This article investigates two current incarnations of ‘lo-fi’ music and questions the extent to which these subgenres are actually low in fidelity. In essence, mainstream ‘hi-fi’ productions use similar effects, such as filtering to sound like a radio or adding noise to sound like a vinyl record. To understand lo-fi today, this article explores music by a lo-fi hip-hop producer and a lo-fi ambient producer, drawing upon the analytical methods of Alan Moore and Dennis Smalley. First to be discussed is Glimlip, one of the many anonymous producers behind the popular Lofi Girl YouTube streams. The next discussed is Amulets, an ambient musician known for using hacked and looped cassette tapes. Analyses of their music demonstrate a level of care in production that goes against the idea that lo-fi is primitive or naive.

本文调查了当前两种“低保真”音乐的化身，并质疑这些子流派实际上保真度低的程度。从本质上讲，主流的“高保真”制作使用类似的效果，例如过滤听起来像收音机或添加噪音以听起来像黑胶唱片。为了了解当今的 lo-fi，本文探讨了 lo-fi 嘻哈制作人和 lo-fi 环境制作人的音乐，借鉴了 Alan Moore 和 Dennis Smalley 的分析方法。首先要讨论的是 Glimlip，它是流行的 Lofi Girl YouTube 流背后的众多匿名制作人之一。接下来讨论的是 Amulets，一位以使用破解和循环磁带而闻名的环境音乐家。对他们音乐的分析表明，他们在制作过程中的谨慎程度与 lo-fi 是原始或幼稚的想法背道而驰。