[atlantaprog] Re: The times they are a'changin'

Maybe it's my over-40 ears, but I don't hear a significant quality difference between CD tracks and PROPERLY FORMATED digital files. I have heard a bunch of thin, shrill sounding MP3s, but more times than not, whoever ripped them in the first place didn't do it properly. And another thing - I avoid using MP3 whenever possible, opting instead for Apple's AAC encoding. I think most listeners on a typical system would never be able to tell the difference between an AIFF from a CD, and AAC.

Also, I'm like Jim. I rarely listening to music in a critical listening environment these days. It's usually in the car, or in the kitchen with the ipod playing thru a boom box. I do listen a lot while I'm working at my computer, and this listening is through my studio monitors, BUT they're typically turned down so low as to render any flaws inaudible (if they were loud enough to listen properly, I'd never get any work done!)

On Dec 25, 2005, at 6:41 PM, James Combs wrote:

Convenience will always win over quality in a mass market. It used to be hip to have a cool stereo when I was young(er). It is now cool to have the smallest mp3 player/iPod. The last time I heard someone talk about high fidelity music was when I was selling hi end stuff at the end of the '80s.

Personally, I don't get enough time in my studio (where I have good monitors) and listen to more music in my car or on my iPod shuffle.
--
Jim Combs
www.touchxtone.com
www.myspace.com/touchxtone
www.myspace.com/jimcombs


On Dec 25, 2005, at 6:26 PM, Wade S wrote:

Music aficionados begin to shift their buying habits away from CDs

I don't know much about downloaded music, but the downloaded music that I have heard has been of a very poor quality. I have heard CDs of downloaded songs, listened to songs on my computer, friend's computers and friend's ipods. The quality always sounds a bit like it's under water. I hear mix CDs played over the PAs of some of the clubs that we play in and the CDs sound really bad. Friends put downloaded songs on CD for me sometimes and I just can't listen to them because the quality is so poor. Do people just not care anymore or am I missing something? I thought that everyone got rid of their LPs so that they could buy their collection again on CD because CDs sounded better (maybe it was just so that they could play them in their car). Is the quality of downloaded music always as bad as what I've heard or have I just happened to hear dozens of poorly downloaded songs? What do the rest of you think about the current quality of downloaded music?

-Wade







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