A beyond-cool look at the world of high-end audio design for passionate collectors, obsessive audiophiles, and design fans At a time when sales of vinyl records have hit a 25-year high, and analog technologies are providing the kind of extraordinary audio experiences that our increasingly digital world has started to remove, Hi-Fi is essential reading. This unique book explores just how, when, and why the world fell in love with the look, feel, and sound of top-of-the-line audio equipment. Hi-Fi traces this fascinating evolution from the 1950s to today (and tomorrow), taking readers right up to the current renaissance of all things analog and the emergence of cutting-edge designs for die-hard audiophiles.

The Absolute Sound's Illustrated History of High-End Audio documents the history of the high-end audio industry in a series of three graphic-rich coffee-table books. Volume One: Loudspeakers presents the development of high-performance loudspeakers from the earliest experiments to today's high-tech designs. The book includes new interviews with the founders of now iconic loudspeaker manufacturers who recount their companies' histories and evolution from garage-based experiments to global leaders in the high-end speaker industry. Lavishly illustrated with many never-before-seen archival photos, The Absolute Sound's Illustrated History of High-End Audio showcases the key technological developments, landmark designs, and revolutionary technologies that transformed the first primitive loudspeakers into today's modern high-end industry. The Absolute Sound's Illustrated History of High-End Audio is written by the editorial staff of The Absolute Sound. Founded in 1973, The Absolute Sound is the world's most respected magazine covering high-end audio. Many of the book's contributors have been writing about high-end audio for decades, and bring their unique experience and insight to documenting high-performance audio's rich legacy.

In 12 fact-filled chapters--covering everything from stereo to multichannel music to home theater--discover how to choose the best components for the money, how to match components fore the best sound, and how to set up and fine-tune a system for maximum performance.

In 1915, Thomas Edison proclaimed that he could record a live performance and reproduce it perfectly, shocking audiences who found themselves unable to tell whether what they were hearing was an Edison Diamond Disc or a flesh-and-blood musician. Today, the equation is reversed. Whereas Edison proposed that a real performance could be rebuilt with absolute perfection, Pro Tools and digital samplers now allow musicians and engineers to create the illusion of performances that never were. In between lies a century of sonic exploration into the balance between the real and the represented. Tracing the contours of this history, Greg Milner takes us through the major breakthroughs and glorious failures in the art and science of recording. An American soldier monitoring Nazi radio transmissions stumbles onto the open yet revolutionary secret of magnetic tape. Japanese and Dutch researchers build a first-generation digital audio format and watch as their "compact disc" is marketed by the music industry as the second coming of Edison yet derided as heretical by analog loyalists. The music world becomes addicted to volume in the nineties and fights a self-defeating "loudness war" to get its fix. From Les Paul to Phil Spector to King Tubby, from vinyl to pirated CDs to iPods, Milner's Perfecting Sound Forever pulls apart musical history to answer a crucial question: Should a recording document reality as faithfully as possible, or should it improve upon or somehow transcend the music it records? The answers he uncovers will change the very way we think about music.

Suitable for both male and female beginners, this step-by-step guide takes you through the basics, from how to stand and breathe correctly to singing your first song.In this great three-part hybrid book you get:- Course book and music- A look and learn course that uses clear diagrams and photographs to illustrate every step of learning.- Practical advice and tips covering everything you need to know about posture, breathing and performing- Vocal exercises that promote breath control, good tine, resonance and most importantly, safe singing- Ten well-known songs for you to learn- A First Vocal Exercises pull-out chart to guide you through your first weeks- Two Audio CDs- Male and female demonstrations and backing tracks for all exercises and songs- Free Internet Downloads!- Downloadable backing tracks and scores for all songs in alternative keys to suit your voice

(Yamaha Products). Sound reinforcement is the use of audio amplification systems. This book is the first and only book of its kind to cover all aspects of designing and using such systems for public address and musical performance. The book features information on both the audio theory involved and the practical applications of that theory, explaining everything from microphones to loudspeakers. This revised edition features almost 40 new pages and is even easier to follow with the addition of an index and a simplified page and chapter numbering system. New topics covered include: MIDI, Synchronization, and an Appendix on Logarithms. 416 Pages.

The Audio Dictionary is a comprehensive resource, including historical, obsolete, and obscure as well as contemporary terms relating to diverse aspects of audio such as film and TV sound, recording, Hi-Fi, and acoustics. The Third Edition includes four hundred new entries, such as AAC (advanced audio coding), lip synch, metadata, MP3, and satellite radio. Every term from previous editions has been reconsidered and often rewritten. Guest entries are by Dennis Bohn, cofounder and head of research and development at Rane Corporation, and film sound expert Larry Blake, whose credits include Erin Brockovich and Ocean's Eleven. The appendixes--tutorials that gather a lifetime's worth of experience in acoustics--include both new and greatly expanded articles.

Neil Young took on the music industry so that fans could hear his music—all music—the way it was meant to be heard. Today, most of the music we hear is com-pressed to a fraction of its original sound,while analog masterpieces are turning to dustin record company vaults. As these record-ings disappear, music fans aren't just losing acollection of notes. We're losing spaciousness,breadth of the sound field, and the ability tohear and feel a ping of a triangle or a pluckof a guitar string, each with its own reso-nance and harmonics that slowly trail off intosilence. The result is music that is robbed of its original quality—muddy and flat in sound compared to the rich, warm sound artists hear in the studio. It doesn't have to be this way, but the record and technology companies have incorrectly assumed that most listeners are satisfied with these low-quality tracks. Neil Young is challenging the assault on audio quality—and working to free music lovers from the flat and lifeless status quo. To Feel the Music is the true story of his questto bring high-quality audio back to musiclovers—the most important undertaking ofhis career. It's an unprecedented look insidethe successes and setbacks of creating thePono player, the fights and negotiationswith record companies to preserve master-pieces for the future, and Neil's unrelentingdetermination to make musical art availableto everyone. It's a story that shows how muchmore there is to music than meets the ear. Neil's efforts to bring quality audio to his fans garnered media attention when his Kickstarter campaign for his Pono player—a revolutionary music player that would combine the highest quality possible with the portability, simplicity and affordability modern listeners crave—became the third-most successful Kickstarter campaign in the website's history. It had raised more than $6M in pledges in 40 days. Encouraged by the enthusiastic response, Neil still had a long road ahead, and his Pono music player would not have the commercial success he'd imagined. But he remained committed to his mission, and faced with the rise of streaming services that used even lower quality audio, he was determined to rise to the challenge. An eye-opening read for all fans of Neil Young and all fans of great music, as well as readers interesting in going behind the scenes of product creation, To Feel the Music has an inspiring story at its heart: One determined artist with a groundbreaking vision and the absolute refusal to give up, despite setbacks, naysayers, and skeptics.