Lyd og gjenproduksjonen av den er såpass komplisert at man ikke må gjøre det vanskeligere enn det er. Når man ikke er ekspert selv, er spørsmålet hvem man skal høre på.
John Watkinson (som ikke må forveksles med ”Black Hat” John Atkinson i Stereophile) er en erfaren ingeniør som i 1991 ble tildelt AES Fellowship Award*. Her er tekstutklipp fra AES’ pressemelding:
”The AES recognizes and honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of audio in engineering, technology, service, and the arts through its Awards Program.
In 1991, John Watkinson was presented with the AES Fellowship Award for his outstanding contributions educating the public and the engineering community about digital audio through his teaching, training, and definitive books and articles”.
Watkinson har skrevet en rekke bøker om både lyd og bilde**, og vært med på å bl.a. utvikle konsepter for høyttalere.
Er Watkinson en ingeniør å høre på? "Comment is free, facts are sacred", heter det. Er Watkinson "comment" eller "facts"?
Teksten nedenfor er delt opp i to, (a) og (b). (a) tar for seg den siste populærartikkelen som er skrevet av Watkinson, publisert i 2014 i The Register, et teknologinettsted med mer enn 6 millioner faste lesere. Fra denne artikkelen har jeg klippet ut sitater som jeg synes er spesielt interesserte og lett tilgjengelige. (b) er en opplisting av 13 artikler som Watkinson skrev for et tiår siden i Resolution Magazine.
I artikkelen fra 2014 slår Watkinson et slag for å sette en strek over gammel teknology (”legacy speakers”)*** og erstatte vilkårlig tukling med informasjonsteknologi. Her er noen utdrag fra artikkelen:
[1a] ”Science makes progress, pseudo-science doesn’t. That leaves the door open for IT companies to take over hi-fi markets. One obvious tool IT can bring to the party is DSP-based room correction, so that the variations in response due to inevitable standing waves in the room can be compensated”.
[2a] ”When the sound from a tablet has rapidly become so good considering the serious constraints of size, weight, power and cost it is a sad reflection on the squalid state of audiophilia that the sound of a legacy loudspeaker has made little progress for years despite those constraints being absent”.
[3a] ”One of the tenets of audiophile systems is that they are assembled from components, allegedly so that the user can "choose" the best combination. This is a complete myth, because when the amplifier designer has never met the loudspeaker designer, the use of active crossovers optimised for the speaker is precluded”.
[4a] ”The main advantage of component systems is that the dealer can sell ridiculously expensive cables, hand-knitted by Peruvian virgins and soaked in snake oil, to connect it all up”.
[5a] ”In the future, loudspeakers will increasingly communicate via digital wireless links and will contain digital processing. Indeed, the link between IT and loudspeakers is destined to grow”.
[6a] ”But no progress can be made when science is replaced by bizarre belief structures and marketing fluff, leading to a decades-long stagnation of the audiophile domain”.
[7a] ”Most of the time, most people are remarkably uncritical; some are practically begging to be gulled and their needs are avidly met. The technological revolution that gave us radio and sound recording happened so long ago now that all of the true innovators have retired or passed away to be replaced by beancounters whose only skill is to make things cheaper and worse”.
[8a] ”Unfortunately there is no standard for stereophonic sound imaging accuracy, no objective comparisons are possible and progress is impeded”.
[9a] ”With this in mind, most speaker designers incorrectly argue that time accuracy is never necessary in a loudspeaker. They are simply not aware that time accuracy is vital when the ear is working in the time domain. Their expertise lies in making coffins for monkeys. Think what would happen to a RADAR set if the signals were not time accurate.”.
[10a] ”Despite [omni-directional speakers’] clear advantages, they remain uncommon because when time accuracy is needed and high frequencies are to be radiated all around, internal computing and equalisation is necessary and carpenters don’t know how to do that”.
