http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/ Engadget Comments for Survey shows increasing preference for MP3 by youngsters, audiophiles weep http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
For me, the bare MINIMUM is 192, and even then I try to look for files higher than that. I carry my CD collection with me on my Zune so I have to rip files in a compressed format, but I use EAC + LAME and the audio files come out sounding relatively close to their hardcopy counterparts.

For pure backup purposes, you should use lossless WMA or FLAC. If you want to get REALLY anal about the way your audio sounds, just rip the files as WAV's.

]]>Mar 9th 2009 6:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/As for my personal experience, I can only tell the difference between between 192 and 128 on my home system, and even then only some tracks. Most of the music I listen to is in the car and I find that 128 sounds just fine.]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
It's a common mistake that CDs are recorded at 192Kb/s, but this is completely false.

CDs are in fact recorded, for the most part, in 44.1kHz uncompressed (either 44 000 or 44 100 Hz). That's why you can only fit about 80 minutes of Audio on a standard 700MB CD.]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Book_(audio_CD_standard)#Technical_details]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
"If you want to get REALLY anal about the way your audio sounds, just rip the files as WAV's."

Pointless, if you convert the flac to wav it is exactly the same thing. Waste of disc space.]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
Assuming your home audio equipment is of decent quality, you should be able to tell the difference between 192 Kbps and better quality audio. Try getting your hands on some FLAC music, it's a compressed audio format to save space but is still lossless (however songs still clock in over 20MBs easy). Or, buy a CD off retail shelves, preferably one that isn't known for being "loud" or otherwise poorly mastered. For example, Metallica's new album is mastered to be as loud as possible, harming its dynamic range and just sounds muddy in general. I like the album, I just don't like the way it was mastered.]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 8:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
I listened to a friend's music briefly through his iPod headphones and can't get over how lousy cheap headphones sound by comparison. It's not just distortion, it's that you actually lose a very noticeable amount of detail in the music. Although I understand that a lot of people simply don't care or whatever, I think many of them really don't know what they're missing. I'm not saying everyone should go out and drop a ton of money on high-end audio, but given that you can grab those cx300 headphones for like $30 these days to replace cheap earbuds and that a CD with lossless audio to replace 128 Kbps MP3s is only $10 or so, more people should give it a shot.]]>Mar 9th 2009 9:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
Not everyone is blessed with the best equipment (as far as eyes and ears go).The brain has a funny way of compensating for the inability of the eyes and ears to render (I guess would be the correct word) fine details. Chances are that at least someone reading this is completely unable to see either a primary color, or a secondary color, and they will most likely never have any idea.]]>Mar 9th 2009 12:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 4:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 6:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/"The dynamic range of vinyl, when evaluated as a the ratio of a peak sinusoudal amplitude to the peak noise density at that sine wave frequency, is somewhere around 80db. Under theoretically ideal conditions, this could perhaps improve to 120db. The dynamic range of CDs, when evaluated on a frequency-dependent basis and performed with proper dithering and oversampling, is somewhere around 150db. Under no legitimate circumstances will the dynamic range vinyl ever exceed the dynamic range of CD, under any frequency, given the wide performance gap and the physical limitations of vinyl playback"
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Vinyl_Myths]]>Mar 9th 2009 8:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 10:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
On the other hand, digital audio is capable of a maximum of 6.02dB per bit, plus 1.76dB. This gives CD a range of about 98dB (Often cited as 96dB because of the common 6dB per bit rounded value). Dolby AC3 is 120dB (Audio format used on DVD), but to use that maximum dynamic range, the audio would have to be louder than the threshold of pain. A professional symphony orchestra can use 90dB, though the higher bit rates do make a difference because they push down the noise floor, even if the music itself never uses all the bits.

However, this isn't all about capabilities, and Patrick could very well be correct depending on what he's listening to. In the heyday of records (1960s-1970s), so many artists, the ones who people still care about anyways, focused on the concept of the "album" rather than the "single", and the records were mixed for home listening on decent systems. On the other hand, while there are some artists still making "albums", the "single" is a lot more prevalent in today's popular music. Therefore, the CDs are generally mixed for radio play. Despite FM radio having a theoretical dynamic range of 70dB, most stations use only the top 5-10dB unfortunately, with all their material undergoing heavy compression, if it didn't already come that way. The reasoning is two-fold: 1. If you have the loudest station, it's most likely to catch someone's attention, and 2. The louder the signal, the more broadcasting power it uses, and the farther the signal reaches.

