The RIAA is the "Recording Industry Association of America"...an organization of, by, and for record companies.
They have done some good things in the past. There used to be a zillion different equalization curves used for phonograph records. If you work in a radio station, there probably are still some old phono preamps with a bunch of eq curves and a rotary switch to choose among them lying around with the old gear. The RIAA brought us a standardized equalization durve...a cut of bass (which reduces groove width, allowing for longer playing times) during recording, and a boost of highs. During playback a reciprocal boost of bass (restoring tonal balance) and highs (restoring tonal balance AND reducing noise) are applied.
Recounting...the benefits from the RIAA equalization curve are:
1)-Longer playing time
2)-Lower noise
3)-A single standard, so people don't have to constantly worry if they're hearing the record the way it was intended to be heard.
So the RIAA eq curve was a good thing. But that was forty+ years ago. Have they done anything else worthwhile for the record buying public...EVER?
