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Portable audio dilemma (long - sorry!)

Posted by maxhifi (A) on November 24, 2005 at 14:53:11

I am looking for a solution to a problem to do with portable audio. First I will give some background information.

I would consider myself to be somewhat of an audiophile... most of the time, I listen to music on a clearaudio vinyl based system, with tannoy dual concentric speakers. I really enjoy the natural sound, and honestly I can't complain about CD reporduction through my system either, although it's not really a match for the clearaudio.

Recently, I have rediscovered portable audio, which consists of a mid priced sony cassette walkman I bought in 1990, some sony headphones, and tapes which are made on sony tape via my clearaudio, a mcintosh preamp, and a Teac cassette deck. Pre-recorded tapes seem not to compare very well with the tapes I make on my own system.

I am very happy with the quality this walkman produces. It does have some hiss, and I also can detect some wow and flutter, but the sound comes accross as very natural and crisp, and I can listen to it literally all day without a hint of fatigue. I must be the last person in the world to discover portable audio, but I have to say I really enjoy being able to listen to music at work, and when I am walking around.

I fear that the sony is approaching the end of its usable life, so I asked my wife to buy me a replacement cassette walkman as my christmas gift. She thought it was a good idea, but has decided I might be better off with an MP3 player.

At first, I said no way, and assumed that the analog sound I am getting from my walkman will be more natural... after all, I really don't understand how it's possible to get a decent quality power amplifier, etc into such a tiny device. I am also put off by the fact that MP3s involve compression, and honestly I'm not a big fan of digital sound to begin with. Add to this the fact that I am currently making tapes from vinyl (how do you make an mp3 from vinyl without a big fuss??? downloading music?? isn't it cumbersome and time consuming??), and I just don't understand how an MP3 player will be a better alternative for me. Another consideration, is that when I listen to music, I don't ever like to hear a song in isolation, I always like it in the context of its album.

Am I being a ludite with my logic? I do see MP3 players in the pocket of 50% of the people on the subway, and they appear to be very popular, so I can't just assume they have no merit... especially since I have never used one! I am asking this question in the tape forum, because I am making the assumption that people here may have faced a similar dilemma in the past... which direction would you good people advise me to go??

Thanks in advance for any advice

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