ianmedium
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
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Any more news on this product?
I'm reading his book as well as listening to his latest album.
He writes (and sings) about mp3s only having 5% and it's clear he's comparing with the original masters.
But he also thinks CDs sound pretty bad and that not only vinyl, but also cassettes sound better than CDs. Not sure I agree with this.
http://www.mcelhearn.com/2012/02/01/neil-young-doesnt-like-digital-music-files/
Old ground that has been covered before, at least in-home, e.g. SACD and DVD-A. And who says all those masters are really that good? Garbage in...
As a grad student I did a test of bit rates with high-res audio vs. what undergrads could detect in quality terms through middle of the road stereo system. Answer was none could hear any improvement beyond 160kbps. With really good earphones (plus quality electronics) you can push that to 320kbps or so for most. But CD is 1,411kbps: 4X greater still. The marginal value that MOST listeners will get beyond 320kbps in a portable context, maybe at home too, is very dubious. iTunes purchases are 128kbps so there is some room for improvement IF you have a good reproduction chain. If the demand for great sound quality is there the David Cheskys will get much more work- TONS of room for improvement in the recording studio/venue. Bottom line: Buy CDs and rip lossless for both best sound and full support of artists. Albums are still cooler than single tracks, IMHO.
Oh, and Mikey Fremmer and Stereophile have lost any credibility they once had, twisting themselves into pretzels to deny the validity of double blind testing in order to support ad space for $1,000 cables. That goes along with the climate change deniers. I prefer to live in the world that actually exists around us.