2015, Chapter 4:

Bridging the Gap

Having to re-buy everything in stereo (if you’re old enough) Detours into re-buying in 8-track and cassette (ditto) Seeing the first RIAA conniption fit about home taping, and seeing them spend big lawyer bux to try to stop it (ditto) Re-buying everything as CDs Realizing that CDs are insanely overpriced when it is widely reported that production cost is under $1 Hearing stories about artists getting boned by the industry Seeing articles about grandmothers and teens getting sued for sharing music by the RIAA Seeing bands who take money showers in $100 bills complaining about people stealing music Re-buying CDs as iTunes downloads (if you’re too lazy to rip them) Realizing what a crappy master the recording is, again and again

Time? We got that. Discontent? Believe it or not, we have that. Check the study currently on Audiostream—54% want better sound. Fairly welcoming attitude? No way, Jose.

Okay, enough about business. Let’s take a look at a much bigger question, one that’s been prompted by the furor surrounding the introduction of Neil Young’s Pono player.In case you haven’t been following it, the Pono Player has had a slate of extremely negative reviews from the popular online press—some saying it provides no audible difference from compressed files from iTunes, and some even going so far as to call high-res audio a complete and total scam.Make no mistake: these are not just skeptical or lukewarm reviews. Many of them are downright inflammatory and dismissive.Why such hate, I wonder? After all, this is just a simple product for playing back music. It’s not even horrifically expensive. Why call the whole foundation of high-res into question? Why imply that anyone who hears a difference is deluded or foolish? Why insult all audiophiles who are looking to improve their sound? Why not just say, “Well, I understand that these guys are trying to offer higher resolution music, and some people may hear a difference, but I don’t, let’s move on to the latest Android phone.”So that got me thinking, and led to a question:I think they can.In fact, I think that many of the necessary “ingredients” are already in place. In fact, bridging the gap may be inevitable. I think the market for audiophile products can and will grow.But I also think that we can speed (or hinder) the process. We can make decisions about communications, features, and price that broaden audiophile products’ reach…or doom them to a ghetto.How? Well, I’m not gonna claim to have all the answers. But I think I can at least post some directional signs to a brighter future.First, a disclaimer: I was not a Pono backer. I do not own one. I do not know what it sounds like, nor will I speculate on the sound. This commentary is purely on a marketing and communications basis.With that out of the way, let me take a shot at answering,Well, I think it’s partly the messenger. And it’s partly because humans are wayyyyy smarter, on an instinctual level, than marketers give us credit for.I have nothing against Neil Young, but he may be the poster child for the absolute wrong messenger for this product. To the opinion leaders on today’s mainstream online media, he can be seen as the product of a corrupt and dying recording industry. He may be perceived as being “rich and lucky,” no matter the actual facts. So, having Neil come out and say he’s reinventing music may start pegging the bullschiitometer. Especially if he’s asking for money up front.(And yeah, I know, musicians, even very successful ones, won’t have the wherewithal to bankroll a rejiggering of the entire music industry, but we’re talkinghere, not reality.)So let’s look at this through a lens of cynical perception. “What, one of the favorite sons of the hated recording industry is now wanting to make my music better? I bet he wants us to re-buy it all, too.”Yes, I know. Unfair. But that can easily be the perception of the popular online press.(It would have been interesting to see what the reception would be if Pono was championed by a young indie band…of course, the economics really don’t work in that case…)Let’s look at what Pono said on Kickstarter, with that cynical voice chattering in the back of your head. Parenthetical content is that cynical voice, other text from Kickstarter.And then that continues on to the site, from the product description:Cynical? Yes. That’s why I called it a cynical voice. That voice may not be 100% accurate, but it’s impossible to ignore. That cynical voice is that instinctual gut feeling, that “Wait, where’s the catch?” doubt sitting in the back of your mind.Because, even if the message is positive (better music, studio quality, as the artist intended) it’s gonna be tempered by actual experience. And that actual experience with the recording industry has included:All of that sits in the back of your mind. And when someone from the recording industry says they have the ultimate solution (yet again), those memories come back…and that little voice starts up.Fair? Maybe not. But that’s sometimes how the mind works.Now, to be fair to Neil, it’s not like the audiophile industry in general goes out of its way to be accessible, friendly, and in general warm and cuddly. In fact, there are many corners of this hobby that are actively hostile towards newbies, either actively or passively.there are some forums out there that go out of their way to discourage what they perceive as neophyte posters—to the point of being openly hostile. It’s easy to decide to throw in the towel right then and there. This helps nobody, least of all the general audiophile industry.it’s a huge shock to pick up many audiophile magazines and see 5-figure price tags and a cult of personality referencing many, many different people and companies that a new listener may have never heard of. Stereophile