In the age of MP3s, sound quality is WORSE than ever (Rolling Stones article)

[nachobroadweezy]

Article

Great article I just read in my current Rolling Stones mag. Even the producer can't help it, pressure by the evil eye in the sky.

Producers and engineers call this "the loudness war," and it has changed the way almost every new pop and rock album sounds. But volume isn't the only issue. Computer programs like Pro Tools, which let audio engineers manipulate sound the way a word processor edits text, make musicians sound unnaturally perfect. And today's listeners consume an increasing amount of music on MP3, which eliminates much of the data from the original CD file and can leave music sounding tinny or hollow. "With all the technical innovation, music sounds worse," says Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, who has made what are considered some of the best-sounding records of all time. "God is in the details. But there are no details anymore."
Another reason I'm ditching Itunes for MediaMonkey and "ripping"

in Flac.

 

[DVMNXK]

My entire collection is in AIFF lossless.....I have the exact CD files.....very noticeable sound difference as well.

 

[youngdipset20]

thats why i only download songs at 320kb

 

[tcw 96]

.....very noticeable sound difference as well
Not really.

You can notice the difference between a song downloaded from LimeWire and a lossless mp3 file, but you can't between EAC and lossless.

wish they didn't take down the pig...

because moo just doesn't sound right.

 

[iye2]

Its unreal when I finish listening to my ipod then go play some vinyl. The difference is quite substantial.

 

[we get money]

Originally Posted by TCW 96

.....very noticeable sound difference as well

Not really.

You can notice the difference between a song downloaded from LimeWire and a lossless mp3 file, but you can't between EAC and lossless.

wish they didn't take down the pig...

because moo just doesn't sound right.




You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[tcw 96]

increasing amount of music on MP3, which eliminates much of the data from the original CD file and can leave music sounding tinny or hollow. "With all the technical innovation, music sounds worse," says Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, who has made what are considered some of the best-sounding records of all time. "God is in the details. But there are no details anymore."

A very weak attempt to try to stop piracy.

Nice try Rolling Stones.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about
Are you mad because I dissed how you get your music. It's okay if you're still using LimeWire... it's not that serious.

 

[DVMNXK]

Are you mad because I dissed how you get your music. It's okay if you're still using LimeWire... it's not that serious.
I second the notion of you not knowing what you're talking about. I'm not sure what the level of compression for EAC is but listen tosomething live on that format and then the same song ripped as a lossless file. Like I said before, VERY noticeable.

 

[babyjordan0312]

AIFF lossless

anyone care to explain the differnce between limewire etc and al these other methods

 

[tcw 96]

^ BabyJ, what are you doing in the music forum?

JB forum is slacking... we need some info from you.

 

[we get money]

You have no idea what you're talking about because EAC isn't an audio format, so to compare it to lossless is literally like comparing apples andoranges.

And I was on Oink for over 130 weeks so

For those of you using .wav or .aiff I'd recommend looking into ripping/encoding to FLAC, lossless as well with a better compression rate

 

[theo6kid]

I'm not going to lie. I have no idea what the hell Eac and stuff is. Someone school me. I would say pm me some but I'm guessing you can't do that.So explain it. I think I need to get a DJ machine just to play Vinyl's because it's sounding like that is giving out the best sound quality.

 

[iye2]

Really the problem is isn't where you download your music from, or what bit rate its at. The problem is mixing and mastering. Engineers and producers seemto be mastering just based off how loud you can make a track w/o substantial clipping. That's really what 'the loudness war' is all about...not ifyou d/l music off of limewire and blogs

 

[ill4eva]

Originally Posted by IYE2

Really the problem is isn't where you download your music from, or what bit rate its at. The problem is mixing and mastering. Engineers and producers seem to be mastering just based off how loud you can make a track w/o substantial clipping. That's really what 'the loudness war' is all about...not if you d/l music off of limewire and blogs

Bingo. NTers need to start reading the whole article instead of commenting on one paragraph.

 

[tcw 96]

You have no idea what you're talking about because EAC isn't an audio format, so to compare it to lossless is literally like comparing apples and oranges.

For those of you using .wav or .aiff I'd recommend looking into ripping/encoding to FLAC, lossless as well with a better compression rate

If you can quote saying EAC was an audio format, I'll give you Tom Brady's jersey he wore tonight.

I compare EAC to FLAC or lossless because EAC or Exact Audio Copy is the best mp3 has to offer.

And I was on Oink for over 130 weeks so

Whatchu want? A cookie?

I bet you were glad when the pig went down, now you don't have to struggle to meet minimum requirements.

thats why i only download songs at 320kb
The bitrate doesn't really matter.

The encoder and format is what matters the most.

 

[sir kyle]

my audio production teacher works for this company media guide she said that shes gets CDs from big company's and the sound is trash alot of clipping andstuff like that

 

[blazinjkid]

i still don't get what the big deal is. probly never will...

 

[ofluo]

 

[4wrestling]

Very interesting vid ^^^


I stick with VBR only.

Most people probably complain because they get 64, 96, or 128 kbps MP3's.


I've never downloaded anything from iTunes. What quality do they give you?

 

[ipodschun]

You can notice the difference between a song downloaded from LimeWire and a lossless mp3 file, but you can't between EAC and lossless.
I can hear the difference from a v0 mp3 ripped with EAC and an ALAC file. Of course, I do my listening through a decent headphone rig. Filequality probably won't matter when listening to an iPod through the headphone jack with Apple headphones, though.
(edit: The difference isn't huge though. If a lossless file is 100% quality, a well ripped mp3 is 90-95% I'd say. I went lossless because I can hearthe difference, and disk space is cheap anyway so I can put up with the huge files.)

iTunes store is 128 kbps CBR AAC files, I think. Though I believe they offer higher quality files now or something like that.

 

[boredone1]

192k and up for me
but the difference is VERY noticible

 

[immagetmine]

it all makes sense now...i love bein able to read waveforms...

 

[tcw 96]

^ son, the bitrate doesn't matter. anyone could re-encode the tracks to fit the bill.

 

[immagetmine]

^yea if its ripped at 96 and u convert to 192 its gone sound the same...lol

all that really matters is the ripping source and the conversion process...

 

[rawsheed]

Bitrates matter for me because I play out on loud sound systems..

the average joe couldn't tell on the iPod + headphones

quality is definitely noticeable in a venue with superb sound equipment

don't you producers wanna mess around with WAV files first anyways for best quality?