I gave up on my Surround Sound audio system last weekend! My wife gave up on her inherited console stereo, so it's not a one-sided effort :) Have you experienced the need to update?
Part of my efforts to clear out some of the clutter in the house. Since my father passed away last year it's really come home about how much "treasure-junk" my family tends to keep. Clearing estates from both my in-laws and my parents is sobering. the situation really brings home the emotional baggage we collect and drag along. I vowed not to leave my kids with such a mess. They have enough of their own baggage!
So, I've been an audiophile for forever, upgrading and improving as technology is made available. This time I gave up on the complicated pass-through Sony 6.2 Surround Sound Dolby etc. etc. head unit. We had Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox WII and WII Ultra, Atari, Blue Ray, DVD, VCR, DirecTV and whatever else our sons could figure out how to hook in via a combination of red/white/yellow RCA jacks, paired speaker wires to 8 of 'em, coax cables, splitters and switches. What a rat's nest of cabling and a nightmare keeping the head unit on the right selection. It seemed every time my wife and I wanted to use the surround for a movie night, the surround wouldn't work 'cause the boys had changed the settings for some game or other. Love 'em and bless their hearts.
My oldest son got married in October so he and my favorite daughter-in-law took the majority of the gaming systems with him to their place. I figure just let the younger son go over to their place to play the games, right? I did let him keep his, but the collection is down to all HDMI. A single HDMI Port replicator for the games and everything else comes through the big screen! Amazing!
Before you chastise me for giving up on component-based Surround Sound, I'll just let you know the new SONY Surround Sound with wireless satellite speakers is surely the cat's meow! Somehow its better than the old system. Don't know, how but it is, and all automatic set up to boot. I caught myself playing with the optimization tool just to hear all of the speakers play in their turn. Over the last week testing out the system on streaming services and the discs from our extensive library, simply amazing. No loss of fidelity! The footprint is so much better with the directional sound bar, pass though HDMI and the wireless sub-woofer and satellites. I'm really tickled. My wife just virtually pats me on the head and says that's all very fine :laugh: If there's a downside, its only finding a home for the "expensive in its day" equipment with the Bose speakers etc. A last thought. I did keep a turn table for the vinyl. It's just upstairs in the living room.
Thanks for listening!
Richelle
Oh yes an audiophile here too. I am slow to change things in my system as I often find it hard to improve the sound I like It is noway as complex as yours and it has just one prime function, to play records.
But it's full of nostalgia. Of times of old, parts upgraded not necessary replaced. It takes up an entire wall of the house and I guess cluttered but it means everything to me
Hugs
Jessica xxx
Thanks ever so much for the reply! What is your favorite genre?
Xmas of course, no one beats Bing Crosby.
Pink Floyd Animals, Wish You Were here, The Wall. Moody Blues Days of Future Past. Emerson Lake and Palmer. Rock Ballads. Meat Loaf. 60's cultural revolution, and more for me. So much more! Bread, CCR, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson. Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi. The beat goes on.
Vinyl can only be replaced when you wear out the groove, yes?
Not long finished working my way through my old disco 70s to 80s singles, had to move them and my old hi fi from the ex's attic. There were pics of the unit I built to house them but lost in the crash and not managed to put any back up. Lot of Northern Soul in my collection, it was a UK thing.
Quote from: D'Amalie on January 17, 2024, 02:46:21 PMThanks ever so much for the reply! What is your favorite genre?
Xmas of course, no one beats Bing Crosby.
Pink Floyd Animals, Wish You Were here, The Wall. Moody Blues Days of Future Past. Emerson Lake and Palmer. Rock Ballads. Meat Loaf. 60's cultural revolution, and more for me. So much more! Bread, CCR, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson. Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi. The beat goes on.
Vinyl can only be replaced when you wear out the groove, yes?
You have good taste in music. I took all my LPs and converted the to audio files so I can take my music with me when I travel.
Ellen
Oh! And I should mention ABBA! I don't know how I missed it. Dancing Queen, I wished it was me in the mid 70's. Then as the years went by the way, their songs seemed to match the stages in my life too! From '81 see if you recognize, "Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning. Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile. I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness And I have to sit down for a while..."