tries to cover some budget gear, but if a newbie’s sole meaningful content is ghettoized in one column per magazine otherwise filled with megabuck gear, it’s not likely they’ll continue.And, even in the larger forums, there’s typically no single place a true neophyte can go for friendly advice, simple explanations, and an easy guide to “stepping in” to better sound. It’s almost always convolved with discussions of expensive products, heated opinions and infighting, references to industry standards and formats they’ve never heard of, nightmare stories about incompatibilities and other problems, and general information overload. There’s a lot more we can do to make getting started a more pleasant experience.Plus, the depth and passion of audiophilia is daunting. Endless infighting about the relative merits of digital vs phono, DSD and PCM, sample rates and bit depths, this DAC vs that DAC chip, USB vs SPDIF, ortho vs dynamic, planar vs cones, Class A vs Class D, objectivist vs subjectivist, ad infinitum. Is it a wonder that most newbies see this and run screaming, never to be seen again? It’s a hell of a lot easier to buy music on iTunes and listen to it on your phone, comfortably unaware of the fuss and bother.And, to add to this, the prices of audiophile components are downright scary. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: looking at this business from the outside usually results in incredulity. Thinking, “That DAC does exactly what the one in my iPhone does…but costs 5x as much as my iMac,” is a little crazy. Especially after you hear someone say, “Well, you have to spend that much to get good sound.” (And then be immediately countered by someone else saying that DAC sucks.) It doesn’t help that it’s easy to bring up crazy, crazy examples like multi-thousand-dollar USB and Ethernet cables, magic fuses, cable suspenders, and other may-do-something-but-there’s-no-measurements-to-quantify-it stuff that is eyebleedingly expensive. We can seem more than a little nutty.And (yes, there’s more) the infighting amongst the manufacturers in our little industry sometimes gets out of hand. It’s easy to talk crap about other people’s products (we get it, you really really like yours), and it’s sometimes easier to engage in silly practices like shilling your own stuff on forums. Newsflash: this doesn’t have to be played like a zero-sum game. Grow the industry as a whole, and we all benefit.So what do we do about this? How do we go about moving audiophile stuff towards a more general market?Well, I think we start by looking to see if there are some parallels in other industries.Back in the dim dark days of the 1970s, doctors decried “food faddists” saying that we might want to eat healthier…as in, you know, fiber, whole wheat, green vegetables, yogurt, less of the bacon and hot dogs, etc, and we should be exercising and taking some vitamins. The backlash against the “food faddists” was vociferous and extreme, always taking the party line: a balanced diet is all you need, celebrate surviving a heart attack with a steak (but stay off your feet, you don’t want to exert yourself.)This is especially ironic coming from an industry thatsmoking for weight loss during pregnancy, not so long ago. Seriously. Look it up.Now, many of the “food faddist” recommendations they railed against in the 1970s are part of the mainstream. Hell, the brand-new dietary guidelines just swerved away from the high-carb diet recommendations that have been in place for 30+ years AND began recommending some supplements. Holy crap, dude.Consider that in 1982, Whole Foods had exactly one store. Now they are a juggernaut, pushing the frontiers of alternative food (and health) in new directions…including into the mainstream.(Now, before anyone gets their panties in a twist, let me say this: I am certain that some of the fringier parts of the alternative food/health industry are 100% bunk, just as I think that some of the rather eyebrow-raising stuff will be part of the mainstream in years to come.)So, things can change.(And yeah, I know, there’s still controversy about lots of aspects of the Whole Foods thing, but I think we can agree that if soccer moms are shopping there, they are reasonably mainstream.)But there are parallels. Alternative food doesn’t exactly have a ton of studies showing the efficacy of their products. In fact, many studies of organic vs conventional or GMO vs non-GMO have shown little difference. And yet the individual testimonials keep coming. Kinda like audio, where “big” tests like the Meyer and Moran study don’t show a difference, but individual experience stating the opposite keeps cropping up…even amongst the objectivist crowd.So how did the alternative food market go from the belittled fringe to damn near respectable? With lots of time, plus discontent with the mainstream options, plus a fairly welcoming attitude.It’s funny. Maybe it’s because alternative food grew out of the hippie movement, it was more welcoming. It certainly was less combative and presented more of a unified front against the mainstream than high-end audio does today. And even now, go to a Natural Foods Show, and you’ll see much more openness and acceptance than you’ll find at any of the audio shows I’ve been to.And, let’s turn it up a notch. Natural and alternative food ain’t cheap. It’s priced significantly higher than mainstream. Has this been a problem? No. But then again, it’s not like organics are 2,500X more costly than mainstream, like some cables. The cost is higher, but it is contained.And let’s turn it up another notch. Are there infighting and factions in natural food? Sure, but it’s not even a hundredth of what it is in audio. In general, most people in the industry are more interested in helping, than in propagating a specific mindset.Maybe this is