Comments on: Farewell to the CD http://www.itwriting.com/blog Tech writing blog Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:28:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Uncle Bob http://www.itwriting.com/blog/articles/farewell-to-the-cd/comment-page-1#comment-157117 Uncle Bob Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:19:54 +0000 http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?page_id=2062#comment-157117 Would someone comment on the relative merits of the high end music servers: Sooloos, Request, Eschient? Would someone comment on the relative merits of the high end music servers: Sooloos, Request, Eschient?

]]> By: tp http://www.itwriting.com/blog/articles/farewell-to-the-cd/comment-page-1#comment-157116 tp Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:19:36 +0000 http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?page_id=2062#comment-157116 interesting article. The question of where music distribution is headed is an important one for everyone in the business. Whether or not the average listener can notice the difference between the low-cal mp3, 16 bit 41k, 24 bit 96k, or 192k even, are the questions. Honestly, I do not think there is a mass market for high quality audio in this free trade era other than us 3 or so music nerds that want to buy an album to support a writer/musician. I honestly cannot tell the difference between 196k Pro Tools HD from 96k but what do I know. interesting article.
The question of where music distribution is headed is an important one for
everyone in the business. Whether or not the average listener can notice the difference between the low-cal mp3, 16 bit 41k, 24 bit 96k, or 192k even, are the questions. Honestly, I do not think there is a mass market for high quality audio in this free trade era other than us 3 or so music nerds that want to buy an album to support a writer/musician.
I honestly cannot tell the difference between 196k Pro Tools HD from 96k but what do I know.

]]> By: Keith http://www.itwriting.com/blog/articles/farewell-to-the-cd/comment-page-1#comment-157115 Keith Wed, 01 Mar 2006 18:19:19 +0000 http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?page_id=2062#comment-157115 The music that is missing in MP3, WMA etc, is even audible to deaf dads. Music is the ultimate life force and whether live, AM, FM, MP3, CD, LP, SACD, DVD-audio; we all rock to it... but I look forward to SACD, and DVD-audio or any sonic improvement when it arrives in our home. But downloads on the internet of MP3 or WMA is not hi-fi, but low-fi, and if general public can not hear the difference we have failed to inspire ourselves, our friends, our children to excel and want something better; higher quality. I want the music the kind they promised for just wanting better sound. Yes I want it all, I will listent to MP3s as I run, the quality is okay because I am breathing, running, noise is all around; or on a aircraft,,, but in my quite home I want to be there, in the band, I want to hear as close as it really was, not the cheap head set transfer function of reality; I want transparent, clear, closer to real. Never can get there but SACD and DVD-audio may just be closer, what can we do to make it better? I agree in part (with download idea), I have almost bought an MP3 for 99 cents, but it was not hi resoulution, why would I want something less than I can buy used on a CD which is better. Usually in the engineering busines things are better by an order of magnitude, 10 times better is what engineers strive for (yes, download is 10 times better for getting it, now when will it be 24 bit, 196k music, when, ask them when you can but a song full resolution for a buck, ASK them when will the sonics be 10 times better than a CD, WHEN). Why would you stive for something less? The music that is missing in MP3, WMA etc, is even audible to deaf dads. Music is the ultimate life force and whether live, AM, FM, MP3, CD, LP, SACD, DVD-audio; we all rock to it… but I look forward to SACD, and DVD-audio or any sonic improvement when it arrives in our home. But downloads on the internet of MP3 or WMA is not hi-fi, but low-fi, and if general public can not hear the difference we have failed to inspire ourselves, our friends, our children to excel and want something better; higher quality. I want the music the kind they promised for just wanting better sound. Yes I want it all, I will listent to MP3s as I run, the quality is okay because I am breathing, running, noise is all around; or on a aircraft,,, but in my quite home I want to be there, in the band, I want to hear as close as it really was, not the cheap head set transfer function of reality; I want transparent, clear, closer to real. Never can get there but SACD and DVD-audio may just be closer, what can we do to make it better? I agree in part (with download idea), I have almost bought an MP3 for 99 cents, but it was not hi resoulution, why would I want something less than I can buy used on a CD which is better. Usually in the engineering busines things are better by an order of magnitude, 10 times better is what engineers strive for (yes, download is 10 times better for getting it, now when will it be 24 bit, 196k music, when, ask them when you can but a song full resolution for a buck, ASK them when will the sonics be 10 times better than a CD, WHEN). Why would you stive for something less?

]]> By: Ian Morrison http://www.itwriting.com/blog/articles/farewell-to-the-cd/comment-page-1#comment-157114 Ian Morrison Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:18:55 +0000 http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?page_id=2062#comment-157114 Hi Mike Perhaps you can explain something that puzzles me. Back in the LP era we used to pay huge attention to coaxing out the best possible sound via turntable>stylus>cartridge>cable>amp>cable>speaker etc. Similarly, CD player quality can greatly influence sound quality. But my computer just (presumably) dumps the misic data straight into the amp. So we're losing all the intermediate enhancement, aren't we, when we play straight from hard disk? Hi Mike
Perhaps you can explain something that puzzles me.

Back in the LP era we used to pay huge attention to coaxing out the best possible sound via turntable>stylus>cartridge>cable>amp>cable>speaker etc.

Similarly, CD player quality can greatly influence sound quality. But my computer just (presumably) dumps the misic data straight into the amp.

So we’re losing all the intermediate enhancement, aren’t we, when we play straight from hard disk?

]]> By: Tim Anderson http://www.itwriting.com/blog/articles/farewell-to-the-cd/comment-page-1#comment-157113 Tim Anderson Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:18:26 +0000 http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?page_id=2062#comment-157113 Mike, How did you conduct your comparison? The problem is that you need to have identical source material and mastering as far as is possible as well as perfectly matched volume levels and this is hard to achieve at home. Even comparing the CD layer with the SACD layer on dual discs is inadequate since there are known to be mastering differences on such discs - typically, additional compression added to the CD layer. Further, there have been double-blind studies which claim to prove that CD is audibly transparent - ie. that listeners cannot tell the difference between the original source and the CD. This kind of 3-way test would be a particularly interesting one to conduct. If you have convincing references for such a test, I would be very interested. DVD supports many different levels of sound quality, so you need to specify which DVD format you are referring to. Tim Mike,

How did you conduct your comparison? The problem is that you need to have identical source material and mastering as far as is possible as well as perfectly matched volume levels and this is hard to achieve at home. Even comparing the CD layer with the SACD layer on dual discs is inadequate since there are known to be mastering differences on such discs – typically, additional compression added to the CD layer. Further, there have been double-blind studies which claim to prove that CD is audibly transparent – ie. that listeners cannot tell the difference between the original source and the CD. This kind of 3-way test would be a particularly interesting one to conduct. If you have convincing references for such a test, I would be very interested.

DVD supports many different levels of sound quality, so you need to specify which DVD format you are referring to.

Tim

]]> By: Mike http://www.itwriting.com/blog/articles/farewell-to-the-cd/comment-page-1#comment-157112 Mike Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:18:00 +0000 http://www.itwriting.com/blog/?page_id=2062#comment-157112 There is no doubt SACD and DVD-Audio discs sound better than CDs. If you don't know, either you haven't made the comparison or you don't have a good sound system. After hearing the difference, CDs sound really bad. BTW, DVDs don't have crappy sound like CDs. They are a high resolution format, too. There is no doubt SACD and DVD-Audio discs sound better than CDs. If you don’t know, either you haven’t made the comparison or you don’t have a good sound system. After hearing the difference, CDs sound really bad. BTW, DVDs don’t have crappy sound like CDs. They are a high resolution format, too.

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