In my middle age, this music is very much part of my life.
1973 - 1981 my formative young adult years. I was always wanting to be Frida.
Audiophile/stereophile here too... and just spent a week troubleshooting an issue my satellite company couldn't solve. So I solved it for them!
Out of the blue I started getting these "this content is protected" messages on my screen, blacking out 85% of my directv content. It said to replace my HDMI cables with component cables to fix the issues. But why on earth would I do that?
When I called directv they of course said the same thing. I told them I'd troubleshot all the cables, reset the devices, etc and just to send me a new box. The issue had to be the box. They relented and did so. The issue continued. They said the only solution was to go to the reduced video quality to fix it. Asinine.
So I did some research. The content issue was a key component of the recent SAG-AFTRA strike. And they added new restrictive language on streamers and cable preventing them from allowing their content from being copied.
So it dawned on me.
My home theatre set up had my directv unit connected to my A/V receiver as were all my other devices, AppleTv, Br, gaming etc... so they all run through the surround system. And then one HDMI runs from A/V to the TV (and I have a programable remote that switches between everything with one touch macros)
Well what I figured was with the new restrictions, the directv unit is reading my A/V receiver as a recording device. And so it's blocking the content at that point. So I had to run a separate HDMI to the TV from the Directv and still run an audio only pass to the A/V from that unit.
That solved it. Although now I have the unenviable task ahead of reprogramming the remote with all new macros. So right now only I can pretty much operate anything.
I did call Directv back and explain this to them. They said "ohhh that makes sense. We've been getting other calls. Thanks"
Sheesh
All of what you have posted, Richelle, I have in my collection. My taste is very very eclectic from avent-garde classical music to the latest dance music. Indi to blues to folk to CW to Jazz.
1980's level 42, Jonny hates jazz, pet shop boys etc seem to get played a lot at the moment along with streaming Capital Dance. And Davina, yep I love northern soul too.
Other artists: Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Robert Cray. Beth hart, Joan Armatrading, soft machine to name a few.
Hugs
Xxx
I like music. Somehow, I found a little known artist named Daniel D (initials DD on Spotify. I really love his song "Dans le Ceil" off his album Bridges and Roads. I encourage you to check it out. I guess I'd call it Jazz, but I really don't know. https://youtu.be/rXN25P-n530?si=5nms-HJzMvfnrjFK
I love guitar. Playing it, listening to it, heck just looking at them. :)
From Blues to Metalica, from the The Smith's to Darius Rucker.
Quote from: REM.1126 on January 18, 2024, 10:38:12 PMI love guitar. Playing it, listening to it, heck just looking at them. :)
From Blues to Metalica, from the The Smith's to Darius Rucker.
So I expect you like Joe Bonamassa?
The Smiths however and Morrissey I find too depressing lol?
What about thrash or death metal anyone?
I loved punk in its day. To me there were 3 major jumps in "pop" music.
The 1960's with the Mersey beat, Beatles etc they blew away the stuffy post war easy listening (helped by the previous decade Rock and Roll and all based on Blues)
1970's punk. So radically different to anything else.
1980's what I call CD pop, I believe that the emergence of simple un cluttered music of the 80's was a ploy by record companies to promote the change over to CD, "listen how much better and cleaner it is" listen to the silence"
Still waiting for the next. Ok I am not a stuck in the mud, but I see today's music as just a gradual shift not a radical change. More emphasis on the words of life experience perhaps in that respect going back to the roots of the blues.
Hugs
Xxx
Quote from: D'Amalie on January 17, 2024, 02:46:21 PMXmas of course, no one beats Bing Crosby.
Perry Como will give Bing a run for his money. The Carpenter's had a great Xmas album too
Love most of your other choices, but I think the Beatles would top my list.
Not a great classical fan or hard core country but blues, swing ,light jazz, through to bang up to date pop. I always have a radio on when working or in my kitchen and its BBC Radio One with the latest music.
My eldest lad plays drums in a band , country rock in a UK style and they have a record deal. Check out Wood Burnt Red on you tube for some ear worm tunes!
Quote from: Jessica_K on January 19, 2024, 01:35:57 AMSo I expect you like Joe Bonamassa?
