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Have you heard the music latest? ; FIFTY SOMETHING Michael Scanlan [Bristol Evening Post (England)](Bristol Evening Post (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SITTING at home the other day, surrounded by my adoring family, I started discussing the latest advances in audio technology. Unfortunately, this appeared to coincide with something happening elsewhere in the house which demanded my children's swift departure, while my wife suddenly realised there was an interesting shopping list that required immediate attention. Strange how often this seems to happen. Anyone would think they weren't interested in the worldly knowledge I have to pass on. Anyway, I was trying to gauge what they knew of Pono (that's P, O, N, O - be careful how you type that into your search engine). It's a new music download service and player developed by, among others, crusty old rocker Neil Young, a long-time fierce advocate of the joys of analogue music - ie. vinyl - over digital - ie CDs and MP3s. Now I'm with Neil on this one. Vinyl does sound better than digital - and I used to love the ritual of playing vinyl, taking the record out of the various protective sleeves, putting it on the turntable and, crucially, lowering the needle onto the record, a procedure not always without its mishaps. But you can't carry your vinyl collection around in your pocket, or take your hi-fi stereo sound system and dozens of different albums on the bus. And these days I marvel at how I can almost instantly hear anything from my entire music collection through speakers via my TV, streamed from a computer in a different room and a gorgeously cool little black box as I flick through the covers by pointing a shiny little magic wand. For once, I feel like we've actually got at least a little taste of the marvellous future we were promised in childhood books - although I'm still waiting for the jet pack, flying car and moon base. But no matter what technological wizardry comes along, no sound system will ever beat the one I rigged up in my bedroom as a teenager. I had retrieved my dad's old turntable, which, as I remember it, seemed to be largely made out of Bakelite and felt. I rigged it up to a huge old radio salvaged from my grandmother. In my memory, it's about three feet wide, a thing of beauty, all burnished wood and brass, with twist dials and labelled with strange-sounding destinations like Bruxelles, Miskolo, Hilversum and Athlone. Far- off places that sounded as romantic and exotic and poetic as Shangri La or Albion, matched by the exciting sounds issuing from the sturdy old mono speaker. The whole assembly sat on an old tea trolley, also inherited from my grandmother, which meant I could roll it to different parts of the room, as long as I didn't stray too far from a power point. That was the closest I got to mobile in those days. It seems ironic new developments like Pono - which is supposed to sound even better than vinyl - are presumably largely aimed at blokes like me, blokes whose ears are no longer capable of appreciating really high-end audio after years of listening to blokes like Neil Young cranked up really loud. And I can't justify paying around Pounds 400 for another portable player, even if it does look like a cool Toblerone made out of Lego. So I think I'll be sticking to my trusty old MP3 player for now - unless anyone knows where I can get hold of an old tea trolley? ONLINE COLUMNISTS Keep up-to-date with all our columnists at BRISTOLPOST.CO.UK (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |