HEADPHONES by Dr. Cranium

You say headphones I say earplugs.

Ok, among the unresolved audio debates:
Analogue VS Digital
Instrumental VS song oriented material
New Music VS Old
is the fascinating debate of:
Speakers VS Phones

Ordinarily, it’s a matter of preference, money, or both…there are lots of issues at play here.
There are issues of frequency response—good speakers can have great bass response, however bad playback rooms can create unwanted low end waves bouncing endlessly around out of sync with the rest of the music. Bad phones can also limit the frequencies so that the listener is short changed.

As a rule most music is mixed on speakers with the intent to be listened to on speakers--meanwhile, along comes the new music by Elevator, producing “Headphone Music”; recorded, mixed, and mastered for people who prefer phones. These people vary from bonafide phonafiles, to people who merely want listening privacy--- want to play their music loud and whenever, especially at 3 AM.

So I sat down with Elevator’s first CD “Lobby” to put it to the test . 1st with good quality, well spaced speakers—I must say the music sounded OK on the speakers and didn’t seem altogether different…so I kept listening, found the music interesting and it mixed well with the various things I was doing, like having 2 phone calls, paying some bills, checking my e-mail.

Then I listened to “Lobby” on headphones. I have a pair of AKG K240, which are full range monitor phones. I used to own a pair of electrostatic Stax phones but one ear died and I can’t afford new ones… so completing the test I pushed the start button and felt the difference immediately …..

THE RIDE BEGAN… AS IT TOOK ME UP THE HIGH VOLTAGE ELEVATOR… UP AND UP THROUGH THE MELODIC FLOORS OF IMAGINATION SOARING SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE VAPOR TRAILS OF INFINITY WHERE OUT BECOMES IN… WHERE EMOTION BECOMES MOTION AND SELF BECOMES ALL… AND ALL BECOMES EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING BECOMES BEAUTIFUL AND BEAUTIFUL BECOMES THE RADIANT MUSIC WHICH FLASHES THE COLORS OF THE RHYTHMIC UNIVERSE.