unfair. Maybe it’s easier to get into food because it is, well, food. But the results are clear. This industry has carved out a place in the mainstream. And we, as of yet, have not.And I think this welcoming attitude has a lot to do with it.Negative, fragmented, and factionalized are the words that frequently come to mind when browsing online forums or looking at the comments on review sites. But that’s not the whole picture. It may not even be entirely accurate.But…it’s easy to get that impression, especially when wading into an esoteric debate about interfaces or formats. It seems like we’ve gotten lost in the technological trees, and are unable to see the quality-music forest around us. And that is to all of our loss.We’re also talking, largely, to ourselves. Audiophile discussions can quickly turn into a confusing palette of acronyms, abbreviations, short-speak, insider jokes, put-downs of mainstream companies like Bose and Beats, with references to obscure products and product designers thrown in for extra color. This makes us feel comfortable, perhaps, and it allows us to display our knowledge, perhaps…but it also excludes a lot of truly curious people out there.And…the niche press coverage tends to go for the most exotic, esoteric, complex and beautiful gear out there. Which means there’s an inordinate amount of articles about stuff that people outside the industry will see as ridiculously expensive—or even 100% BS, like reviews of cables, magic damping pads, or devices that don’t even connect to your system. This kind of coverage only reinforces our isolation, rather than inviting new listeners in.But there’s hope. A lot of it.In audio, we already have a lot of active small communities, busily discussing systems and products, experimenting with tweaks and tricks, figuring out some of the crazier tech incompatibilities out there (USB audio, I’m looking at you), and spreading the word. Head-Fi.org is the big one in the “personal audio” space, but it’s by far not the only one. Look at AVSforums.com in the home theater space for another example. And there are plenty more, from the audiophile community in Reddit to small and scrappy start-ups.We also have a growing online review community with active commentary. This goes far beyond head-fi, to the more established niche press, tiny start-up sites changing the rules, and even touches some of the larger tech community (though they tend to skew objectivist.)And there are active audiophile communities in many of the tech giants, if our sales into Mountain View, Cupertino, and Redmond are indicative of anything.And these communities, in general, appear to be growing. This is not the sign of an industry in decay. This is a very strong indication that high-end audio, or alternative audio, or whatever you want to call it, has potential for the future.In fact, barring the fact that there isn’t any community as strong as head-fi for the traditional 2-channel home audio market, things are looking pretty good, in a niche sense.So how do we reach across to the mainstream and bridge the gap?Okay. Big disclaimer time. The reason the subhead to this section has a question mark is simple: I’ll freely admit I don’t have all the answers. My suggestions may be 100% bunk, and they certainly aren’t complete.That said, what can we do to bridge the gap between high-end audio and a more mainstream audience that wants better sound?All of us. Audiophiles, manufacturers, reviewers. Let go of the notion of getting 100% into the mainstream. Let go of the idea that Sennheiser HD600s will replace Beats. Let go of the need to be #1, on top, and absolutely right. Because nothing is ever absolutely right for everyone. Accept the fact that some people will never be open to the idea of better sound. Accept the idea that some people who are open to the idea will like stuff you don’t like. Growth into the mainstream doesn’t mean supplanting the mainstream. Don’t think Ralphs and Kroger, think Whole Foods…it’s a big niche, but it’s still a niche.This is also aimed at audiophiles, manufacturers, and reviewers alike. Sometimes this industry seems like it’s wound so tight that it’s gonna strip the gears. Breathlessly awaiting word about the One True Recording on the Grand New Contender. Reacting angrily about any perceived slight to your Favorite Company or Grand Idea (see Pono…reviewers going insane about the negative reviews and ranting on mainstream sites did not help us, sorry.) Bickering about what is the One True DAC or One True Amp. Belittling other people’s opinions when they don’t match yours. None of this does us any good. Sit back, push the keyboard away, and take a deep breath. Go listen to some good music. Pet the dog. Play ball with your kids. Go on a vacation. Polish the car. Work on the house. And let the audio world turn. You may find it better when you come back.If I was somehow elected Grand Sultan of High-End, I’d also add, “…and start with a unified message.” Now, that ain’t gonna happen. But we can definitely change the spin on things. If you’re a manufacturer, you don’t put other gear down. If you’re working for a company in customer service, you don’t laugh at the curious newcomer with Bose headphones. If you’re a community leader, you don’t do everything you can to shut people out of the site. If you’re a reviewer, well…please continue being honest. But it’s not like a negative review has to be written in spite (as the Pono reviews seem to have been.) But simply being friendly, rather than snickering into your coffee when someone mentions a mainstream brand, will go a long way to changing the perception of the industry.Okay, reviewers and community leaders, this one’s for you. Why are there no “Getting Started” sections? Why are there no subforums dedicated specifically to entry-level gear. Why