On May 10, 11:50=A0am, wrote:
There is mention of a download page where full fidelity recordings can be
had for $2.49.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/bu...ml?ref=3Dbusin
=A0 =A0"The change in sound quality is as much cultural as technological.=
For
=A0 =A0decades, starting around the 1950s, high-end stereos were a status
=A0 =A0symbol. A high-quality system was something to show off, much like=
a
=A0 =A0new flat-screen TV today.
=A0 =A0But Michael Fremer, a professed audiophile who runs musicangle.com=
,
=A0 =A0which reviews albums, said that today, "a stereo has become an obj=
ect
=A0 =A0of scorn.""
Fremer would know something about objects of scorn. :-)
The article itself predictably muddles the issues of data compression
and dynamic compression--and, of course, fails to note how much more
benign the former is. It also fails to note the single biggest
difference between listening to a high-end rig and listening to an
iPod--the transducers.
Fewer people sit and just listen to a good audio system these days.
OTOH, more people listen to more music than ever before. I'm not
convinced that their lives are poorer for this.
bob