In the early days of online music, we needed compressed files like MP3s because data was so expensive. It’s still too expensive in some countries (hello, Canada!) but it’s not as bad as
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Readers of these posts will know that I’ve long whined about the decline in people who appreciate proper hi-fi audio when listening to music. For far too many, the tinny, compressed sound of
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This is one of the few days of the year that Canadians get a stat while America doesn’t. Feels good, right? Here’s music news for August 5, 2019. A journalist has blamed the
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While digital files like MP3s and Apples AAC format fantastically convenient, they’re still compressed formats, meaning that in order for them to be made so small, audio information needs to stripped out by
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Outside of the discs that come with box sets and the occasional impulse purchase, I’m pretty much done buying CDs. I’ll continue to use MP3 rips and Apple’s AAC files, of course, because
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There is a small but growing movement back towards music with better sonic properties. Well, that’s my dream, anyway. Thanks to MP3, iTunes, sub-optimal streaming bitrates, and crappy earbuds and headphones, the last
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I won’t blather on once again about how much I detest our willingness to make do with substandard digital audio. What most people listen to today is vastly inferior to the audio enjoyed
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MP3s sound like crap, squished of much of their dynamic range and filled with compression artifacts that affect all frequencies. AAC files are better, but still not as good as CDs. Audiophiles who
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The broadcast student was sitting across from me. She’d come to me with a problem. “I can’t tell the difference between something that sounds good and something that doesn’t.” She looked up, genuinely
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People forget that the Beatles didn’t release any of their music on CD until February 1987, almost five years after the compact disc was unveiled. The organization wanted to make sure that CDs
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Some people believe that there’s a real market for portable music players that offer fidelity above and beyond crappy MP3 compression. Chances are you’ve already heard of Neil Young’s Pono player. But what
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