are there no dedicated “Hey, I’m new and I want to learn” sections with people who like talking to newcomers? Yes, I know, once you’ve grown into the great throbbing Donovan’s Brain of audio, talking to the proles may be tiring…but you know what? There are plenty of people who wouldn’t mind helping. We can do a much better job at welcoming people in to the party, giving them enough info to get started, and letting them decide if audiophilia is for them. If it isn’t, hey, no harm no foul. But if we’re passively discouraging them by being so inward-focused, our growth will be stalled.This one’s for the community leaders and reviewers, too. This is something that’s already happening. Go to a traditional show (RMAF, TheShow, etc), and you’ll notice a couple of things. First, you could probably bowl down the hallways for lack of attendance. Second, you see astoundingly expensive stuff in seemingly every room. Third, you’ll see the same morose people shuffling back and forth to the same rooms the whole show, muttering about some real or imagined fault in the system. Damning? Maybe. But we’re already seeing the counterpoint to this. Shows are fragmenting and becoming smaller and more focused. There are more small meets. For audio gear that can easily transported, we need even more of these. Get people together as much as possible, let them swap stuff around, listen, and discuss what they hear. Let them experience more of what’s possible, at every price level. Because if we get people together in a small, friendly group, they engage, they learn…and they spread the word.This one’s for audio companies. Hello. The reason you’re not seeing sales to younger people is simple: your stuff is too bloody expensive. Period, full stop. The world doesn’t need another $1500 DAC/amp. It needs stuff that college students can afford. Oh, and by the way, college students, by and large, aren’t into the puffed-shirt hyperbole that your 55-year-old marketing guy wants you to use…and many (and I mean MANY) are used to seeing teardowns of mainstream phones, tablets, and other gear that includes an estimated manufacturing cost. They ARE comparing that to your products. And if they see something that looks like it could be made for $80 selling for $2500, they have every right to be skeptical. Wemore affordable products. And, er, reviewers…wemore reviews of them, too—preferably not done with power cords and interconnects that cost 6x more than the products being reviewed. That is a 100% surefire way to be dismissed by the mainstream.This one’s for the audio companies, too. Going more mainstream does not mean being eaten by the mainstream. There’s a persistent belief that we need to have Bluetooth compatibility and wireless high-res transmission and phone app remote controls and touchscreens to be mainstream. ********. Bluetooth is a compromised product, capable of only lossy transmission. If you’re not going to support it, state why in polite and non-confrontational terms, and acknowledge that if someone absolutely has to have a Bluetooth product, it may not be yours, and there are good ones out there. Wireless high-res is still in its infancy, has transmission issues and conflicting standards and really requires an onboard computer for login to networks. You don’t need to potentially compromise the simplicity and reliability of your products to chase a standard that may change by the time you deploy it. Again, educate, be non-confrontational, and acknowledge that if you really really want that capability, it may not be from you. And so on. There’s plenty of room for everyone. Your approach doesn’t necessarily have to change...but you should always be polite.If we continue pursuing the same old ideas of magazine pages and banner ads with a side of social media, we’re not going to get much of anywhere. Maybe it’s time to get together and fund some research to see if there really are golden ears out there. Maybe we need to get together and pursue the research that shows high-res music affects our brain in different ways (look it up, seriously). Maybe we need to have a more integrated approach that engages the popular press in a nonthreatening way, and invites them to consider the fact that there may be people for whom high-end and high-res really matter. Note the non-threatening, though. Press ain’t gonna respond to a Pepsi challenge for high end vs low end very well…it makes them look like idiots if they have to reverse their position about not hearing differences, and it makes them look gullible and foolish if they don’t. Maybe it’s time to encourage indie bands to experiment with high-res with some subsidized bandwidth. Maybe it’s time to let an organic message about “using the format the recording engineer is using,” develop—without the breathless hype. Maybe it’s time to do some more research into how discriminating the human ear is…hell, until a couple of years ago, we thought the human nose could only discriminate 10,000 odors—now we know it’s a trillion. Oops. But at the same time, let’s not go crazy and create some grand and uncontrollable industry association that will milk people for dues…and then work only to propagate itself. We got exactly nowhere with the Academy for the Advancement of High-End Audio. We don’t need a repeat of that.And there you go. Speculation on what went wrong with the most visible high-end product in decades. Some parallels to another industry that went sorta mainstream. Some thoughts on where we are now, and what we can do.Is it definitive? Not by a long shot.Will my recommendations work? I don’t know.But I do know one thing: we ended up with a real drubbing with Pono. It’s in our best interests to ask why…and find ways to change that in the future. These are my thoughts, as penned on one random Tuesday in February.How about yours?