Do youngsters of today appreciate good sounding music

[Jambo]

Hi All


I have been thinking about this for a while and that is do todays youngsters really appreciate the quality of a good sound system, we spend a lot of money on speakers, amps etc to get tthe quality of sound that we require and that we think our audience require.

But watching young people listening to music on their laptops with small tinny speakers or on their mobile phone loudspeaker (if you can call it a loudspeaker) it really makes you wonder whther they appreciate the effort we make to ensure that the sound at the function is as good as we can get!

[MagicMusic]

I'm sure that most who have an interest do but we wouldn't really know as they don't draw attention to themselves with their desire to broadcast their lack of musical taste to anyone within earshot.

In my experience most younger folk just want it to be loud. I find that clubbers are more aware of such things as there is a lot of talk on clubbing forums about sound systems etc. I've noticed promoters using Funktion One sound system as a selling point on the fliers so there is an awareness.

[Jambo]

Yes I agree that those who are regular clubbers would be more aware of the difference between a good and bad sound system but does the average Joe in the street have any idea of the difference.

[BeerFunk]

I've always found it remarkable that the same people (not necessarily youngsters, but more often than not they will be) buy into the whole 'high definition/HD' market, and, at the same time, are happy to watch movies on their tiny phones/pocket video players :confused:

[MagicMusic]

On producer forums there is a lot of talk about modern music being overly "bright"

What is meant by that is that the higher frequencies are being artificially boosted too much at the mixing / mastering stage.

There is also an ongoing quest to make music louder and louder. Overly compressed, bright music can sound very brash on poor sound systems.

The main reason for this being so that the song stands out on radio.

Couple this with the evolution of digital media and people are becoming accustomed to a "tinny" sound, I would argue that this is part of the reason for people thinking that their diy disco's are a great idea.

So, playing low quality digital files on overly bright sound systems in bars and at parties leads to the whole "bright" sound being greatly exaggerated.

Like everything, if you are exposed to something for long enough it becomes an accepted norm.

Unfortunately Joe Public have been exposing themselves to poor quality downloads for a few years now to the point where crap sound is reasonably acceptable.

I have had a lot of feedback from people saying that they were impressed with the sound of my system so I think that in general most people wouldn't know a crap system if it slapped them in the face BUT they do notice the difference when they hear a good one even if they aren't concious of what the difference is.

All just my opinion of course.


I've always found it remarkable that the same people (not necessarily youngsters, but more often than not they will be) buy into the whole 'high definition/HD' market, and, at the same time, are happy to watch movies on their tiny phones/pocket video players :confused:

Aye, and "look at me i've got a 47inch plasma" then play poor quality pirated copies of movies or stream live football off of the internet on them.

Waste of time.

EDIT: and that's just a couple of pubs I know!

[DJWilson]

As long as theres a bass bin somewhere most kids don't care :lol:

[Excalibur]

There's absolutely no point in having a high quality sound system to play some of the detritus which populates todays charts.

[Charlie Brown]

As long as theres a bass bin somewhere most kids don't care :lol:

:agree:

[paulg]

There's absolutely no point in having a high quality sound system to play some of the detritus which populates todays charts.

Who's dat Detritus like? Is he doin R&B wiv dizee an Jay Z, innit.


No, they don't give a hoot so long as da bass is "kickin".

[Penfold42]

IMO - No!

[DJMaxG]

I would say that quite a lot of teens these days just want to consume a rather strong amount of alcohol, dance around like there's no tomorrow, and pull a bird (no disrespect) :P

I don't think most of them (nor some adults) are bothered about the bit rate of the audio or the sound system. However, I have heard complaints before from wedding goers like "The DJ was too loud" and you know, the usual sort of complaints.

I wouldn't use this as an excuse though not to purchase a high quality sound system. It's a similar thing with Karaoke mics, I have read before that they get abused, so DJs are considering owning cheaper units.

I agree that music seems to be played on PC speakers etc, and I only believe that it is down to convinience really, it's easier just to minimise a window and click onto the next song with services like Spotify etc, than to get up and change the disc in the hifi, that is of course if you don't listen to local radio.

Perhaps the younger crowds don't care about presentation, say where a wedding client would want their wedding to look smart and elegant.