed "low fi" people to step-up from the cassettes to "better" sound, it's portable and offers great bang for the buck as far a sq is concerned.

My answer for _worst_ would be the CD player. It (almost) replaced analog, it wormed its way into the very way of how music is recorded and supported the idea that all equipment sounds the same.

Any thoughts???


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

I think the same applies to MP3 for me. The lossy compression format for music has changed the world in both ways.

In the good, MP3 has made songs, music, albums incredibly easily accessible and allowed for the ability to have hundreds of albums in the palm of your hand.

On the bad side, MP3 degraded the sound of music qualities even further than it should have been. Sure there are lossless audio codecs nowadays, however you really can't accessibly "buy" lossless forms of music (yet) which means you are stuck with a lesser form of the song.


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

I agree with your assessment of MP3. It is, to some extent, a lot like the CD player in that it brought music playback to the masses (a good thing) but hurt fidelity (not so good). To some people, MP3 is THE format for music, and that's sad.


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## twylight (Mar 27, 2009)

loudness wars
mp3 not having a simple check box for lossless format that is also common on all platforms

CDs were amazing coming from the cassette era as a kid.


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

twylight said:


> loudness wars
> mp3 not having a simple check box for lossless format that is also common on all platforms
> 
> CDs were amazing coming from the cassette era as a kid.


+1 on that; when I went from cassette to CD it was like an my eyes (ears??) were opened...and most CD players were pretty bed back then!


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## therick83 (Mar 29, 2012)

Best: Original Color TVs, as long as you were watching true color programming not technicolor, it was like FLYING CARS!

Worst: Current Home 3D formats, every single one of them lacks depth, clean definition and you have to wear SUNGLASSES, WTF.


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## class a (Oct 22, 2010)

The 8-Track tape.:rolleyesno::rolleyesno:


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

class a said:


> The 8-Track tape.:rolleyesno::rolleyesno:


I shall assume that you mean (!CLICK-CLICK!) worst invention??


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I'm going with CD for best, as far as worst i can't really point a finger as it seems all formats come and go and then come back again. I guess it's all in the eyes of the beholder.:dontknow:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Totally agree that worst was the 8Track, Yuck. The best was CD for sure. 
On a side note the cassette tape was a great format for years due to its ability to record and compact size. I still have a few Sony Metal SR tapes kicking around that I recorded 20 years ago and they still sound ok given the age of them even the highs have held on to a certain extent. Helps to have a really good tape deck as well. Remember the old Nakamichie dragon deck?


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

RE: Nak Dragon. I've never heard a Dragon in person, but a friend told me that it could sound better than a CD. I had an old Tascam that was great. 

I wonder why no one has mentioned DAT yet; we used DAT A LOT in the studio as we did Karaoke music.* People would record their parts at home and bring them to the studio for mixing.

*This was at one studio in which I did an internship; it was the "money maker" for the studio.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I personally used a dragon a few times, my cousin had one and yes it sounded fantastic. 
The issue with DAT was the lack of support from the industry.


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

*IF* I remember correctly there were a couple of DAT formats. Sony had a consumer version, and Alesis had a "pro" version that used tapes ~the same size a VHS tapes. I may be remembering incorrectly... :dontknow:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Yes, that format was A-DAT it was an 8 channel digital format on a S-VHS tape. You can link several together for more tracks. We still have 3 of the Alesis units at our church


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## J&D (Apr 11, 2008)

I was going to say VHS as a great invention. Revolutionary for both the video and audio world. Prior to digital music storage HI-FI VHS was an excellent method for recording multiple hours of music for playback. Media was cheap and I still have several tapes that I used to use for house parties back in the 80's and 90's they still sound excellent played back on a decent quality HI-FI VCR.

I will go along with 8-track as one of the worst audio inventions. Never heard an 8-track system that did not have loads of tape hiss. On a side note I did own a Nak Dragon in the 80's and a Nak car stereo. Loved em both. Wish I still had the Dragon but sold it and put the funds toward my first real HT in 1990.

JD


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