|
|
Joined:
March 2009
Posts: 715
| Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I've never bit on the idea of a good car music system. A small room made of glass with an engine running in it and lots of outside noise just doesn't seem like the place for trying to listen to quality music. The prior owner spent too much for Bose surround sound in my car, but I wouldn't.
The new owner of my old car immediately hooked up his mp3 player and that intrigues me. Changing CDs has become a hassle and I'm slowly seeing the benefits of satellite radio or mp3s. I don't get it either. But I have to say that the best sound system I have is my car stereo, because it is the only one I have (except for a CD clock radio).
Michelle |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2009
Posts: 715
| Originally posted by Waskel:
Of course it's compressed. The file is only 1/10th the size. The quality depends on the bitrate of the mp3 and the quality of the software doing the compressing. Though it is a very lossy format, cd's ripped at 320 or a variable bitrate with a high minimum can sound just as good. And there are lossless formats such as FLAC and Monkey.
Too many people just want to get as much music as they can on their mp3 players and don't seem to realize (or don't care) how much audio quality they lose when they convert their cd's to a bitrate of 96 or 128. Of course, listening to it through 4.99 earbuds they couldn't tell the difference anyway... I was just wondering if it sounded "compressed" meaning loss of instruments from the original track.
I have no idea what bitrate means, but I have noticed that people seem to want to put 300 songs in a space of say 150.
Michelle |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Sorry, I misunderstood. No, you don't lose instruments, but you lose quality of sound. "Bitrate" in digital media represents the amount of information or detail stored per unit of time of a recording, expressed in kilobits per second. A 96kb bitrate mp3 would only have half the information of an mp3 at 192kb (CD quality is around 1400kb, or 1 megabyte per minute of audio). Less information = less detail, so your ears may tell you an instrument has been removed, when actually there just isn't enough detail in the sound for you to clearly discern it.
"Brittle" is the word that comes to mind when listening to music in low bitrates. Similar to listening to a high-quality recording over AM radio. The amount of "information" transmitted is too low to represent the music in its true form.
There's also "variable bitrate", in which the encoding software attempts to raise and lower the bitrate accordingly to match the "density" of the audio in order to provide higher quality where needed. And as I said, there are also other formats (FLAC - Free Lossless Audio Codec, and Monkey Audio, among others) which are much better at compressing without losing audio quality, but are not well supported in mobile devices.
Personally when I rip to mp3 I usually use 320kb. It's a good medium between CD and crappy sound. You don't get as much space saving as 128k or 160k, but with storage media being what it is these days, who cares. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2009
Posts: 715
| Thanks, Waskel! :D
But none of this technology is going to matter if the music is crappy to begin with :) :
Michelle |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Bitrates, nitrates, phosphates. I thought Waskel was giving lawn advice again. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I've got my own lawn problems.
 |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | God Bless the NRA |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Being of British stock, the medium makes no difference to me.
"The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes."
- Thomas Beecham |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | After reading through this thread, I am shocked at how many people are comparing CD's and .mp3's.
Obviously, there is some loss in quality going from CD to .mp3 (as was pointed out... unless you decompress from .flac or one of the other lossless formats), but to most audiophiles I know (and that is fairly large number...), CD's are DEAD for all intents and purposes.
Most of the really 'serious' guys have gone back to or are re-focusing on vinyl again (usually 180 or 200 gram remasters from the original analog with NO digital reprocessing).
Personally, I really liked the CD format (except for the covers which are usually too hard for us old guys to read...), but even I have to admit the music industry shifting away from vinyl was a really stupid move. They basically shot themselves in the johnson and are finally coming to that conclusion themselves.
Now that more people are going back to vinyl (many music stores in Canada have as much vinyl or almost as much as CD's now...) including the younger crowd, hopefully the price of laser turntables will drop enough for the average person to afford one. This is the ULTIMATE audiophile listening experience!! As the laser reads from the 'shoulder' of the groove, even only fair to good vinyl sounds like brand new every time... and without the telltale compression described earlier.
Digital is great for convienience, but nothing compares to true analog audio...
Check it out... http://www.elpj.com/ |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | if you love cds then you need a good quality D to A
(digital to analog) converter I recommend the lavry but the benchmark is also very good. ONce I hooked it up to my system I though someone took the blankets off my speakers.
OK I triamp now and have an audio research tube crossover 2 tube amps driving the mids and highs a kryston 2.0 on the low end with a white eq and let's say I am always tweaking the system but I would not have it any other way. I put a cd on yesterday and the lows rumbled the foundation of the house.
I don't understand how so many people into music are not into a quality listening experience.
if your best system is in your car or in your pocket YOU HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | if you love cds then you need a good quality D to A
(digital to analog) converter I recommend the lavry but the benchmark is also very good. ONce I hooked it up to my system I though someone took the blankets off my speakers.
OK I triamp now and have an audio research tube crossover 2 tube amps driving the mids and highs a kryston 2.0 on the low end with a white eq and let's say I am always tweaking the system but I would not have it any other way. I put a cd on yesterday and the lows rumbled the foundation of the house.
I don't understand how so many people into music are not into a quality listening experience.
if your best system is in your car or in your pocket YOU HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Why would you be "shocked"? It's only been going on for about 15 years.
The LT's have been around for 20 years. Currently they sell for $12,000. Don't expect a big price drop soon. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | Any audio format can sound amazing, when listened to a good quality system and set up for maximum performance.
