Fifty years from now, ....Audio?

NorthStar

NorthStar

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I just had a cold one with a friend professional musician/singer, and he asked me: "Robert, fifty years from now, where will audio be at; recordings wise, technologically wise, microphones, speakers, resolution, ...?"

I replied to him: "That is an excellent question."

So, I am asking you the same question he asked me.
 
This guy's (my friend) been there done that; 78rpm, turntables, open reels, tubes, recording studios, best mikes, etc., etc., etc.

You think he's still stuck in the past? You think he thinks that analog sounds best?
How do you really think he keeps his music in (place of residence)? ...In digital audio download files, that's where.
He's a real down-to-earth young chaps. :)

And he's got no time for complexities and all that jazz.
...Keep it simple; "I'm a painter, a live musician, an artist; got no time to clean my garage", he says.
 
I can't answer that question because 1) I don't like to speculate about audio that far out and 2) I won't be around by then anyway. With any luck I'll be residing with Aset (Isis) and company.
 
Holographic video projection along with thin film speakers lining every wall producing better sound at any SPL than Magicos TOL speakers can today. Electronics will be so small as to be invisible, or integrated into the furniture. Wireless, or equivalent, will transmit/receive at least at a rate of 1000 GB/sec, and cranial implants in the brain to receive this data. Medical science will have eliminated death by natural causes, and genetic engineering will allow us to have the bodies we want. Of course, by then The Singularity will have occurred and we will disperse throughout the universe.

And there will be another remastered Led Zeppelin release. :)
 
BlueFox said:
Holographic video projection along with thin film speakers lining every wall producing better sound at any SPL than Magicos TOL speakers can today. Electronics will be so small as to be invisible, or integrated into the furniture. Wireless, or equivalent, will transmit/receive at least at a rate of 1000 GB/sec, and cranial implants in the brain to receive this data. Medical science will have eliminated death by natural causes, and genetic engineering will allow us to have the bodies we want. Of course, by then The Singularity will have occurred and we will disperse throughout the universe.

And there will be another remastered Led Zeppelin release. :)
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Those are very plausible/interesting future developments; if by then our planet would (will?) still exist...
 
gear will float on a pillow of air , so no need for racks or resonance control.
ill be in my 90's and still testing new 300b's.
and oh yea by then i might have figured out what kind of speakers i want.
mike will have won the prize for owning and selling every pair of speakers ever made :)
bob will have 19.8 million posts.
 
Petro85 said:
gear will float on a pillow of air , so no need for racks or resonance control.
ill be in my 90's and still testing new 300b's.
and oh yea by then i might have figured out what kind of speakers i want.
mike will have won the prize for owning and selling every pair of speakers ever made :)
bob will have 19.8 million posts.
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Go Rangers Go! ...Tomorrow. :)
 
The only thing I don't see revolutionizing that easy are the speakers. You need to displace air in order to hear and feel. However we have come a long way and it is now possible to buy really good speakers for a couple of thousand Euro. So probably the speaker will be even more optimized and affordable. Also more adjusted to peoples interior design.
And everything else , like AMPS, Filters etcetera, will most likely be integrated in the loudspeakers. Music libraries will be Spotified but in a high-res form. And the big question is how do we control and present the content. I don't know. Speech? displays (transparent of course)?
But let's not fool ourselves: the developments over the next 50 years will be bigger than the last 50 years.....
 
I think people will wake up to the principles and benefits of free software, software which respects the user, so users can use the software as they wish, study the source code and change the program as they wish, distribute copies including making modifications individuals have made and have the ability to republish those versions. From this will come a plethora of new ideas not only for audio but all facets of life. The delivery of ideas will then change remarkably for the better unconstrained by proprietary owners. The Ogg and Flac file as example will totally replace Mp3 and Wav.

The present inability to transmit smell will be solved, giving new meaning to audio equipment where if you choose you can smell the venue or place the music is describing.

Audio size of equipment presently relates to living space, as population grows housing size and shared space will dictate to a degree what will sell, so headphones are sure to grow in popularity, as there will be increased respect of other users in more confined living areas. Hopefully too those people living in poorer countries can find audio and music to benefit their lives.

Electrostatic speakers will become more widely used as they will be used along walls. Quads ESL57 will be still highly regarded and re manufactured. Amplifiers will become parts of speakers
and the 90th year version of Dark Side of the Moon will include virtual tours of Abbey Road, and a limited release of band members fingernail clippings
 
NorthStar said:
Your daughter; you think she'll be into spinning old albums? ...Not more into micro chip implant with the entire world music library in it?
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Hey Bob, she does today. She even has my old Dual 721 connected to an old Marantz 2270 feeding a pair of my really old Kef 140K speakers. She like her LP's. I do know she has her eyes on my Micro. Such a techy young lady @32 after all she does have a BSIE following her old dad.
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All music will be streamed and no music files will exist or ownership of music. You will be able to enter the worlds catalog of every music file ever recorded in your car's satellite radio or smartphone etc. and play anything. People who visit live performances will be less and less. Live performance will mean online real time, not real as in physically there.

Tube amps, CDs, turntables, all will disappear except with very rare antique collectors. Everything will be digital and the future is in chip amps and whatever comes next in speaker driver technology.

Just my 2 centavos.
 
Vladimir said:
All music will be streamed and no music files will exist or ownership of music. You will be able to enter the worlds catalog of every music file ever recorded in your car's satellite radio or smartphone etc. and play anything. People who visit live performances will be less and less. Live performance will mean online real time, not real as in physically there.

Tube amps, CDs, turntables, all will disappear except with very rare antique collectors. Everything will be digital and the future is in chip amps and whatever comes next in speaker driver technology.

Just my 2 centavos.
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except with very rare antique collectors
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You know in the US they said the same thing about old muscle cars, and today it's such a good investment that the aftermarket for the novice and the collector is rich in replacement parts and restoration business. Heck even old pickup trucks are being restored and enjoyed. In 1964 50 years ago, I had TT's and tubes and here it is 50 years later and I still have a TT and tubes but I also have digital. I personally think those that enjoy audio will enjoy both vintage audio and "hi-Rez digital audio and most likely hi-rez will be in your pocket and streamed everywhere.
 
Many if not most of my records are 50-60 years old. Who says they can't live another 50-60 years additional if stored properly?

I believe in 50 years there will be far more digital focus, smaller lifestyle-footprint designs and "better" efficiency for the electronics. But, there will still remain the antique side of music reproduction (albeit a dwindling segment at that point) comprised of the gear and media we use and love today.
 
I'm guessing analog gear will be gone with the baby boomers. 50 years is a lot of time in this fast pace globalization and technology progress.

 
MikeCh said:
Many if not most of my records are 50-60 years old. Who says they can't live another 50-60 years additional if stored properly?

I believe in 50 years there will be far more digital focus, smaller lifestyle-footprint designs and "better" efficiency for the electronics. But, there will still remain the antique side of music reproduction (albeit a dwindling segment at that point) comprised of the gear and media we use and love today.
Click to expand...

98% of my records are 45 to 55 years old at this point. They and my CDs will out-live me by decades (unless the state or somebody destroys them after I'm gone, assuming anyone still exists by then).
 
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