The Digital Audio Music List: A Critical Guide to Listening by Howard W. Ferstler. Computer Music and Digital Audio Series, vol. 15. A-R Editions, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, 1999. Paperback, vii + 463 pp. ISBN 0-89579-438-1. $29.95.

The Digital Audio Music List: A Critical Guide to Listening by Howard W. Ferstler. Computer Music and Digital Audio Series, vol. 15. A-R Editions, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, 1999. Paperback, vii + 463 pp. ISBN 0-89579-438-1. $29.95

The title of this book is partially misleading. There simply is no music list per se in this book; indeed, the subject of music is virtually never discussed. If you want to read about music, you will have to look elsewhere. However, the second half of the title is more to the point, as this book really does provide "a critical guide to listening." Note carefully that the phrase is not, as you might expect, "a guide to critical listening." At first, I thought this title phrase was put this way by an editor not paying much at tention to what it really said. However, after digging into this tome, I am now convinced that the phrasing was deliberate. The book really is more a critical guide to listening than it is a guide to critical listening; i.e., the book does not really try to teach the reader how to listen critically, it instead offers a variety of critical observations about recordings, playback systems, audio publications, and a number of other topics.

Indeed, this ambitious book tries to do many things at once. Primarily, it attempts to provide recording reviews that focus on the technical aspects of the recording as a recording. In his introduction, Howard Ferstler points out that although there are many available sources of reviews that talk about recordings, "the people who write them often fail to mention whether a recording's technical quality is bad, good, or even decent. Anyone who routinely reads music, record review, or hobby audio magazines knows what I mean (my column in The $ensible Sound being one notable exception, of course.)"

Hmmm. Although it is true that there are many recording reviews that do not say much about recording quality, it is not as though there are not any sources of such reviews. For decades, in fact, audiophiles have looked to magazines such as The Abso!ute Sound, Stereophile, and The $ensible Sound to read reviews that cover not just musical considerations, but also sonic ones. Alas, magazines such as High Fidelity and Stereo Review are now defunct, but they used to mention sound quality. Audio does not talk about sound quality -- or review as many recordings -- to the degree that it once did. Even music-oriented journals such as American Record Guide and Fanfare tend to make some mention of sound quality (although many times I am baffled by their pronouncements, and wonder what kind of audio systems these folks must employ). So, what on earth is Howard Ferstler talking about? Let's dig a little deeper ...

Readers familiar with his Scoping Software column in this magazine will already have an idea of Howard's approach to reviewing recordings. He really does focus almost exclusively on the technical aspects of the recording, and in that sense, there really are very few -- if any -- reviews out there that do the same thing. Another unique feature of Howard's reviews of recordings is that they systematically consider the question of how the recordings sound when played not only in two-channel stereo, but in when played back through Dolby Pro Logic systems; moreover, Howard often includes a further discussion of how well the recording responded to other surround and ambience techniques provided by hardware such as the Lexicon and Yamaha processors. Again, this is not the kind of thing that a reader would encounter in very many recording reviews.

Whether that approach is a useful one is the primary question that the prospective purchaser of The Digital Audio Music List will have to answer for him- or herself when deciding whether to purchase this book. Some prospective readers will relish the technical detail that the reviews provides, while others will find it extremely offputting to read recording reviews that completely ignore questions of musical aesthetics. Likewise, as surround-sound systems become more prevalent, some readers will be quite eager to learn about how recordings will sound when played through such hardware, while other readers will not really care.

As I mentioned above, this is an ambitious book, and it provides more than reviews of recordings. There are discussions of recording techniques, system and room setup, surround technologies, shopping tips, test and sampler recordings, and the audio press. (Readers who are familiar with Howard's Skeptimania column will have an idea of what to expect in these sections of the book.) There are a glossary of audio terms and an extensive audio bibliography. There are even discussions of Howard's sound systems and rooms, complete with a picture of one of his beloved Allison IC-20 speakers.

Overall, there is a lot of good, useful material in this book; however, this book would have benefited greatly from some judicious editing. For example, one of the appendices is titled "Late Discoveries," and it presents more reviews that really should have been incorporated into the main body of the book. There is also a lot of repetition of ideas that could have been combed out, making the book a smoother read.

A quick test that will help you decide whether or not to consider purchasing this book would be to read several of Howard Ferstler's Scoping Software columns. If Howard's unique approach to reviewing recordings is an approach that you enjoy, then you are going to really enjoy The Digital Music List, which contains hundreds of reviews written in the same style. If, on the other hand, you find the lack of discussion of musical and aesthetic considerations to be a real stumbling block, then this will not be the book for you.--KWN