The Smiths however and Morrissey I find too depressing lol?
What about thrash or death metal anyone?
I loved punk in its day. To me there were 3 major jumps in "pop" music.
The 1960's with the Mersey beat, Beatles etc they blew away the stuffy post war easy listening (helped by the previous decade Rock and Roll and all based on Blues)
1970's punk. So radically different to anything else.
1980's what I call CD pop, I believe that the emergence of simple un cluttered music of the 80's was a ploy by record companies to promote the change over to CD, "listen how much better and cleaner it is" listen to the silence"
Still waiting for the next. Ok I am not a stuck in the mud, but I see today's music as just a gradual shift not a radical change. More emphasis on the words of life experience perhaps in that respect going back to the roots of the blues.
Hugs
Xxx
I have been to 3 Joe Bonamassa concerts. He's fantastic. Beth Hart complements him well. "Sloe Gin" amazes me. https://youtu.be/pvvgZMGp5Uo?si=es8hfjLDggoCOFaw
I see it all somewhat different on the breakdown. The 60's were a fantastic time for music. Soul/R&B was in its golden age. Rock was exploding into novel, generally blues inspired walls of sound. The Beatles are recognized as the inspiration of most of the music that followed them (up until lately anyway), but Hendrix influenced the future of music as much as anyone, and still does today.
For me, the 70's was a big empty space. There are notable things, some of them a carryover of the 60's. Punk was part of the 60's rock innovation.
I don't really know how to define punk. I am told that some things are punk that sound pretty pop to me. What would you say the first punk rock song was? "Just like Me" by Paul Revere and the Raiders back in 66? Or, Them? Was "Louie Louie" punk? I don't know where exactly to draw the line. But, the Kinks and the Clash are quintessential punk to me.
The most notable new music of the 70's was New Wave. And, while it had some influence on the future, it was pretty short lived on its own.
The early 80's didn't have much going on either. But, for me that changed in the mid 80's with bands emerging like REM, The Cure and The Smiths, U2. They grew in popularity in the 90's. I would often hear called "progressive" or "alternative" rock.
The 90's were my favorite decade of music of all time. The things I liked from the 80's were maturing, and Grunge became a thing. The 90's seemed to spill over into the 2k's, but somewhere around 2010 things were... different. I lost significant interest in most new music.
I find myself listening to more music from before 2010 than after it. I guess I am getting old. I don't like most hip hop, nor most rap. Live music seems to be dying. People don't want to pay cover charges to hear bands. Karaoke is cheaper.
Most of the live music where I live is a couple of guys with acoustic guitars playing stuff from the 90's-2ks for people close to my age.
I think a big reason music is dying is that it has all become quantized. There's no groove to it. No ebb and flow. Everything is done to a click, and then computers realigned it to be perfectly, mechanically on beat. Vocals are pitch corrected.
And, the move away from blues as a rooting element is killing rock. Blue and rock were successful because they made you feel something in your soul. Quantized music made in a box is dead and robotic to me. It has no feeling, and it neither inspires me nor touches me.
Thats why I said look up Wood Burnt Red, proper "old school" .
Quote from: REM.1126 on January 19, 2024, 10:49:31 AMI have been to 3 Joe Bonamassa concerts. He's fantastic. Beth Hart complements him well. "Sloe Gin" amazes me. https://youtu.be/pvvgZMGp5Uo?si=es8hfjLDggoCOFaw
I see it all somewhat different on the breakdown. The 60's were a fantastic time for music. Soul/R&B was in its golden age. Rock was exploding into novel, generally blues inspired walls of sound. The Beatles are recognized as the inspiration of most of the music that followed them (up until lately anyway), but Hendrix influenced the future of music as much as anyone, and still does today.
For me, the 70's was a big empty space. There are notable things, some of them a carryover of the 60's. Punk was part of the 60's rock innovation.
I don't really know how to define punk. I am told that some things are punk that sound pretty pop to me. What would you say the first punk rock song was? "Just like Me" by Paul Revere and the Raiders back in 66? Or, Them? Was "Louie Louie" punk? I don't know where exactly to draw the line. But, the Kinks and the Clash are quintessential punk to me.
