Author Archives: The Mighty Thunderer

About The Mighty Thunderer

We write about music, audio, and technology. Like the namesake of this blog, Ludwig van Beethoven, we are hammer of polite society. We will point out the absurd and educate on the sublime...

January 9, 2007

Posted on January 9, 2017 by The Mighty Thunderer

Ten years ago today, a product was introduced that would revolutionize the way people use technology as part of their daily lives. began. I bought mine as soon as I was contractually able to do so. The iPhone has changed … Continue reading →

Posted in Macs and PCs | Leave a comment

Analog redux

Posted on October 3, 2016 by The Mighty Thunderer

In a a previous post, I mused about the new age of digital sound reproduction and how amazingly good — no, scratch that: great — DSD and Blu-ray Audio sounds. In this listener’s opinion, digital sound has finally come of … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | Leave a comment

Quo vadis, ‘analog’? Or, how I learned I’m not spending thousands on a losing proposition

Posted on February 24, 2014 by The Mighty Thunderer

Next year, 2015, I will celebrate forty years as an audiophile. I didn’t know I was an “audiophile” back in 1975 when I purchased my first “stereo” for the amount of $500—a daunting sum for an eighteen year old mail … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | 1 Comment

The Furtwängler Conumdrum

Posted on February 23, 2014 by The Mighty Thunderer

The very talented young conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic  Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel, is in a bit of hot water. His silence on the topic of the popular uprising against the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro in his home country … Continue reading →

Posted in Classical Music | Leave a comment

The Mac is dead. Long live the Mac.

Posted on September 5, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

As I reported ten days ago my old iMac died after giving me six years, eleven months and ten days of service. Notwithstanding the two hard drive crashes, and a dead SuperDrive after two years, I think I eked out … Continue reading →

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Of Macs and Men, part deux

Posted on August 25, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

Back in 2011 I experienced the second of two catastrophic hard drive crashes on my late 2006 vintage iMac. I was able to replace the hard drive and it worked until some time very early this morning after 2 AM … Continue reading →

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The Perfectly Realized Illusion: why high-end audio matters

Posted on August 20, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

One day, in the late nineteen-seventies, I visited my local high-end audio salon, Sound Components, in search of my favorite classical record magazine Gramophone. As I walked in, I was stopped in my tracks by a piano recording that was … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | 2 Comments

A (very) short introduction to Cuban Music

Posted on June 1, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

Beginning with the settlers in Cuba who came in with the second wave of colonizers, the musical life in Cuba was always rich. Cuba, as the colonizers discovered, was populated by three Indian tribes—the Siboney, the Taino, and the Guanatabey. … Continue reading →

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April 30, 1993

Posted on May 1, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

Steve Jobs created the computer that gave us the World Wide Web. CERN has given us many things in our day, most notable among them recent proof of the existence of the so-called ‘God particle’, the Higgs Boson… one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Macs and PCs | Leave a comment

An anniversary that should make most of us feel really old

Posted on March 15, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

A couple of weeks ago, an auspicious anniversary passed very quietly; nary a mention of it in the press or on technical and music blogs. I sure as hell didn’t remember it — for reasons that will be made clear … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | 1 Comment