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August 17, 2006
I've finally given up trying to play free internet music through my stereo system. The two systems are incompatible. Diigitial media is digitial media is digital media. Accepting that the PC is becoming an entertainment source on its own I finally went and bought some of Logitech's small Z-4 speakers. (The Bose Companion 3 multimedia speaker system was expensive, whilst Bang and Olufsen's designy Beolab4 were way outside my budget and not justifiable. I have no idea what their Beoport is).
I guessed these Logitech speakers would give me a reasonable sound when I used the computer to listen to music files on the internet. So now I have okay speakers ), ADSL2+ and speeds of around 16 megabits per second. How does this modest entry into the digital media world stack up?
I tried things out by listening to the House of Representatives online. Though the sound was much improved the image quality was still awful. Dreadful. So how do you improve the image quality of a live video feed? With really fast broadband? Do we need speeds of 50 megabits a second?
I then tried the system out with a drums space jam--the name for the Grateful Dead's exploratory and improvisational pieces---from their Hallowen (October 31) 1991 show at Oakland Colesium. The music file is available on the fabulous nugs. network. The sound on the speakers holds up pretty well for a live concert.
Susana Millman, Grateful Dead, The Greek Theatre, 2005
Suprisingly the music also holds up: that mixture of the tight and the shambolic that rendered the music responsive and interactive is still there. It's a big stadium/arena sound ---very similar to Dozin' at the Knick ---in which the keyboards play a significant role.
I'm not sure who the keyboardist is in the October 31 show at Oakland Colesium, as the band had a reliable propensity for killing off keyboard players in a kind of ritual sacrifice. I think it must have been Bruce Hornsby and/or Vince Welnick, as Brent Mydland, the bluesy organist, died in 1990, whilst Vince Welnick became the lone keyboard player in 1992. I reckon it is Honsby throwing in the quick sharp piano runs whilst Wellnick is providing background coloring.
The show ends with Werewolves of London
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ADSL+2 is available at my exchange estimated to be 1k away. I can get it for the same price $49 I pay now for ADSL. But I have been with my current ISP 3 years now and have a few of their email addresses (business has its own domain and hosting of bus. email and web isn't with ISP)I am out of contract with them so I am free to do as I please - on a monthly pay.
Trouble is I would have to cease my current ISP, then wait perhaps a week or more to change to ADSL+2 on new ISP and I'd have to lock in for 2 years to ADSL+2.
So I'm waiting until there can be swifter more sensible hand overs, hopefully more different companies DSLAMS at my exchange.