Last week’s Stu’s Views blathered on about how much a pain in the fundament vinyl records can be to the avid collector, and the response to it was really phenomenal – we got messages from all over the world and the article prompted one chap in South Africa to put pen to paper (actually, fingers to keyboard) and share his lifelong love affair with records going right back to the days of shellac 78s. Obviously, I’m FAR too short of tooth to remember those kinds of things. More »
There’s a meme, or rather a cartoon, that’s been doing the rounds recently that has two characters looking over a HiFi system with the caption “The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and inconvenience.” If you spend any time on social media, and particularly audiophile groups then I’m sure you will have seen it. And so, if we take this cartoon to be anything like the truth of the matter, this begs the question “Why would anyone bother with such an outmoded and problematic format of music playback?” More »
In this latest diatribe, Stuart Smith has a bit of a look at what we mean by the term High-Fidelity.
Ok, I admit it, I have on several occasions ranted about my thorough dislike of all things streaming – specifically streaming services. I’ve moaned about having my listening experience being tailored to my past listening preferences, and I’ve whined about being tied to a screen and the lack of physical media. I also didn’t like the fact that I found myself constantly flicking between tracks and not playing full albums. Don’t get me wrong, I ripped most of my collection of CDs to a NAS and then a Melco unit years ago and streamed them of a weekend evening when we were having a bevvy or three whilst we leap about like the Lords from that Christmas tune. I’ve also moaned about the fact that artists get very little revenue from their music being streamed – more on this later. More »
Stuart Smith comments on the current situation, its effects on HiFi shows, people, and the world as a whole. He also mentions music a bit too.
There really is a tidal storm of music out there! A never-ending, algorithmically-curated musical selection that is spat out ad-nauseam especially for you, your gender, your socio-economic grouping. Perhaps I should just let it wash over me, or perhaps I should just have nice cup of tea, turn on the wireless and calm down a bit. Perhaps not. More »
In the rush towards the new-fangled format of CD I, many moons ago, sold all my vinyl. At that time I owned a record shop and was DJing on the radio, at clubs and at parties pretty much fulltime and as such I was getting promotional records sent almost every day. As a result of this we had a room that was dedicated to my turntables and of course my records. There was a good few thousand and they were stacked in long rows against the wall with no particular filing system at all. Once I decided to move on from DJing and sold the record shop the logical thing to do, or so I thought at the time, was to sell all the records. Top tip, kids…DON’T DO IT!! As soon as I’d got the cheque I realised I’d done a very stupid thing and years later I would look on Hard To Find Records and more recently Discogs only to find any of the promos and 12” records I owned were now worth a small fortune – we’re talking being able to pop out and splurge on a relatively luxurious car, but I digress.
I put a poll up on the Audiophiles UK. Hi-Fi and Music Facebook page the other day asking which cables members thought made most difference in a system and someone added options for magic mushrooms, certain green Dutch products and booze and so this naturally got me thinking about the connections between music and drugs and their origins. Note, I’m not suggesting anyone takes any drug that is not prescribed by a doctor in any way! Drugs are BAD, Ok kids? More »
Cheerful as ever Stuart Smith makes a list of musicians that have died in 2016 and asks, was this the year that the music really did die? More »
We recently spent a very good weekend as the guests of the Warsaw Audio Show and one thing that really stood out for us was how knowledgeable and passionate the people were about music and audio. This got me thinking as to why this should be and I formulated a couple of opinions and how this reflects on other countries way of consuming music. More »
This month Stu lets vent on an apathetic music buying public.
We’ve been having a lovely time covering the Crescendo Festival in St Palais sur Mer in the Poitou region of France – and a great festival it is too. It’s free, there’s bands from all over the world play and it’s really well organised and attended. Now, as a family we’ve always been campers…never in caravans or mobile homes, just tents and all the gubbins that goes with that…and so naturally when we attended this years Crescendo Festival we bought a tent (ours is a long time dead) and set off South for a bit of an adventure…sort of Hifi Pig gets back to nature.
The truth behind the name and origins of Hifi Pig. More »
More piff and waffle from Stuart after a bit of a bar room psychology lesson courtesy of Auntie Beeb.
More ramblings and incoherent musings from Stuart; this time he questions why we aren’t all listening to pro monitors and pro amplifiers and finishes off with a mixed case of reds for good measure. More »
In this months Views Of Stu, Stuart Smith takes us on a rambling personal journey through his relationship with vinyl. More »
Earlier this week we were saying goodbye to my Father and over the days that followed it really struck me how much of a force for bringing people together music is. Read on…it’s not as maudlin as you might think! More »
I saw a meme on the internet recently that said “I hope the next big trend in music is talent” and this got me thinking about how we form and develop our tastes in music and how that shapes the music we listen to in later life. More »
High-End audio and why people buy into the whole concept is a complex subject…Stuart Smith talks about very expensive cars instead. More »
Stuart Smith looks at the year that was 2015 and hints at a few things you can expect to see in the coming year from Hifi Pig. More »
There seems to be a lot of in-fighting within the audiophile world about people’s personal choices and the equipment they finally place in their system. Stuart Smith takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what he thinks are the reasons for this phenomenon… More »
Cable wars must surely be the biggest single cause of conflict and injury between audiophiles and the reason I’ve not got involved in one in a good old while…better just to keep quiet, watch from a distant hilltop and let the troops on the virtual front line battle it out ad-infinitum, though casualties will inevitably be high. Here’s my guide to the elements taking part in this ongoing conflict. More »
Another rant from Stu, this time about recent legislation in the UK regarding making back ups. “So what, given this new ruling am I supposed to do if and when my hard-drive goes belly up and refuses to let me at my precious music files?”
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Tools Of the Tirade – More Shouty Shouty
More Hifi and audiophile tools and tweaks that many of us will have at our disposal to make our audio lives ‘easier’.
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