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Final Nail in the CD !


Bill H.

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And some wonder why so many of us cling to the LP...

It WILL happen. Over the years I've been around the death of classical music (also jazz) has been proclaimed many times, but it persists. However, the MP3 is perhaps the worst threat to acoustic music ever. Those who can tolerate mp3 (and no disrespect intended to them...many like instant mashed pototoes and are good citizens and neighbors) could care less whether they can tell the difference between an Amati and a Strad and that would be fine...except that without a high fidelity distribution medium those of us who love the fine nuance tossed out as excess bytes by the squeeze dried music processes are screwed.

Linn and Gothic, and others who provide high resolution download services will provide some relief, but the days of feasting on great selection and variety may be headed for a time of famine.

I hope I am just being fatalistic...

Dave

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The silver lining: this article is about digital rights management. I'm all for MP3....you can own it, copy it, trade it to your heart's content without interference from Apple or Microsoft. DRM is the Darth Vader of the music industry. I can't even listen to some downloads that I PAID for unless I renew my licensing agreement with somebody, somewhere....this sucks!

That said, I do not fear for full spectrum sound. It may not be as large a market...nor in the traditional CD format....but I don't forsee this youth market 10 years from now sitting in their living/entertainment rooms having a party with everyone silently plugged into their personal music playback device. Music playback in one's home with full dynamic range is so gratifying and so impressive that if you're a music "have not", you'll know it eventually.

This is a transition time...objective testing is showing that the typical CD...IF recorded well...is about as good as most people can hear. Enhance the dynamic range...maybe up to 20bit words...make it downloadable....stored losslessly in home music servers...voila. The CD disc itself maybe dying but the format still looks viable not to mention adding multi channels.

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Mark-I agree about your comment on overpriced CD's. However, even from download the music many of us love HAS to cost. I've done a few recordings I am convinced and have rec'd feedback from ears I trust are both artistically and technically outstanding. To sell them I'd have to charge at least 30.00 per download to cover copyright, artists, and my own costs...and I mean COSTS, not profit.

"Hound Dog" or "Your Cheatin' Heart" certainly should bring about a nickel by now for an mp3 download, and it would be pure profit. Things like high artistic and technical quality jazz, classical, etc. have certain bottom lines that have little to do with the medium of delivery.

As to UFO, you are correct also. My initial response was grounded in my "old farhrtedness" attitudes and disdain for compressed formats. The fact is that with increasing bandwidths and storage that is approaching "free," format wars and such really don't have the impact they once did. If I really want to do it, guys like me have the option now to make recordings and distribute them however we wish to anywhere in the world.

That's a GOOD thing!

Dave

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Today's artists last in the industry about as long as a set of tires on a car. There are no more Rolling Stones type of acts. The music industry has to get their cash out of an artist quickly now. The masses like MP3 and portable music. Nothing wrong with going where the money is.



The trend to lower quality recordings happened long ago. It is simply growing now. I don't worry in the least. I have been downloading lossless for years and the quality is actually on the increase for digital audiophiles. 24/96 is pretty much here now, and it will continue to get better.

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