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Originally Posted by Jahn 
Cool read! Leonard hit it on the spot...
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Agreed! His article is also the Guest Editorial for the May edition of the Review Magazine. FYI, this is the FIRST TIME we ever had a guest editorial in the 6+ years of the Enjoy the Music.com Review Magazine's existence! Leonard is indeed a great writer with a very keen sense of grasping audio, happenings, and the world in general. He is a gifted man in many ways and am honored to have him aboard.
The funny thing is, had this whole portable audio phase about 20 years ago, when the super small Sony D-88 portable 3-inch (and 5-inch) CD player was brand new! Perhaps that explains why the guys at the Boston meet called my humble collection <cough>interesting<cough>. Still have the bright yellow waterproof Sony FM tuner (with arm band) and many other things from the Big 80's

The recent uptic, largely due to the iPod and the Internet, is a two-sided coin. On one side we have great portability of our collection, on the other we have the proliferation of really horrible, compressed audio (iTunes, mp3, etc). It is a huge step BACKWARDS in mainstream audio quality not seen since perhaps the 8-track tape. My fears are that 128kbs will become a long-term standard, and while 256kbs is better, it is still a far cry from lossless such as that sold by MusicGiants or, of course, ripping your CDs.
What many people also need to realize is that the CD is the product of LOSSY COMPRESSION since 1983 or so. Studio mater tapes [analog and digital (DDD)], have been 20+ bits and 48kHz or better for decades, yet the mass appeal of iTune and other online sites is taking music quality BACKWARDS in a VERY big way. This is a very sad fact.
My apologies for the long post, guess there was much to be said and, to my defence, have been sniffing Water Wetter as had to change out one of my track car's radiators today.