I'm going to sound like a hipster, but you should only buy music on vinyl

[crashtech]

Why not use a lossless compression format? If anything better comes along, you can restore the original WAV from the lossless file and then use that with the new compression format.

Lossless = bit-for-bit identical wavform output when uncompressed or played back. It's a bit like archiving your WAV files with Zip, Rar, or some other lossless archive format except it's one that's highly optimized for compressing WAVs instead of general files.

Because I am lazy and the current method ain't broke. Plus the rest of the family listens to compressed audio, so there is plenty of room for my slovenly ways. Maybe someday I will learn more if I care enough.

 

[CZroe]

Because I am lazy and the current method ain't broke. Plus the rest of the family listens to compressed audio, so there is plenty of room for my slovenly ways. Maybe someday I will learn more if I care enough.

It's a simple option in just about any media player with ripping. It's there in iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc.

 

[uhohs]

the medium doesn't matter.

bad mastering, recordings, and the loudness war is what ruined sound quality.

 

[amdhunter]

Too bad I can't carry around a record player in my pocket, or connect it via Bluetooth to my car.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/hot-sale-bluetooth-vinyl-record-player-_1967330001.html :whiste:

 

[DaveSimmons]

Nope, OP has rose-colored glassears.

A well-mastered CD is going to sound better, and will not degrade quickly every time it is played. The CD can also easily be ripped to lossless formats like FLAC to be played from storage, backed up, and transcoded to other formats as needed.

I owned LPs last century, and don't miss them one (or zero) bits.

 

[mikeford]

What is it, free troll food night?

Despite the wonders of audio and golden ears, nobody seems able on Hydrogen audio forums to detect blind, originals from 128k mp3

 

[DaveSimmons]

What is it, free troll food night?

Despite the wonders of audio and golden ears, nobody seems able on Hydrogen audio forums to detect blind, originals from 128k mp3

Maybe not, and I've only heard noticeable differences on a few of the songs I own.

But my 1,000+ CDs in lossless FLAC format only take up a little over 300 GB of space so why shouldn't I stick with lossless? I send lossless to my receivers, and play transcoded MP3s on my iPod.

 

[Ichinisan]

I just put on an old Stevie Wonder album and the sound quality was way, waaaay better than compressed audio. All I've listened to for the past several years has been 256k AAC and I'm ashamed to say that technology has failed us. D:

Where can I get audio in 96kHz and 24-bit?

CDs are "compressed?" News to me...

 

[alkemyst]

Vinyl is not the answer.

It's not the wrong way to listen though if you have the gear.

They can record digital really good...sadly so much of the world just rips off music they have low standards.

 

[alkemyst]

CDs are "compressed?" News to me...

Ask you brother.

If he agrees.

Get out from your rock.

 

[MrPickins]

the medium doesn't matter.

bad mastering, recordings, and the loudness war is what ruined sound quality.

This.

 

[Ichinisan]

I actually bought a CD recently and it must be compressed more than normal because I don't remember CDs sounding this bad.

Trolling? Or uncompressed CD audio came from a compressed source?

 

[Carson Dyle]

I just put on an old Stevie Wonder album and the sound quality was way, waaaay better than compressed audio. All I've listened to for the past several years has been 256k AAC and I'm ashamed to say that technology has failed us. D:

Where can I get audio in 96kHz and 24-bit?

You might be disappointed. The main problems with digital formats are mostly in the mastering. Vinyl masterings are typically far less compressed and have better dynamics. Some 24/96 (24/192, etc.) files are exceptionally good, but only if they've been remastered. If they're just the same mastering used to produce the 16/44.1 CD, then it won't sound much better.

 

[Rakehellion]

Okay, then please link to a legitimate, double blind test conducted where any audiophile claims were actually confirmed. Just one where Monster Cable beat ordinary speaker wire. I've searched and been unable to find one as audiophiles avoid double blind testing like vampires avoid holy water. Real, controlled double blind testing tends to make them look stupid. Well, even more stupid.

In the link YOU gave, it says they could tell the difference between Monster Cable and regular speaker wire. A coathanger isn't a good comparison for the reasons I gave.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Trolling? Or uncompressed CD audio came from a compressed source?

We're talking about two different types of "compression". One is dynamic compression (shown in the images above) and the other is data compression (as in MP3 or Ogg encoding). Both can be deleterious to sound quality, but they're unrelated.

 

[Ichinisan]

I've still a lot of old vinyl I have laying around I never listen to.

I actually saw someone that had made a Vinyl Cutter, for converting from digital to make you're own records.

Not something I'd do, but a guess are even doing that with tube amps etc.

Seems overly steam punk to me.

I doubt even the steam punk bands are doing it in reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeEI-hh3MG0

It will never be better than the digital source. The only way to cut vinyl with more detail than digital is to have analog vibrations from voice and instruments converted into electrical impulses or otherwise conducted to the cutting head.

Actually, using multi-track analog recording to separate voice and individual instruments could result in higher fidelity because everything could be tweaked and rebalanced separately...or even remastered decades later.

So analog can capture more detail than digital, but it's really bad at keeping that detail unmodified. Having multiple high-bitrate lossless master tracks is the way to go for studio mastering.

I wish the CD format was designed from the start for multiple simultaneous channels.

 

[Rakehellion]

CDs are "compressed?" News to me...

Where did I mention CDs anywhere in that post? D:

 

[MongGrel]

Waiting on the remastered Led Zepps in October myself.

 

[Rakehellion]

Trolling? Or uncompressed CD audio came from a compressed source?

Compression also refers to the method of flattening soundwaves during mastering so the music sounds louder.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I remember in school we built rubber band powered race car using records as the wheels. We broke a record... lost the race.

 

[alkemyst]

I don't think many above really buy music physically.

I have had over 1000 CD's.

When I was a kid I had 300 cassette tapes. My parents had closets full of vinyl and a good player.

 

[momeNt]

This comes down to personal preference. It's like wanting pristine hardwood floors in your house (lossless digital) or having old pine plank flooring that has the shit beat out of it and calling it "homey".

 

[Ichinisan]

Ask you brother.

If he agrees.

Get out from your rock.

What? Please clarify. Do you think CDs are compressed?

 

[lxskllr]

This comes down to personal preference. It's like wanting pristine hardwood floors in your house (lossless digital) or having old pine plank flooring that has the shit beat out of it and calling it "homey".

There's definitely something to that. I like listening to old music through my netbook's speakers. The tinny craptastic sound accentuates the vintage feel.

 

[Ichinisan]

I'm going to sound like a hipster, but you should only buy music on vinyl

I just put on an old Stevie Wonder album and the sound quality was way, waaaay better than compressed audio. All I've listened to for the past several years has been 256k AAC and I'm ashamed to say that technology has failed us. D:

Where can I get audio in 96kHz and 24-bit?

CDs are "compressed?" News to me...

Where did I mention CDs anywhere in that post? D:

You seemed to imply that vinyl was the best way to listen because the successor tech was lossy compressed audio. The successor tech was not lossy compressed audio. It was compact discs.