Atkinson var en periode fast gjesteskribent i Resolution Magazine. Her skrev han 13 artikler i perioden fra 2002 til 2006 i spalten ”Slaying Dragons”. Uttrykket ”å drepe drager” kan bety to ting på engelsk; (a) enten å kjempe mot fiender/en sak, eller (b) å kjempe mot vindmøller. Navnevalget på spalten var neppe tilfeldig. Nedenfor er lenker til de 13 Resolution-artiklene:
[1b] September 2002, ”The speaker cable snake”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-speaker-cable-snake.pdf
[2b] Mars 2003, ”Getting the basse right”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Getting-the-bass-right.pdf
[3b] April 2003, ”Addicted to the bottle”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Addicted-to-the-bottle.pdf
[4b] September 2003, ”Crossovers”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Crossovers.pdf
[5b] Januar-februar 2004, ”Turn it off or leave in on?”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Turn-it-off-or-leave-it-on.pdf
[6b] Mars 2004, ”Professional or consumer?”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Professional-or-consumer.pdf
[7b] Mars 2005, ”Equipment specifications”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Equipment-specifications.pdf
[8b] Oktober 2005, ”Grounding”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Grounding.pdf
[9b] November-desember 2005, ”Classic equipment”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Classic-equipment.pdf
[10b] Januar-februar 2005, ”Design”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Design.pdf
[11b] April 2006, ”Does humour belong in pro audio?”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Does-humour-belong-in-pro-audio.pdf
[12b] Juli-august 2006, ”High definition picture”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/High-definition-picture.pdf
[13b] Oktober-november 2006, ”Sampling”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Sampling.pdf
De fleste artiklene fra 1b til 13b inneholder mat for de mest tekniske og gullkorn for dem av oss som søker å forstå et komplekst tema som lyd og gjenproduksjonen av den. Selv om min egen kompetanse innenfor lyd er lav, finner jeg umiddelbart mening i dette tekstutklippet fra [6b] om ”professional or consumer?":
”In my view, ‘professional’ is a term used to describe a way of working or a mind set. A professional outlook is one that stays on to solve a problem rather than going home when the clock says so. An approach that would prefer to squeeze just a little bit more excellence into something so it goes with a flourish rather than being run of the mill. Professionalism is an attitude of mind that might include having a good theoretical understanding of the subject, a practical understanding of how to make things work, a healthy cynicism regarding the snake oil vendors who would provide new clothes for the emperor, a sense of duty to the client or customer that rises above self indulgence or self aggrandisement, a willingness to pass on knowledge to those less experienced, and a willingness to learn something every day”.
Jeg faller også lett for Watkinsons betraktninger om humor på felt som preges av faglige debatter, [11b] hvor spørsmålet om humor hører hjemme på lydområdet. Spesielt dette tekstutklippet går rett hjem hos meg:
”One of the most powerful uses of humour is to find out whether people are genuine or not. People who know what they are talking about and are not seeking to mislead respond to teasing quite differently to those who don’t understand their topic or who have a hidden agenda. The latter often take themselves far too seriously. One of the functions of the traditional court jester was to tease visitors in order to establish their bona fide. I have been acting the court jester for a long time now and I have learned that the people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind don’t matter”.
Jeg tror de fleste vil finne noe av verdi hos Watkinson. Ved diskusjon av Watkinsons påstander er det fint om leseren viser til hvilket sitat (fra 1a til 10b) eller til hvilken artikkel vedkommende ønsker å diskutere (fra 1b til 13b).
En passende inngang til debatten kunne f.eks. være slik: Jeg har bygd opp mitt anlegg slik (en kort beskrivelse kunne være på sin plass), og i oppbyggingen av dette anlegget ser jeg at det strider mot Watkinsons påstander i sitat x/artikkel y – mens det er i overensstemmelse med Watkinsons påstander i sitat z/artikkel w, osv. .
Er det noe å lære av Watkinson, eller er han bare en skjeggete gamling (se bildet nedenfor) som slåss mot vindmøller (jf. tittelen på spalten hans i Resolution Magazine)?
PS: Watkinson holder den 8. november et foredrag om ”Psycho-acoustics of loudspeaker design” ved SAE Institute i London, i regi av AES UK****.
