Help, Part 3

I have a very simple answer to the question "What is Audio" and I believe my simple answer quickly refutes those stubborn audio objectivists like Peter Aczel and Floyd Toole who say that "Audio is Engineering, Music is Art."

Fun.

Audio is not just music reproduction  Audio is fun, and fun is the ultimate principle that it's all about!

And so of course it is true.  Audio is a hobby that audiophiles passionately follow, and just like all other hobbies, it's ultimately about having fun.

Then I suppose it could be argued that professional audio is different, professional audio is the engineering which serves the creation and reproduction of music.

But even there, and especially for Audio, if your job isn't fun, as many say, you should get another job!  (With the slight disclaimer nowadays, "if you can.")

I'm glad we've gotten that straightened out.

The creation of fun is not something that can be engineered, though the relevant engineering should applied where it needs to be, or it's not going to be fun very long, if at all.

But indeed it does help that we have Entertainers like Nelson Pass*, one of the more fun people in Audio.  He's a very good engineer also, it's easy to see.

(*Pass described himself as Entertainer in a recent Stereophile Interview.)