In Mobile Age, Sound Quality Steps Back
Sat, May 15 2010, 7:54PM
Or does it?
According to an article in the NY Times:
"The last decade has brought an explosion in dazzling technological advances — including enhancements in surround sound, high definition television and 3-D — that have transformed the fan’s experience. There are improvements in the quality of media everywhere — except in music.
"In many ways, the quality of what people hear — how well the playback reflects the original sound— has taken a step back. To many expert ears, compressed music files produce a crackly, tinnier and thinner sound than music on CDs and certainly on vinyl. "
From In Mobile Age, Sound Quality Steps Back, NY Times May 9, 2010.
But just how founded in fact is the NY Times' article's condemnation of compressed digital music?
Well, Peter Kirn, in an article in the 'Create Digital Music' online magazine, published just the day after the NY Times piece, says:
"The story conflates everything from comparing analog to digital to dynamic compression in mastering to data compression, so it’s hard to know where to begin. But I’ll do my best to separate out the issues."
See how he gets on in The Myth of Falling Fidelity, and Audio History Unburdened by Fact.
Fri, May 21 2010, 11:36AM
#2
RE: In Mobile Age, Sound Quality Steps Back
Let's face it - the majority of music listening in the world is of pop/rock music through iPod ear plugs or car stereos; to all the millions of people who do this (myself included - I don't listen to much classical music this way) the sound quality is perfectly acceptable. Those of us who sit down in front of a hi-fi and do nothing but listen to the music are in a tiny minority.
To the majority, I suspect audio quality is assessed along the same lines as picture quality on a TV: as long as the picture mode is "dynamic" (ie., maximum contrast, lighting and colour) and there is no visible film grain, even on old films, it is perceived to be top quality!
Sun, Mar 13 2011, 10:29AM
#3
RE: In Mobile Age, Sound Quality Steps Back
In these days we can get every music which has pirated, the compressions of original music. It has very low qualities and music has no purities. Even I have been also listening this kind of song, downloading through the internet too. Especially I had used to download any kind of song first. If that songs is good, then I would be trying to buy it. In this case, classical music would be my first choice. Classical music means, any kind of classical from all over the world such an English, nepali songs, Hindi songs, Korean, any kinds.
Ya I know that in mobile age, sound quality steps back. There are many reasons to happen it. Even I am listing most of songs with checked qualities, Also you can get in my mobile and ipod too.
Mon, Mar 14 2011, 9:05PM
#4
RE: In Mobile Age, Sound Quality Steps Back
Given that most people are consumers rather than listeners, and are cloth-eared anyway, or might as well be for all the banal repetitious stuff bawled out by tone-deaf popsters they listen to, there's never going to be that much of a demand for high-quality sound.
Good and not so good arguments on both sides of the issue. Of course, people who use product on one side or the other are quite naturally going to be supportive of their thing(s). That's basically what we have in this mumbo-jumbo of articles and comments.
I've never thought that people of the newer sound school could or should defend their usage by claiming better quality sound. It's convenient, and in many ways, it's cheaper. That's really all that needs to be said about it. Borrowing that well-worn phrase, "It is what it is."
Lastly, I found it incredulous that some thought good quality sound with more traditional delivery was beyond their means, and hadn't really improved over the years. Talk about myths!