The most notable new music of the 70's was New Wave. And, while it had some influence on the future, it was pretty short lived on its own.
The early 80's didn't have much going on either. But, for me that changed in the mid 80's with bands emerging like REM, The Cure and The Smiths, U2. They grew in popularity in the 90's. I would often hear called "progressive" or "alternative" rock.
The 90's were my favorite decade of music of all time. The things I liked from the 80's were maturing, and Grunge became a thing. The 90's seemed to spill over into the 2k's, but somewhere around 2010 things were... different. I lost significant interest in most new music.
I find myself listening to more music from before 2010 than after it. I guess I am getting old. I don't like most hip hop, nor most rap. Live music seems to be dying. People don't want to pay cover charges to hear bands. Karaoke is cheaper.
Most of the live music where I live is a couple of guys with acoustic guitars playing stuff from the 90's-2ks for people close to my age.
I think a big reason music is dying is that it has all become quantized. There's no groove to it. No ebb and flow. Everything is done to a click, and then computers realigned it to be perfectly, mechanically on beat. Vocals are pitch corrected.
And, the move away from blues as a rooting element is killing rock. Blue and rock were successful because they made you feel something in your soul. Quantized music made in a box is dead and robotic to me. It has no feeling, and it neither inspires me nor touches me.
Me too, three Joe concerts including one with Beth, and a couple of Beth on her own.
We all see music through our own ears, the things we like and let the others fad in memory. To me I guess Punk was the live scene rather than recorded. Complete unknowns and never will be's crashing about on a stage or in a tent.
I will have to fess up that probably I am strange musically in that for my first near 20 yeas, until I went to university in 1971 I really only listened to classical music. Played in a youth orchestra. My record collection contained no Beatles nor stones. After '71 my tastes widened big time.
A bit of a clarification as rereading I noticed it may have been a bit unclear where I said about modern music going back to the roots of blues. I did not mean musically. But the singing about everyday life, problems, and woes in the same way of early US black music. Artists like Billie Eilish and songs such as "not my responsibility" against body shameing is both powerful and apt.
I agree most of todays music is very processed retimed and retuned. My today's music is dance with DJ mixes. The beat remains the same. I just find it exciting and it definitely keeps my spirits up dancing in my seat in the car while in a traffic jam on the M25.
Something I really did not like however is when a song that leans on timing, then resampled to a beat. Grr, an example is Susanne Vega Toms Dine, her words just leans on every beat beautifully. Then DNA came along and sampled it removing all the miss timing to make it a dance track. Grr again.
Hugs
Jessica xxx
The Stones sure put on a great concert. Well, they did 30 years ago anyway. They weren't young at the time, and I wasn't a huge Rolling Stones fan, but live they are much more entertaining to me than on records.
What a show the Rolling Stones must have been! I listened avidly to the BBC out of Luxemburg through my child hood and middle school years before we moved to the States. The Beatles and the Stones. Great stuff!
I'm not one for concerts for the most part, so expensive and so very very loud. Yet when I do go, I'm always drawn in to the show and the shared experience. I always leave amazed and vastly entertained. Rod Stewart, Michael Buble, The Beach Boys, Belamy Brothers, Blue Man Group, Cher, Sarah McLachlan. Sometimes the produced music is better.
At that Stones concert I was lucky enough to be on the football field about 20 rows back from the stage (which was in one endorse, and large) putting me near midfield. It was a huge crowd with people in the stands and the upper decks. It wasn't a short concert (they have a lot of hits). Jagger had so much energy, I was amazed. He was so old! (He was only 46 at the time, but I was early 20's and he seemed old at the time).
I knew every song they played, and I think they played all their biggest hits. It was something.
The best ever concert I was privileged to go to was Queen with Freddy Mercury. Probably the greatest showman that ever lived in my opinion.
I did once go to a stones concert. A free and open concert The Stones in the park, Hyde Park 1969. It was probably my first, I was 16 and went because it was free, easy to get too as I lived in London and my best friend wanted to go. Even though it was a long time ago, I remember how I got there as it was the way I always went to centre London. The #8 bus to Tottenham Court Rd and then walked to the park.
