Is Convenience Killing Great Sound?

[Hannah]

Once upon a time, a man named Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, a revolutionary little device that allowed you to record and listen back to the sound. It was superseded 10 years later by the gramophone. In the 1940s vinyl records were introduced, offering people the chance to listen to a mind-blowing 25 minutes of music per side

A few decades later, cassette tapes began gaining popularity and anyone could record songs off the radio and make mixtapes for their crush. In the 1990s CDs took the world by storm, killing off the cassette tape and dominating music consumption until Apple released the iPod and we all started to download music instead.

Now it’s 2019 and most of us have relegated our CD players and iPods to the attic, replacing them with music-streaming apps on our smartphones and recreating our once vast CD collections with a series of playlists.

But at what cost? As Krish Sharma, a 2-time Grammy Award-winning audio producer, said in his interview with us:
“As listeners, we’ve taken a huge hit over the past 15, 20 years. Quality has been reducing, albums sounded a little bit better than CDs and MP3s sound worse, and all of our transducers, they’ve become more convenient. They’re smaller, they’re easier, like you have small Bluetooth speakers, everything is easier and more convenient, but none of it sounds better. So it doesn’t add to the musicality as a convenience.”

Aside from the belief that wired headphones and speakers deliver superior quality sound, another major benefit of wired equipment is that you’re less reliant on batteries. Everyone who owns Bluetooth headphones has regretted forgetting to recharge them before a big trip at least once. And the same goes for Bluetooth speakers.

But if running out of battery at inconvenient times is frustrating, why do we put up with it? It’s simple, wireless devices are convenient and now the headphone jack is pretty much extinct, we don’t have much of a choice.

Modern life is fueled by our need for convenience. We don’t want to go back to a time when we could only listen to music at home on a record player. When you get the urge to listen to a random song, you can start playing it within seconds no matter where you are. In the past, you’d have to hope the song came on the radio or buy the physical album. Now we can listen to anything we want at any time, and that’s pretty cool.

Music streaming and wireless headphones and speakers are here to stay, so that’s why we ensured our latest true-wireless earbuds, Liberty 2 Pro, give you all the convenience of wireless paired with seriously great sound so you can #ListenLikeAPro. Even Krish noted that “The records I make sound like they should on the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro”.

So, what do you think, is convenience killing great sound? And what’s your favorite way to listen to music? Leave comments and don’t forget to share this article using the social media buttons below to be in with a chance of winning your very own Liberty 2 Pro.

[Thanuj_Fernando]

Personally I don’t think convenience is killing great sound due to the fact there are still many ways to get great sound in a convenient way.
My favourite way of listening to music is via music streaming such as Spotify, YouTube, etc
Occasionally I like to listen to lossless audio to listen to my favourite music at very high audio quality.

[Chiquinho]

Ja!
Have you ever listened to real record (Vinyl)?
Played with a high standard turntable and a high end pickup system.
(Amplifier (best would be tubes) and speakers as well)

All methods digitizing music lead to big losses.
(mp3 etc.).

We were talking about here, but the most young folks don’t have such equipment,
so me the old “Neanderthaler” is quite alone.

Sorry no social media available here in my poor cave!

[Chiquinho]

All those compressions have some kind of loss.
Some more, some less.

But I don’t have to forget my usual statement:
The weakest link is always the human ear.

[TechMan]

I agree that we are killing quality, but I prefer the convenience. Good luck to everyone!

[andrewGholden374]

I honestly think it is. Don’t get me wrong, I really like my portables. But when I want to hear my music the best I can I still use a wired connection on a system that took me a few years to put together to get the sound I wanted. I say that convenience is killing good sound mainly because of a speaker I built. It was one of the first speakers I ever built, it had 4 20w full range drivers mounted on four sides of a four sided bucket. I still have it now and after having built other speakers with more knowledge and actually listening to good audio, I have to say that it was absolutely terrible in every way. But myself as well as everyone I showed it to thought it sounded great because they had been desensitized and were used to bad audio.

[jercox]

I think the biggest issue is that almost none of us regularly sit down and JUST listen to anything. There are always other sounds, or it is combined with TV, or some activity. It is rare to sit down, close your eyes and immerse yourself in music.

[Seth22]

@Alejandro_Rubalcaba this is your chance!

[Duane_Lester]

I do listen to my Zune corded as it has no Bluetooth and will listen to the radio as I am walking. At work, I have radio/cd/ipod/usb device to listen to tunes through a speaker. At home, I am usually wireless unless I am playing my game system.

I do think some convenience may cause some trouble with the sound but it does not necessarily mean it is the headphones/earbuds that are the issue. As he stated sometimes it may be the delivery of that sound such as the MP3 or as I am getting older it is my older ears that are losing the ability to ear it.

[Duane_Lester]

lol I was thinking that same thing

[Seth22]

@Tank don’t bother commenting. Winning 3 pairs really would be ridiculous !

[Duane_Lester]

So this is like the second topic about wired headphones or the killing of wired headphones. Is Soundcore trying to tell us something? LOLOL

[Shenoy]

The banner pic shows Headset which is very very similar to Appe Airpod Pro… would have loved to Liberty 2 Pro or a generic BT headset

As long as sound gives you pleasure and make you feel good, whether it comes from wired / wireless / CD / iPod / phone speaker / any other device or a person singing in person… All these does not Really matter

Like @Chiquinho said… Ear is the weakest link and is the decider what sounds good or not.

[Alejandro_Rubalcaba]

I believe it’s situational, as someone mentioned above music definitely sounds better when listened to via tubes and amps. In most cases however we are on the go, whether it be a road trip or a workout there’s no possible way to carry heavy equipment around(which might put gyms out of business if you think about it). I still listen to records at home and enjoy a nice cold brew, most days I am on the run and convenience takes the throne.

[k_pug2003]

I remember when I was younger my older brother and sister used to listen to vinyl all the time. And although we didn’t have the most expensive amp/speaker system it sounded amazing. But, I think that technology has improved and keeps adding new depths of sounds.

As to how I like to listen to music, well it used to be laying down in a pitch black room and just chilling out - full immersed in the music. But with changes in my life last few years that’s not been possible so it’s now been replaced with the shower

Can’t beat taking that extra long shower cus you have to sing along to the current banger

[TaborTech]

I think there is always a struggle between quality and convenience. I might get a better quality coffee by spending more time in the brewing process and using a really expensive machine… but I choose to use a Keurig and have it in my hands in 30 seconds.

Those that are going for quality will invest in the more expensive computers, sound files, and will probably want a hard line connection to ensure that nothing prevents them from their sound.

However, those that want convenience aren’t necessarily craving high quality sound. They want something that makes their workout easier, or drowns out the sound of their annoying co-worker!

To see a product that chooses to do both quality AND convenience (such as the Liberty Pro 2) is a breakthrough in the audio industry because you are not having to choose between the two.

[jercox]

Having both is nice. But if I listen to streaming pandora while on a walk through these, I will still be hearing somewhat mediocre sound. Not because the slasher are bad, just because I am doing it in a hard environment for quality listening.

[Chiquinho]

I might get a better quality coffee by spending more time in the brewing process and using a really expensive machine…

Solution: The Neanderthalean method
Go back to the roots:
NO machines, those got broken and need service!
Better to invest the cost to good roasted coffee.

use such a simple filter with a paper bag.

Its more than a celebration to create coffee that way.