Lenker det er vist til ovenfor:
* Lenke til AES-pressemelding om utmerkelse: AES Fellowship Award � John Watkinson
** Lenke til bøker skrevet av Watkinson: https://www.routledge.com/products/search?imprintcode=IMPFOC&keywords=watkinson
*** Lenke til artikkel fra 2014 av Watkinson: We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Sorry, 'audiophiles', only IT will break the sound barrier • The Register
**** Audio Engineering Society UK � Psycho-acoustics of loudspeaker design
John Watkinson (som ikke må forveksles med ”Black Hat” John Atkinson i Stereophile) er en erfaren ingeniør som i 1991 ble tildelt AES Fellowship Award*. Her er tekstutklipp fra AES’ pressemelding:
”The AES recognizes and honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of audio in engineering, technology, service, and the arts through its Awards Program.
In 1991, John Watkinson was presented with the AES Fellowship Award for his outstanding contributions educating the public and the engineering community about digital audio through his teaching, training, and definitive books and articles”.
Watkinson har skrevet en rekke bøker om både lyd og bilde**, og vært med på å bl.a. utvikle konsepter for høyttalere.
Er Watkinson en ingeniør å høre på? "Comment is free, facts are sacred", heter det. Er Watkinson "comment" eller "facts"?
Teksten nedenfor er delt opp i to, (a) og (b). (a) tar for seg den siste populærartikkelen som er skrevet av Watkinson, publisert i 2014 i The Register, et teknologinettsted med mer enn 6 millioner faste lesere. Fra denne artikkelen har jeg klippet ut sitater som jeg synes er spesielt interesserte og lett tilgjengelige. (b) er en opplisting av 13 artikler som Watkinson skrev for et tiår siden i Resolution Magazine.
I artikkelen fra 2014 slår Watkinson et slag for å sette en strek over gammel teknology (”legacy speakers”)*** og erstatte vilkårlig tukling med informasjonsteknologi. Her er noen utdrag fra artikkelen:
[1a] ”Science makes progress, pseudo-science doesn’t. That leaves the door open for IT companies to take over hi-fi markets. One obvious tool IT can bring to the party is DSP-based room correction, so that the variations in response due to inevitable standing waves in the room can be compensated”.
[2a] ”When the sound from a tablet has rapidly become so good considering the serious constraints of size, weight, power and cost it is a sad reflection on the squalid state of audiophilia that the sound of a legacy loudspeaker has made little progress for years despite those constraints being absent”.
[3a] ”One of the tenets of audiophile systems is that they are assembled from components, allegedly so that the user can "choose" the best combination. This is a complete myth, because when the amplifier designer has never met the loudspeaker designer, the use of active crossovers optimised for the speaker is precluded”.
[4a] ”The main advantage of component systems is that the dealer can sell ridiculously expensive cables, hand-knitted by Peruvian virgins and soaked in snake oil, to connect it all up”.
[5a] ”In the future, loudspeakers will increasingly communicate via digital wireless links and will contain digital processing. Indeed, the link between IT and loudspeakers is destined to grow”.
[6a] ”But no progress can be made when science is replaced by bizarre belief structures and marketing fluff, leading to a decades-long stagnation of the audiophile domain”.
[7a] ”Most of the time, most people are remarkably uncritical; some are practically begging to be gulled and their needs are avidly met. The technological revolution that gave us radio and sound recording happened so long ago now that all of the true innovators have retired or passed away to be replaced by beancounters whose only skill is to make things cheaper and worse”.
[8a] ”Unfortunately there is no standard for stereophonic sound imaging accuracy, no objective comparisons are possible and progress is impeded”.
[9a] ”With this in mind, most speaker designers incorrectly argue that time accuracy is never necessary in a loudspeaker. They are simply not aware that time accuracy is vital when the ear is working in the time domain. Their expertise lies in making coffins for monkeys. Think what would happen to a RADAR set if the signals were not time accurate.”.
[10a] ”Despite [omni-directional speakers’] clear advantages, they remain uncommon because when time accuracy is needed and high frequencies are to be radiated all around, internal computing and equalisation is necessary and carpenters don’t know how to do that”.
Atkinson var en periode fast gjesteskribent i Resolution Magazine. Her skrev han 13 artikler i perioden fra 2002 til 2006 i spalten ”Slaying Dragons”. Uttrykket ”å drepe drager” kan bety to ting på engelsk; (a) enten å kjempe mot fiender/en sak, eller (b) å kjempe mot vindmøller. Navnevalget på spalten var neppe tilfeldig. Nedenfor er lenker til de 13 Resolution-artiklene:
[1b] September 2002, ”The speaker cable snake”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-speaker-cable-snake.pdf
[2b] Mars 2003, ”Getting the basse right”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Getting-the-bass-right.pdf
[3b] April 2003, ”Addicted to the bottle”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Addicted-to-the-bottle.pdf
[4b] September 2003, ”Crossovers”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Crossovers.pdf
[5b] Januar-februar 2004, ”Turn it off or leave in on?”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Turn-it-off-or-leave-it-on.pdf
[6b] Mars 2004, ”Professional or consumer?”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Professional-or-consumer.pdf
[7b] Mars 2005, ”Equipment specifications”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Equipment-specifications.pdf
[8b] Oktober 2005, ”Grounding”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Grounding.pdf
[9b] November-desember 2005, ”Classic equipment”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Classic-equipment.pdf
[10b] Januar-februar 2005, ”Design”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Design.pdf
[11b] April 2006, ”Does humour belong in pro audio?”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Does-humour-belong-in-pro-audio.pdf
[12b] Juli-august 2006, ”High definition picture”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/High-definition-picture.pdf
[13b] Oktober-november 2006, ”Sampling”: https://www.resolutionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Sampling.pdf
De fleste artiklene fra 1b til 13b inneholder mat for de mest tekniske og gullkorn for dem av oss som søker å forstå et komplekst tema som lyd og gjenproduksjonen av den. Selv om min egen kompetanse innenfor lyd er lav, finner jeg umiddelbart mening i dette tekstutklippet fra [6b] om ”professional or consumer?":
”In my view, ‘professional’ is a term used to describe a way of working or a mind set. A professional outlook is one that stays on to solve a problem rather than going home when the clock says so. An approach that would prefer to squeeze just a little bit more excellence into something so it goes with a flourish rather than being run of the mill. Professionalism is an attitude of mind that might include having a good theoretical understanding of the subject, a practical understanding of how to make things work, a healthy cynicism regarding the snake oil vendors who would provide new clothes for the emperor, a sense of duty to the client or customer that rises above self indulgence or self aggrandisement, a willingness to pass on knowledge to those less experienced, and a willingness to learn something every day”.
Jeg faller også lett for Watkinsons betraktninger om humor på felt som preges av faglige debatter, [11b] hvor spørsmålet om humor hører hjemme på lydområdet. Spesielt dette tekstutklippet går rett hjem hos meg:
”One of the most powerful uses of humour is to find out whether people are genuine or not. People who know what they are talking about and are not seeking to mislead respond to teasing quite differently to those who don’t understand their topic or who have a hidden agenda. The latter often take themselves far too seriously. One of the functions of the traditional court jester was to tease visitors in order to establish their bona fide. I have been acting the court jester for a long time now and I have learned that the people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind don’t matter”.
Jeg tror de fleste vil finne noe av verdi hos Watkinson. Ved diskusjon av Watkinsons påstander er det fint om leseren viser til hvilket sitat (fra 1a til 10b) eller til hvilken artikkel vedkommende ønsker å diskutere (fra 1b til 13b).
En passende inngang til debatten kunne f.eks. være slik: Jeg har bygd opp mitt anlegg slik (en kort beskrivelse kunne være på sin plass), og i oppbyggingen av dette anlegget ser jeg at det strider mot Watkinsons påstander i sitat x/artikkel y – mens det er i overensstemmelse med Watkinsons påstander i sitat z/artikkel w, osv. .
Er det noe å lære av Watkinson, eller er han bare en skjeggete gamling (se bildet nedenfor) som slåss mot vindmøller (jf. tittelen på spalten hans i Resolution Magazine)?
PS: Watkinson holder den 8. november et foredrag om ”Psycho-acoustics of loudspeaker design” ved SAE Institute i London, i regi av AES UK****.
Lenker det er vist til ovenfor:
* Lenke til AES-pressemelding om utmerkelse: AES Fellowship Award � John Watkinson
** Lenke til bøker skrevet av Watkinson: https://www.routledge.com/products/search?imprintcode=IMPFOC&keywords=watkinson
*** Lenke til artikkel fra 2014 av Watkinson: We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Sorry, 'audiophiles', only IT will break the sound barrier • The Register
**** Audio Engineering Society UK � Psycho-acoustics of loudspeaker design
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