Interesting article - read it here
Fascinating and (to me) discomforting at the same time. Are we getting to the point where we will “commoditize” great sound? Or should we be finding ways of making the true experience more available to more people? Maybe both?
Absolutely discomforting. I have precisely this reaction as well.
I love the restaurant example and wish more public spaces employed such techniques.
But for music reproduction it is a scary concept. I want to hear the space as the space that it is, good and bad.
I also admit I do not trust reproduction technology; no system is so good from microphone to speaker to truly capture the sound of acoustic instruments. This goes for ambiance retrieval as much as for the basic sound of the instrument itself.
But still, really cool!
Ironically, it occurred to me after I posted that (if one were to keep traveling down the path I suggested) even high end audio and the recordings themselves are ways of “commoditizing” great sound. So will the future just find a new way to draw this line?
An insightful observation. I had not thought of this, perhaps because I am so comfortable with buying recordings. 