I have approximately 2500 cassettes sitting on the shelf here, and occassionally pop one in to remind myself how awful they were. I put one on the other day (Vangelis, the one on Deutsches Gramaphon with the crab on the cover... title escapes me...) and was shocked at how good it sounded!!
I also have the vinyl AND the CD of the same album, so just for fun I A/B/C'ed them (starting the same track and switching the channels in and out on the mixing console to compare...). The cassette which was unplayed before this was virtually indestinguishable from the CD and both sounded quite caparable to the vinyl, which sounded AWESOME!!
I have found there is little point in being a 'format snob'... there are advantages and disadvantages to everything. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Waskel, tell your elk they missed a spot.
Al, I'm not so sure that many people agree with you. They may think they are "into music" and think that they have a "quality listening experience" but it's totally different from your experience.
Someone asked me yesterday if a high end audio store could answer my question about hooking up an mp3 jack to my car stereo, but I wasn't sure if the high end store he referred to is still around anymore.
The laser turntable sounded interesting until I saw the price. My old one still works fine. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2009
Posts: 715
| Originally posted by alpep:
I don't understand how so many people into music are not into a quality listening experience.
if your best system is in your car or in your pocket YOU HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM Well, the problem is money (lack of it) and priorities.
Well, I guess it has never been that big of a deal for me. My parents never invested a lot of money into stereos, but they invested a lot of money into a "sound system" called the Thomas organ.
I guess I might be doing the same thing. Less money on an audio system and more money into something that helps me make my own sounds and help discover who I am musically.
It isn't that I don't listen to music, it's just thatI don't sit and critically listen to music long enough to justify spending a ton of money on equipment. Sad, but true.
michelle |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | The biggest impediment to a good listening experience is interruption. Kids, dogs, neighbor's dogs, kids' friends calling on the phone, etc etc.
My favorite way to listen is with a good set of headphones. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | IMHO, many people today don't listen to music... they as much as they collect it.
.
By chance I happened to see a review of the disc I'm looking for in USA Today. Funny how something can catch your eye when your radar is up for it in the first place.
Fistful Of Mercy - As I Call You Down |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I'll probably piss off all ages with this comment, but I don't think people listen to music anymore--they watch it. Even before MTV, which is now way less music and much more TV, people went to concerts where it was impossible to listen, but people went for the show, not the music. Volumes were raised above listening levels, the show had props and pyrotechnics and as Robert Plant said recently, your ears bled for two days afterward. My feeble stereo system at home was much better quality music than the live concert, and I didn't have to put up with drunk or stoned people talking or yelling throughout. If the family members wouldn't shut up, I'd could don the headphones as FlySig suggested.
We don't listen with our ears anymore. Our eyes distort the sound. Someone as homely as Susan Boyle is presumed to be a lousy singer. Not too many years ago, no one would have been surprised that she has a great voice.
Media rooms were the rage for a few years, but now are one of the top five losers in the housing market. Nobody sits and listens to those fancy surround sound systems they bought.
Then there's talk radio and rap. Too much on my hate list. I'll go hide in the basement and put my headphones on. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | When I was a teenager I used to watch music for hours. Then I'd get dizzy and throw up. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Well I listen to it on my iPhone all the time. I copy the songs from CD (mostly) in the highest quality format allowed (I'm not up on all the techno details, but I get the idea that a smaller file has less information) using the medium quality ear buds that came with it. I could get better quality by getting noise cancellation headphones (the ambient noise on the train makes more expensive ear buds pointless without that feature), but then I'd probably get run over by a car while crossing the road.
Is it the best possible music system around? No. Is it always around and ready to go? You betcha! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | Hey Waskel...
Who needs a stereo when you have a view like that and quadrophonic elk(s)
:D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Just bought this book after hearing the fellow interviewed on the CBC a while ago.
I expect to have much more discriminating ears any moment now.
As it is now, I can't tell the difference between
E and E/B |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by TAFKAR:
Well I listen to it on my iPhone all the time. Same here. Apple has done great things with their compression.
Originally posted by Avatar4550:
Hey Waskel...
Who needs a stereo when you have a view like that and quadrophonic elk(s)
:D It does make em jump and run when I crank up "Money For Nothing"... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | On a GOOOD system, the difference between CD and vinyl is negligible.
It will also show the inadequacies (crappiness) of low bit rate mp3 vs high quality lossless audio such as FLAC/APE/MONKEY.
When I toss a CD with HD Audio, DTS audio or DVD Audio onto the player, the heavens open up for a religious experience. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I remember when the first thing you did was steal some cinder blocks and 2 x 12's make some shelves and get the best system you can afford, then every friday or sat night you would get together and LISTEN to new music or music you did not own drink beer etc.
listening to music is no longer a social thing. going to concerts is a way to catch up with friends and talk during the show. recently I went to several shows where the audience was engaged in conversation or texting or calling people sorry folks that is not listening to music or enjoying a live show.
It took me years to get my hi fi where it is now and there is still work to be done. what I spent for the whole thing many spend on CABLES ALONE.
Stephen T makes my system look like a walkman. but until you listen to music on a good system you will NEVER understand. I got spoiled I worked in a hifi place when I was a teenager. I never looked back. I pride myself on being able to hear music in a way the average listener is not capable of.
my nephew spends a ton of time with me, he is now 21 and he is blown away by my hi fi. He basically told me that no one knows how good their music can sound now because it is just not available to them. sure the big thing is surrround sound for movies but no longer is that a must for MUSIC and I find it sad very sad.
ultimately I will enjoy my music in the best conditions that I can and I will continue to tweak my system..... |
|
| |
Purchasing music.... the new normal?