The longest concerts I had been to were Bruce Springsteen someone I had seen many times. One was the famous (or notorious) concert in Hyde Park again. No free concerts now, limited crowd behind temporary high walls. There was a curfew. Well the Boss being Boss had a guest Paul Mcartney so was banging out old Beatles hits when the curfew time arrived, they carried on and on until the the powers that be threw the switch and cut the power. They still carried on lol
I do not do large concerts any more as the last I did again a Boss concert I had a claustrophobic panic attack that I do not want ever to happen again.
Hugs
Jessica xxx
I went with a girl friend to see a group, cant remember who they were clearly. Bay City Rollers or Shawody in 72/73 playing in one of the cow sheds at local show ground. They were chart toppers and did big gigs so was surprising to see them do a small venue, only a few hundred folks there and you could walk right up to the low stage.
I am a hard core dead head. I saw the Grateful Dead 85 or 90 times between the late 70s and late 80s. Both coasts. I have friends who claimed that I could be seen in one of the officially released New Years Eve videos. I have never cared to watch it.
I would give details of the madcap fun of touring with the dead, but if you remember the 80s and touring you cannot have been there.
More seriously I have wondered on and off if the hardcore life style was my coping mechanism for dysphoria. For another time perhaps..
Jenn
A true Deadhead! Pleased to meet you, ma'am.
I do a car show with the family every year at Cache Valley Fairgrounds, the Cache Valley Cruis In (its been running over 40 years.) thre three day event runs a concert the evening of the middle day. Last year's featured band was the Beach Boys, not a bad show. Jon Stamos was guest performing. My family had to fill me in since he was a General Hopital heartthrob, or so they said ::)
Rod Stewart was the most energetic performer I've seen live. I'd love to have seen Freddy Mercury back in the day ;)
Andreas Vollenweider probably put on the best concert I have seen. Honestly, I was shocked. I took my wife because she was a fan. I was totally blown away.
One of the most impressive things about it was when he came on stage and said: "If you came here hoping to hear some of your favorite music from the CD's, I am sorry. We won't be playing any songs from the CD's. There will be phrases borrowed from albums, but tonight will be entirely improvised. No one has ever heard what you will hear tonight before, and it will never be performed again."
And, even though it wasn't rehearsed, it was all just improvised, it sounded great!
Quote from: D'Amalie on January 23, 2024, 03:26:53 PMA true Deadhead! Pleased to meet you, ma'am.
I do a car show with the family every year at Cache Valley Fairgrounds, the Cache Valley Cruis In (its been running over 40 years.) thre three day event runs a concert the evening of the middle day. Last year's featured band was the Beach Boys, not a bad show. Jon Stamos was guest performing. My family had to fill me in since he was a General Hopital heartthrob, or so they said ::)
Rod Stewart was the most energetic performer I've seen live. I'd love to have seen Freddy Mercury back in the day ;)
Nice to stop by and meet you as well.
A few other shows I can remember and enjoyed include --
The 80s and early 90s version of Santana. They had all those drums up on stage and the visuals are striking in my head. I was at one of the Talking Heads "stop making sense" shows.. insanely good stuff. I've seen the B52s a few times, there were a good take too. Raucus fun. Violent Femmes long ago and recently-- maybe the most honest band I've seen beyond my beloved Grateful Dead. Maybe even more honest and a kick butt band to get up and dance along with. Fun crowd. I saw U2 but don't remember much beyond Bono can sing and their guitar playing annoyed me at the time.
hmmm
Cindy Lauper twice. She got a set of pipes and is a huge ally to the LGBTQ community. mediocre show but fascinating person. Ziggy Marley was probably a better show than I remember. I mean I went to a pot fest and a concert broke out.
Oh hey.. and my ex dragged me to Tina Turner's good bye show in the 90s. Weird contrast to what I'd normally see. She had trouble dancing in sync with the pre-canned video but could sing. I mean sing. Plus she had legs. and an awesome life story.
I have a few on the dislike list but am gonna politely refrain, thank you.
:)
~Jenn
Quote from: Jenn104 on January 24, 2024, 06:38:29 AMOh hey.. and my ex dragged me to Tina Turner's good bye show in the 90s. Weird contrast to what I'd normally see. She had trouble dancing in sync with the pre-canned video but could sing. I mean sing. Plus she had legs. and an awesome life story.
