 vpokoPremium
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA | Quality vs. flexibility Quality vs. flexibility it ain't. People are willing to give up quality because most listeners can't distinguish a lossy format like MP3 from better-than-CD quality. Once the bandwidth is cheap enough I don't think anyone will have to sacrifice one for the other.
The part about discs going away in the future is common sense. |
|
 djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
kudos:1
 ·Verizon Wireless..
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·VOIPo
·PHONE POWER
| Never underestimate the human's desire to collect things. Television shows on DVD made 2.28 billion dollars in 2004, despite the fact that most were freely available on TV networks. Lots of people have huge DVD collections even though they only watch movies once. I think on demand content will be a huge player in the coming years, but a true paradigm shift away from collectable media will likely take much longer than a century.
quote:
... because most listeners can't distinguish a lossy format like MP3 from better-than-CD quality.
Yup. I'm frightened by how many people think that SAT radio is "CD quality". To me both Sirius and XM sound like a badly encoded MP3. Even though I'm pretty sensitive to quality losses, even I would rather have a DRM-free CD that I can rip to high bitrate MP3 to put in my car MP3 player or portable, than a DVD-Audio disc that I can't do anything with. And I still listen to Sirius because having content available is more important than quality.
CD quality still has much more capacity than most people's speaker systems anyway. 5.1+ audio on an audio-only music performance is fun, but unnecessary. A friend of mine got an Acura TL with the DVD audio system. He eagerly showed off a Shania Twain DVD-A. The directional audio was fun, until someone got in the back seat. Back to the plain old collection! I wouldn't know how much of an improvement DVD-A actually makes on the audio, since the Acura factory speakers aren't exactly audiophile quality.
I wish I could get behind a movement for better quality audio, but I can't. A lot of the music being produced these days isn't even taking advantage of the CD format. Some of the best sounding CDs I have are remastered albms from the 80s. Having my entire library at my fingertips when I get in my car is far more exciting than an incremental increase in quality.
--
\\ROB - a part of the SCB local network |
|
 yockTFTCPremium
join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH
kudos:3 | reply to vpoko
said by vpoko:Quality vs. flexibility it ain't. People are willing to give up quality because most listeners can't distinguish a lossy format like MP3 from better-than-CD quality. Once the bandwidth is cheap enough I don't think anyone will have to sacrifice one for the other. The part about discs going away in the future is common sense. I listen t some music through Rhapsody, but if it's anything I truly enjoy I get the CD. The difference is very noticeable.
--
Statistical correlation need not imply causation.
Technical Nirvana |
|
 imrfPremium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI | reply to djrobx
said by djrobx:5.1+ audio on an audio-only music performance is fun, but unnecessary. A friend of mine got an Acura TL with the DVD audio system. Yes, it's totally unnecessary in a car, but at home its great. I have quite a few DVD-A discs and hearing them in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS is great, makes music sound so much better. The car idea is dumb in general though. |
|
yockTFTCPremium
join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH
kudos:3 | said by imrf:said by djrobx:5.1+ audio on an audio-only music performance is fun, but unnecessary. A friend of mine got an Acura TL with the DVD audio system. Yes, it's totally unnecessary in a car, but at home its great. I have quite a few DVD-A discs and hearing them in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS is great, makes music sound so much better. The car idea is dumb in general though. I think the car idea is perfect. An enclosed space is the best environment for spatial audio.
--
Statistical correlation need not imply causation.
Technical Nirvana |
|
vpokoPremium
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA | Except that with a car it's impossible to isolate yourself from outside noise (and if it was, it wouldn't be safe).
You also have the effect of hearing the sound differently depending on where in the car you are sitting. |
|
imrfPremium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI | reply to yock
said by yock:I think the car idea is perfect. An enclosed space is the best environment for spatial audio. Unless you live in a hall or something a living room or home theater room is the same, but ideally with much better equipment. Car makers use crap equipment for their audio systems, while they can give you the audio in a 5.1 format, it won't be as accurate as a home theater system is, which is part of the idea behind DVD-A and SACDs. I have listened to the Acura TLs DVD-A system and it's ok, but not that great. |
|
imrfPremium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI | reply to vpoko
said by vpoko:You also have the effect of hearing the sound differently depending on where in the car you are sitting. Exactly. You want to be in the center of the action, not in the front left position for a driver or whatever. |
|
| reply to djrobx
Quote:
Yup. I'm frightened by how many people think that SAT radio is "CD quality". To me both Sirius and XM sound like a badly encoded MP3.
