Sim Lim Square Findings (12/01/2001)

Dear Readers,

This afternoon Joe was rather upset when he passed me a printed e-mail. It was from one of the most active member in Echoloft (1388 as well!), Mr. Aw Hong Wee. I thought what happened. Later, I learned that Hong Wee’s sharp eye has discovered a silly mistake in one of my old article ‘In Search of the Ultimate Pre-amp’. There was actually a vulgar word in it, that escaped the spell checker and our repeated reading. I quickly phoned Hong Wee and thanked him! I corrected the mistake as well. I apologize to all for the mistake! Hope you took it as a good laugh and was not offended.

We will ensure that 1388.com provides quality articles both in terms of content and presentation.

Nevertheless, to err is human. If you do see some mistake or any problems, please kindly let us know. We appreciate your kind help and support very much! Thank you again, Hong Wee!

This afternoon myself and two staff went to Sim Lim Square, the reason being we needed to pick up some software, and also needed to know what is happening in the PC market. As usual, Sim Lim Square was always packed and full of people. Students, salesmen, tourists, or any public Joe packed the place looking for computing equipment. I know many people suffered from ‘Sim Lim Syndrome’ since 1994. They would feel very uneasy and panicky until they visited Sim Lim Square to check if there were any new computer hardware or any release of new pirated CD software. However, since the police removed all pirated software syndicate in Sim Lim, many people stopped going to Sim Lim Square. (I am one of them :) )

Actually, when Joe first came to Singapore, he set up a Hi Fi shop in Sim Lim Square! It was situated at the basement level. I used to visit him whenever possible, because his Hi Fi shop was the only place that could demonstrate an almost lifelike sound stage! Also, he welcomed even a student like him and bought me tea or coffee! Where to find this type of service on earth nowadays?

But Sim Lim now is more focused on computer related products. We all know that the prices of computer parts changes rapidly, and once every few months, or even weeks, the price of the computer could be halved! In Sim Lim Square, they even have sign boards that show the price fluctuations of the components. Mind you, the prices could change in days or even in hours.

I had been upgrading my computer for decades. From the IBM XT, then to a NEC XT super chip, 486, 486DX2-66, DX2-120, Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium II, and now finally I settle on a Pentium III 600. To me, computer is more for work, like keeping files and writing articles. Sometimes I do some high quality images for photography which is my hobby. I do not play games any more, so I do not need a really expensive graphics card and a fast CPU.

Despite the rapid change in computer processing power, and the rapid advances in video graphics processing technology, I am very amazed that ‘AUDIO IS STILL THE SAME THING’ for ages. Yesterday, the news read that USA is now relaxing their control on exports of Super Computers to category 3 countries such as China. In Singapore we have a super computer in Science Park (Institute of High Performance Computing) which is a Sun E10000. I used to crunch numbers on it and the speed was wonderful. I think now they will buy even better computers from Sun or Cray! Why is audio never getting better like CPU processing speed?

In 1980, CD was introduced as an ‘advancement’ in audio. Actually it was going backwards in terms of quality. CD encodes data using just 16bit and 44kHz. Although it was theoretically correct using ‘Nyquist Theorem’, that the sampling frequency should be at least twice that of the frequency to be sample, 16bit and 44kHz is actually a very low resolution from our experience.

Let me borrow the analogy from Photography, it is like making a quality photograph using a 2.2million pixel CCD digital camera. We all know that digital cameras are lovely to use, but when it comes to family photograph or wedding photographs, we still would engage a professional studio to do a proper shoot.

For a normal type of 135mm photographic film, the area of the film is about 24mm X 36mm. In just 1mm X 1mm area, it could be packed with millions, if not billions of molecules! I am not good in chemistry so please correct me if I am wrong. So, if the area of 24mm X 36mm is filled with just 2.2 million, or even 6 million pixels of CCD sensors, I think the resolution is still awfully lower than that of any traditional film. Certainly, digital cameras are very much more expensive than traditional cameras. A Nikon D1 is selling for well above S$8000, which is more than enough to buy a complete Leica M6 camera outfit.

Likewise for audio. CD was a severe down grade from LP in terms of sound quality (16 bit, 44KhZ), but people were fooled by the absences of static ‘pops’ and conveniences. Today, sound quality is facing another downgrade, call MP3 . If you complain that CD sounds compressed and lack of dynamics, then you should listen to MP3. Sadly, the market is determined by the consumers’ spending pattern. I believe MP3 will very soon take up the mass market, and become part of our everyday life eventually.

I never like MP3, it is like listening to my favorite CD track through the telephone line.

I saw this MP3 player selling for S$199 in Sim Lim Square. It is really very very cheap. But, honestly, the sound quality is really nothing impressive. How would you think about it? Could you imagine one day we are not talking about CD players, but MP3 players in our home system? Yes, in today’s paper I already read that Taiwanese are producing MP3 car audio station already. God Save Our Ears! I am terrified!

MP3 players, is like a person paying no attention to quality, and paying no attention on spelling mistakes when writing. It is like just ‘anyhow’ do things, sloppy and try to get the job done with minimum effort. (Despite the technology packed into MP3 system) Well, I really do not see the point of squeezing 200 sounds into my player. I hardly ever finish two CDs on my portable Discman even though I was flying from Singapore to London. If I were to buy a portable player, I would still prefer a Japanese Discman with good sound quality. Wouldn’t you?

I was browsing in Adelphi the other day and found that for S$400+, you could buy a Project turntable. You can also buy a good Phono stage from any shop now for about S$100. For those of you who has received three months bonus this time of the year, I strongly urge you to buy a turntable immediately. You do not know what you have been missing.

Having a turntable, is something like shooting your wedding using Large Format cameras. You have something that is big, beautiful, and the quality is awesome! (Look at Ansel Adam’s photo on Yeosmite). With a turntable, you will know what is the beauty of real audio technology. Forget about the specifications, LP is the only thing that still can give life and the human touch of music.

If you find LP too troublesome, there are still many good CD players which are acceptable. The new SA CD and HDCD technology, and even our Bit88 are here to help preserve the fidelity we want to enjoy. I hope when MP3 dominates the market, LP is still around. But LP cannot survive unless we put in effort to defend it!

Happy listening!

Jon Wong