I've been tossing my music collection looking for low res audio. and in the age of the MP3 it's EVERYWHERE!!!
simply stated I'm tried of the shitty high frequency anomalies and degradation of MP3 and other forms of lossy audio coding.
So I'm reconverting my CDs to FLAC and ALAC - i'm not bothering with wave files (only for my own music projects) If this war ever comes down to differences between lossless audio coding and Wavs - I'm gouging my cochleas out.
I started to listen more critically to my music because I'm getting to mix my own tunes - and I need to be in tip top shape (like an athlete). I started to notice things. wired things.
LIKE
the Hi-hat on Back in Black by AC/DC - is fucked up. like some kind of wired tremolo effect on it when the mix gets dense.
This may have been intentional - but it's really noticeable and doesn't add to the song. AND I've traced it through all FOUR different masterings of the album - to the mixing. So good old Mutt Lange didn't pick this one up.
This brings to my attention ALL the shitastic sounding cymbals in my mp3s - by virtue of the coding.
I've been out right deleting 128kbps MP3s - it's like paying for a burger and only getting the bun. Not cool.
So - for me - the culture of buying MP3s is over - as the convience of HUGE hard drives, transfer speeds, and the interconnectedness of everyone - means that the original intentions behind the invention of MP3 compression are outmoded. The technology - at least in the consumer audio world - much like the CD in the recording audio world - is OBSOLETE.
So i'm doing my part to make sure in 30 or 40 years - my stuff will still sound ok.
Sure ampling rates and bit rates my change - depending on the laws of physics - but the trend in taking perfectly good audio and crushing it into a ball to you can put it on a portable player (which I might at has WAYYY more room than any of the hard drives available to the researchers who developed and tested the first MP3 codecs) just doesn't make sense anymore.
I'll gladly trade 1000 mp3 albums for 10 that are true to all the bits that came out of the mastering house.
MP3s signaled a new age in music - it's time we take it to ANOTHER level as consumers - and now demand THE best from retailers like amazon, itunes, rhapsody and the like.
They have the space.
Hell if Bandcamp.com has the sapce to offer lossless downoads of indie artists at 24bit/ 96khz (bit rate/ smapling rate) then those OTHER guys that are CHARGING for it can do so as well.
Blueray and DVDs support a higher quality audio - BlueRay - the highest in portable visual media.
So today's reconversion list are
Violator - Depeche Mode
Through the Ashes of Empires - Machine Head
Boy- U2
Kid A - Radiohead
simply stated I'm tried of the shitty high frequency anomalies and degradation of MP3 and other forms of lossy audio coding.
So I'm reconverting my CDs to FLAC and ALAC - i'm not bothering with wave files (only for my own music projects) If this war ever comes down to differences between lossless audio coding and Wavs - I'm gouging my cochleas out.
I started to listen more critically to my music because I'm getting to mix my own tunes - and I need to be in tip top shape (like an athlete). I started to notice things. wired things.
LIKE
the Hi-hat on Back in Black by AC/DC - is fucked up. like some kind of wired tremolo effect on it when the mix gets dense.
This may have been intentional - but it's really noticeable and doesn't add to the song. AND I've traced it through all FOUR different masterings of the album - to the mixing. So good old Mutt Lange didn't pick this one up.
This brings to my attention ALL the shitastic sounding cymbals in my mp3s - by virtue of the coding.
I've been out right deleting 128kbps MP3s - it's like paying for a burger and only getting the bun. Not cool.
So - for me - the culture of buying MP3s is over - as the convience of HUGE hard drives, transfer speeds, and the interconnectedness of everyone - means that the original intentions behind the invention of MP3 compression are outmoded. The technology - at least in the consumer audio world - much like the CD in the recording audio world - is OBSOLETE.
So i'm doing my part to make sure in 30 or 40 years - my stuff will still sound ok.
Sure ampling rates and bit rates my change - depending on the laws of physics - but the trend in taking perfectly good audio and crushing it into a ball to you can put it on a portable player (which I might at has WAYYY more room than any of the hard drives available to the researchers who developed and tested the first MP3 codecs) just doesn't make sense anymore.
I'll gladly trade 1000 mp3 albums for 10 that are true to all the bits that came out of the mastering house.
MP3s signaled a new age in music - it's time we take it to ANOTHER level as consumers - and now demand THE best from retailers like amazon, itunes, rhapsody and the like.
They have the space.
Hell if Bandcamp.com has the sapce to offer lossless downoads of indie artists at 24bit/ 96khz (bit rate/ smapling rate) then those OTHER guys that are CHARGING for it can do so as well.
Blueray and DVDs support a higher quality audio - BlueRay - the highest in portable visual media.
So today's reconversion list are
Violator - Depeche Mode
Through the Ashes of Empires - Machine Head
Boy- U2
Kid A - Radiohead
I'm so glad you like the set.