~Jenn
I saw the 1987 Tina Turner concert at Wembley arena where she had Eric Clapton on stage to play their duet "Tearing us Apart" Now that was an amazing show.
And another concert story. In the 70's a uni friend found that he had a spare ticket to Frank Zapper and the Mothers" show again at the Wembley Arena. He gave it to me, so we went together. Not sure if it was really my thing, never really knew as I fell asleep through most of the concert lol
Hugs
Xxx
Quote from: REM.1126 on January 23, 2024, 09:59:38 PMAndreas Vollenweider probably put on the best concert I have seen. Honestly, I was shocked. I took my wife because she was a fan. I was totally blown away.
I'm a bit green! That is the pinnacle of talent and entertainment! My intro to that acoustic harp was via The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I thought it was exhilarating!
Thanks for the Memories...oh, wait! That was Bob Hope.
Right I have one Chicken Tikka masala recipe, this book tells you the origins of the recipes and this says "outpost-Britain" anyways sharpen your pencil and get a large note pad.
Serves 4 (so it says)
6 boned chicken thighs skinned about 675g in total
juice of 2 limes
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 shallots roughly chopped
4 large garlic cloves roughly chopped
4cm fresh ginger root chopped
2 green chillies deseeded and chopped
125g Greek style yogurt
1/2 tsp garam masala
1tbsp veg oil
sauce
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 rounded tsp tomato puree
handful chopped coriander leaves
3cm ginger root grated
1tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp castor sugar
50g unsalted butter
125ml single cream
recipe
1 cut the chicken thighs into3cm chunks, combine the lime juice and paprika and mix with the chicken. Roast and grind the cumin and coriander seeds.
2 put the shallots, garlic, ginger and chillies in a food processor, drain the lime juice and paprika from the chicken and add, process till smooth. Tip into a bowl and stir in the yogurt, garam masala and add 1/2 the coriander and cumin powder.
3 pour the spice mix over the chicken turning every bit so evenly coated, cover with cling film and marinade overnight in the fridge, if possible stir a few times.
4 pre heat the grill with pan in place to hottest setting
5 Take the chicken out of the marinade and arrange on the hot grill pan, drizzle with the oil and grill for 5mins each side or till chard on edges, Pour any cooking juice into a bowl and skim of any fat. Keep chicken warm while you make the sauce
6 Combine the tomatoes, tomato puree, coriander leaves, lime juice, sugar and remaining cumin and coriander powder in a blender and blend till smooth. Heat the butter in a pan and when melted add the tomato mix and cream, bring to a simmer then strain in the reserved cooking juices and add chicken. reheat and serve with Indian breads.
Well I hope you try this as my fingers are falling off from typing!!
Someone at the weather channel was a huge fan. Other than our CD's, the weather channel was the main place I heard Andreas.
In addition to the wonderful, collaborative riffing, at times they would turn off all the lights and people in black with glowing objects would move around in ways that were dazzling. It's been done a lot since, but that was the first time I saw it done (circa 1990).
Quote from: davina61 on January 25, 2024, 10:40:33 AMWell I hope you try this as my fingers are falling off from typing!!
Right! Well done, You! Music to our palates! Gastronomical music!
Thanks ever so much. I'm off to market this afternoon to fill the ingredients list! Already have 3/4s of them. I'd have to use confectioners sugar even though its a bit finer than castor. Easier to find in the States, yet not critically different since we aren't baking a confection or doing a pudding. But I also use Stevia extract or Swerve in cooking.
I'd bet one could substitute harder veggies for the chicken, yes? My Daughter and daughter-in-law are both vegitatians. Son and wife coming for dinner Sunday. I'll do two half batches! Super! I've not found a substituion for the rice though. I'll have it for my guests, but don't eat the heavy carbs myself. The tomatoes are heavy in natural sugars too. Not sure how to counteract or substitute. I only have 20-30 carbs daily. I don't mind feeding those that can have them though!
You can use tofu or pannier (Indian cheese ) just toast it and add it at the end.