Reply:
Have you ever listened to Sirius or XM without using those stupid FM modulators? If not, you can't judge the quality of service. These technologies are very hardware dependent. If you buy cheap crap you will get crap in return. I do agree that they aren't wuite CD quality, but I have yet to hear an MP3 off the internet that sounds as good. Heck, even the sirius internet streams sound better than most MP3's you find floating on the internet. |
|
yockTFTCPremium
join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH
kudos:3 | reply to imrf
said by imrf:said by vpoko:You also have the effect of hearing the sound differently depending on where in the car you are sitting. Exactly. You want to be in the center of the action, not in the front left position for a driver or whatever. Real life is far from perfect. I have yet to see a perfectly designed spatial audio system where everyone in the audience can hear everything perfectly. Besides, that's what distance controls are for.
--
Statistical correlation need not imply causation.
Technical Nirvana |
|
p71rock
join:2003-06-16
Saint Clair, MI | reply to vpoko
Re: Quality vs. flexibility Argg! Argg! then How am I suppose to get my Anime on DVD then.
Humm, RePlayTV then I guess. |
|
| reply to jazzy112
Re: Quality vs. flexibility I agree with jazzy112  , the quality is rather good (much better than MOST MP3s). I would guess that at least 85% of XM (I have not tried Serius) is at least the quality of a high-bit rate MP3 (at least 200kb/s).
It is either that or listen to static-filled, commerical filled, land-based FM. I heard a few years ago that FM was to go digital, but that is apparently bust.
Comparing satelite radio with FM terestrial radio is like comparing a Porshe to a Saturn. The Porshe is ganna sound better. Period.
Satelite is as high-quality as radio is ganna get in this age, your ganna have to live with it. |
|
1 edit | reply to imrf
"Yes, it's totally unnecessary in a car, but at home its great. I have quite a few DVD-A discs and hearing them in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS is great, makes music sound so much better. The car idea is dumb in general though."
DVD-Audio is NOT Dolby Digital or DTS! You are listening to the wrong layer of your DVD-A disk if you think it is. Dolby and DTS are compressed, lossy formats. DVD-A is an uncompressed, high bitrate, multichannel format. Try to get your player configured correctly and you'll notice a huge difference! |
|
| reply to djrobx
said by djrobx:Yup. I'm frightened by how many people think that SAT radio is "CD quality". Are you seriously frightened by it? What's the (real) damage if someone doesn't know (or care) about everything being the best quality?
--
home |
|
 9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT
1 edit | reply to vpoko
Most people can't distinguish the difference because:
a: they are listening on sub-$2,000 speakers
b: they have never attended a classical music concert and have no idea what real music sounds like.
Take care,
Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: »www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
'»www.mwcomms.com/auctions.htm
'»www.mwcomms.com
'»www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
|
|
imrfPremium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI | reply to Davros866
said by Davros866:DVD-Audio is NOT Dolby Digital or DTS! I never said it was. 
Try to get your player configured correctly and you'll notice a huge difference! Thanks, it already is. |
|
 stetVolitar Prime
join:2002-03-08
Warren, MI | reply to 91439306
said by 91439306:Most people can't distinguish the difference because: a: they are listening on sub-$2,000 speakers b: they have never attended a classical music concert and have no idea what real music sounds like. c: a lot of people just never tried to tell the difference (ie: they never bothered to listen to the same song from different sources).
--
I am of the stars.
I am called "Forever".
Eternity courses through my veins. |
|
 oliphantI Have 8 BoobiesPremium
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA | reply to imrf
I have the TL and 5.1 is awesome and I'm glad I have it. Problem isn't quality vs flexibility...it's availability. Try to find everything on DTS, DVDA or SACD...few titles are available so of course they're going to be a tiny fraction of the market. I wouldn't buy a non-5.1 title again if given the CHOICE.
--
Don't get it, demand it! The Anime Network www.theanimenetwork.com |
|
| Availability and price. Those systems are pricey and the media is pretty high as well. Although I admit $20 for a DVDA isn't that much more than some standard CDs out there going for $17, but then again I never buy my CD's at $17 neither. 
I'm guessing a few more years for the equipment to go down in price and the subsequent media will as well. I'll be living the high life (audio-wise) by then.
If you ask me hard copies will never go away. Maybe CD's might fade (in a few decades) but there will always be something out there. Look at how long they have been talking about paperless offices? It will never happen. |
|
imrfPremium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI
1 edit | reply to oliphant
said by oliphant:I have the TL and 5.1 is awesome and I'm glad I have it. It's a shame that Acura didn't go for someone who knows how to make speakers. BOSE suck, they would have been better off scoring a contract with Dynaudio if they were aiming for high quality. |
|
