comabereni
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2004
- Posts
- 1,024
- Likes
- 10
I think it would be highly useful if either this site or some individual members could establish a database of music "test" files (from music in the public domain, obviously), that we could all have access to.
I see several key benefits:
1) We would have standard reference material available to hold meaningful discussions and draw meaningful conclusions about our own gear--i.e. if one member says a musical passage sounds "tinny" or "colored" with his cans, amp, sound card, or whatever, we can listen to the exact same music and see if we experience the same.
2) We could upload versions of songs in the various available file formats and ripped using different applications, and compare the sound quality between formats (I have some "bottom-feeding" 192k WMA files ripped with WMP10 I'm really interested to have others listen to and compare with lossless WAV versions to tell me if their gear, or ears, permit them to hear a difference--I cannot).
3) As the database of reviews grew large enough, we would be able make more informed decisions about planned upgrades based on experiences of other members using specific music samples we were already familiar with. For example, if you upgraded from amp A to amp B and could hear appreciable differences between the two after listening to Song 1 and Song 2, then others would better know what to expect and if the upgrade was worthwhile.
4) We might eventually begin to establish a concensus on several of the points above, as well generating some lively discussion, to be sure, on what is truly audible and what is imaginary.
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I don't personally have the storage space or I'd initiate this myself. One of my potential WAV test files is 26MB compared with the 3.6MB WMA version, so whoever might be interested in heading up a project like this will need to have some web space available.
I also don't really see a need for hundreds of music files for this to be a useful project--perhaps a handful of files (chosen by a moderator) for each of maybe 10 or so different music genres.
Anyone else think this is a good idea? Anyone interested in getting it started? Any other useful suggestions to make it work better?
To be honest, I expect my suggestion here to be criticized as being either too resource-hungry, too legally challenging (copyright issues), or too ambitious. And perhaps many of us would rather not have our perceptions challenged by others with the same reference material readily at hand.
Finally, I'm pretty good at making purchase decisions sight-unseen, but it takes a LOT of research. I thought a project like this might help shorten that process for many, including myself. It's all in the spirit of determining what is factual so we Head-Fi'ers could make better decisions about everything from our source to our phones to our ears.
I see several key benefits:
1) We would have standard reference material available to hold meaningful discussions and draw meaningful conclusions about our own gear--i.e. if one member says a musical passage sounds "tinny" or "colored" with his cans, amp, sound card, or whatever, we can listen to the exact same music and see if we experience the same.
2) We could upload versions of songs in the various available file formats and ripped using different applications, and compare the sound quality between formats (I have some "bottom-feeding" 192k WMA files ripped with WMP10 I'm really interested to have others listen to and compare with lossless WAV versions to tell me if their gear, or ears, permit them to hear a difference--I cannot).
3) As the database of reviews grew large enough, we would be able make more informed decisions about planned upgrades based on experiences of other members using specific music samples we were already familiar with. For example, if you upgraded from amp A to amp B and could hear appreciable differences between the two after listening to Song 1 and Song 2, then others would better know what to expect and if the upgrade was worthwhile.
4) We might eventually begin to establish a concensus on several of the points above, as well generating some lively discussion, to be sure, on what is truly audible and what is imaginary.
_____________________________________
I don't personally have the storage space or I'd initiate this myself. One of my potential WAV test files is 26MB compared with the 3.6MB WMA version, so whoever might be interested in heading up a project like this will need to have some web space available.
I also don't really see a need for hundreds of music files for this to be a useful project--perhaps a handful of files (chosen by a moderator) for each of maybe 10 or so different music genres.
Anyone else think this is a good idea? Anyone interested in getting it started? Any other useful suggestions to make it work better?
To be honest, I expect my suggestion here to be criticized as being either too resource-hungry, too legally challenging (copyright issues), or too ambitious. And perhaps many of us would rather not have our perceptions challenged by others with the same reference material readily at hand.
Finally, I'm pretty good at making purchase decisions sight-unseen, but it takes a LOT of research. I thought a project like this might help shorten that process for many, including myself. It's all in the spirit of determining what is factual so we Head-Fi'ers could make better decisions about everything from our source to our phones to our ears.
