Gates - Speech

The Decline of Higher Fidelity Sound

Gates Sweeney

            As an avid music listener, I can say that I have a nice big collection of music, and that my collection of music is in what most people would consider “high quality format.” In digital terms, that would be considered 320kbps, or in analog, a lot of money. Digital being CD’s and stored iTunes files, analog being vinyls, or records. With technology getting better every day, our accessibility to music is phenomenal. We have access to free music that is most of the time very high quality, but there is one problem. We don’t hear that quality.

            You see in our society, we are blinded from what is called “Higher Fidelity” audio. As      televisions, computers and mobile devices get better and better, companies tend to leave audio out. Now you may be thinking that companies like HP have introduced laptops and phones with “Beats Audio” inside, but the reality is “Beats by Dre” is merely a logo and a simple computer adjustment. Which in result your brain thinks “wow, this sounds really good.” Now don’t get me wrong, Beats makes very nice products that do beat many of the low end audio alternatives, but they are much overpriced. Back then, seventh grade me chose to save my money and purchase the original Beats Pros back in 2010, which set me back $400. I enjoy my Beats very much, they’re somewhat comfortable and very durable and I haven’t had any problems. There is one problem I do have with Beats though. They are convincing the public that it costs them hundreds of dollars to have access to high quality music. I’m here to tell you today that that is not the case.

            I would say that most of you have a smartphone, and with that smartphone came a pair of little earbuds. If you have an iPhone, they’re called Ear Pods. These ear pods can be very handy. They have a microphone as well as volume controls and a play/pause button. If you’re going to be making calls, these are perfect for that. If you choose to listen to music, they are okay if you have nothing else on you, but if any of you own a pair of nicer ear buds or headphones, I’m sure you can agree you’ll never plug those cheap earbuds back in again.

            So let me introduce you to a few products that will change the way you listen to your music forever. The Panasonic RP-HTX7s for example received a 4 star “excellent quality” rating on CNET reviews, while the Beats Studios got the same exact rating. The only difference that I see here is $340. The Panasonics are still very stylish and are on sale at Amzon.com for $41. A step up from the Panasonics are the Audio Technica ATH-M50x’s. These headphones are by far the best pair of headphones I have ever listened to, and they cost around $150. Still an enormous difference from the Beats.

            Now if you aren’t interested in headphones, but rather earbuds, there are many other budget options to choose from. The Panasonic RPTCM125K earbuds are said to be the greatest sounding pair of earbuds ever made. They do make earbuds for professional musicians that cost thousands of dollars believe it or not, but these Panasonic earbuds are only $15. That is so cheap that you could literally walk around your home and scrape up change and in an hour you could get yourself an amazingly sounding listening device to go with your amazing music. On the higher end of earbuds, you can get the JayBird Bluebuds X Sport. Which are wireless, yes wireless earbuds (like Mr. Logsdon’s) that have a really nice sound quality and are compatible with any sports not involving water. They go for about $150.

            Taking a step into the next level of sound quality opens new doors to instruments and vocals you’ve never picked up before in your music. You will have a greater and greater experience with your music depending on how nice your equipment is. Music was originally intended to touch your emotions and influence you. I’m sure many of you have songs for every emotion. Whether you’re sad, happy, excited or relaxed, there’s music that will suit those moods. The artist composes their music with the intent for you to hear all of it. You’re paying for so much more than the limited sounds you hear with your earbuds.

            When you lose the subtle sounds in the music you listen to, a little chunk of passion dissipates into nothing. Your music is incomplete with low end equipment. Don’t settle for less. Invest in your music and experience more.

Thank You