Page 1 of 1

The Era of Compression

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:19 pm
by John
I've downloaded a few mp3 tracks from Amazon lately, and although they are OK for the car it's a bit disappointing that they are nowhere near what CD quality is capable of. There is a total lack of that fine quality that I'll describe as transparency. A purity of tones. Sadly, there's so much digital compression that it's rather second rate.

The really sad thing is that we will have a whole new generation who have no idea what sort of sound quality is actually possible. They won't care either probably, listening randomly to 10,000 tracks on an iPod/Pad/Phone or some other tiny device. Each track will have little significance, throaway, disposable, irrelevant in the mass of music.

A good quality CD, to keep, with a nice booklet telling me all the words, musicians and other details gives the product some longer term value. It is also something that can be traded, exchanged, sold, even quite far into the future. An item with a value. Of course its main value is the musical one, and if properly made the sound can be staggering.

It's a sobering thought that some of my earlier CDs are now exchanging hands for up to £200 each. I don't want to sell them, but replacing them might be a problem!