24/192 Music Downloads and why the make no sense . . .

SolidSqual

Seriously? I had a friend who thinks I'm insane for not allowing Mp3s on my system. He forwarded this to me.

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

steveinaz

We both posted the same article. I agree 100% that mastering is far more important than bit-depth or outrageous oversmpling freqs. Now Mp3 vs 16/44 or better? Please, anyone with ears can hear a difference there--

CoolJazz

..and it's not hard to hear the difference between Redbook and higher data rates either.

This is another case of nice writing, showing nice drawings and graphs and it all being bunk in the end! Yet another case of falling back on the test that fails to show obvious differences and saying..."see, no difference!". Why use the one thing test that fails every time? Is that the one and only absolute truth measurement?

I'm noticing a real movement lately to drag to the bottom all quality! We have people claiming to experts (even writing books and making AES presentations) that present as fact all kinds of "scientific evidence" that anybody with ears knows isn't true. Why such a drive to be mediocre? It's amazing!


CJ

tonyb

CoolJazz wrote: »

..and it's not hard to hear the difference between Redbook and higher data rates either.
CJ

Yes and no.... the magic is in the recording and mastering. I've heard alot of redbook cd's that would put some 24/96 files to shame, and the other way around too. There's good and bad in all formats....even vinyl.

I'm also amused at the fact that some chase down the gear with the lowest possible distortion levels, only to throw it all back in by adding tubes....with vinyl no less. Distortion isn't all bad and trying to remove every last drop results in that sterile sound so many of us complain about. Thats what I hear anyway with 24/192, a sterile sound, with a lack of emotional connection. Just isn't ready for prime time yet, in my opinion anyway. 24/96 has a better balance to it, seems to get closer emotionally to the music. I guess for me it's musicality, with an emotional connection that drives what I want to listen to. Like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, once you do that, your golden.

Systems

Weird how most imports sound better than the stuff you can get here in the states.
Different mastering? Just my system?
I prefer the redbook stuff from Germany and Japan opposed to the US stuff.

specd_out

This is a interesting Post.
http://thecarversite.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=1696

I personally couldnt figure out which was which with any real accuracy. There was slight differences that I noticed. But I am also not using a high end DAC. I am just using my Laptop via hdmi to my receiver. To be honest I was expecting to hear the same kinda difference that is seen between dts and dts-hd

FTGV

CoolJazz wrote: »

..and it's not hard to hear the difference between Redbook and higher data rates either.

Agreed as far as comparing the same recording.I have Fagen's Morph the Cat which came as a 2 disc combo with CD and DVD-A and in direct comparison on the same player ,while the redbook version sounds very good the 24/96 DVD-A is the more dynamic ,airy and natural sounding of the two.

zingo

To me, a higher bit-rate allows for a deeper sound stage and more depth of music.