(All sources: The Audio Recording Handbook and Fundamentals of Digital Audio by Alan Kefauver, first hand class with Alan Kefauver, Chuck Thompson [Of NPR recording fame], and Michael MacDonald [Grammy award winning mastering engineer])]]>Mar 9th 2009 10:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 10:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 11:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 11:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 12:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 13th 2009 8:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 2:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
More importantly records are mastered in a different way in terms of peek audio....

When mastering a record you had to be sure the audio was kept in a rage that it didn't break the needle of the master cutter (expensive to replace, and mostly they made the audio guy pay to replace it if he broke it). Generally Records are mastered at a lower volume, but less compressed, thus giving the feeling of more dynamic range. Sometimes during recording even, a "Soft" clip could be used as effect. Lastly, volume wasn't that much of an issue, since all records were listened to at home, and the persons amp of course could be used to make it louder.

CDs on the other hand have a digital clip (in which levels will cut out and just not be heard). Mastersers are given 3 tasks this day in age...make it loud enough for radio, and loud enough for MP3, and don't clip. Most Mp3 players have a very low max volume amplification (much lower then most portable CD players). Therefore in order to make up for this, most mastering agents now in days compress the hell out of tracks and make all spectrums as close to 0dB (digitally) as possible, so even on your iPod with the sad amp, it sounds loud still.

The only guys now-in-days that i see actually do a decent mastering job are minimal techno guys, and old school rock junkies who still do it analogue and then let some other shmuck digitize it.

I guess what im saying is, its Mp3 players fault that audio quality has gone to hell, get some better amps in the things.]]>Mar 9th 2009 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
Analog tape is another beast, because it is electronically stored. For tape, the highest frequency is limited by the head gap and tape speed. Obviously, the recorder cannot record a frequency that is smaller than the gap, or the amount of tape that passes by during an oscillation. The faster the tape, the higher the response. At 30 ips, you will indeed get a higher frequency than on CD or DVD, but at the expense of the low end (30ips tape has troubles under 60Hz or so), at 15 ips, the low end is fine, but the upper frequencies roll off well before the Nyquist of CD or DVD.

Also, if you look at the frequency responses of microphones, pre-amplifiers, (analog) mixers, power amplifiers, and loudspeakers, anything that high up won't be accurate by any stretch of the imagination, if it's even there.

Other than that, some very good information.]]>Mar 9th 2009 3:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 10:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
It's a known fact that adolecent's ears are capable of hearing much higher frequencies than fully-developed adults, and I think that's one of the reasons they prefer the higher-toned MP3 files; I know I did, a few years ago. Now, high-toned MP3s seem too tinny for me, but back then low-toned songs annoyed me, because I couldn't decipher all the sounds.

It's probably also a mix of what they're used to, lack of any other decent sources of music, and, well, iPods.]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/No mater what people think about there headphone they never give a complete representation of the source. That is why no one in dose there final masters in headphones.
If you really want to give someone an under standing of compression you need to let them hear it on a system that show all the flaws in audio (that’s why they make monitors). ]]>Mar 9th 2009 3:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
The loudness war is exactly the same: lower quality, higher loudness, less differentiation. It has been going on for decades, always getting worse. Why would people prefer something different for their compression tools?]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 9:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 12:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
I am not an obsessive audio geek, so I still stick with 192 CBR mp3, and have been for about 10 years now! I know it's not as good as what you can get with lower ratios, or lossless compression, but in the end, on the equipment I listen to music on, it sounds PRETTY DAMN GOOD. I don't sit and analyze the audio. I just enjoy the music. To each his own.

I can, however, tell the difference between 128 and 192kbps, usually with sections of complex highs or lots of different sounds in the mix, like electronic music.

I am also not one of the folks who rip their whole CD collection and toss the CDs though, as I still like the discs for in the car, etc. I just tossed all the jewel cases and now my collection is a manageable size so I have no more incentive to get rid of the discs. I don't want to go FLAC and have an enormous dataset to maintain, migrate around, backup, etc. My personal data backups are large enough and I don't even store many movies.

]]>Mar 9th 2009 2:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 9:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 10th 2009 3:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/:D]]>Mar 9th 2009 7:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 8:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
You mean the same way they can tell the difference between coat wire hangers and Monster cables?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/audiophiles-cant-tell-the-difference-between-monster-cable-and/]]>Mar 9th 2009 10:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 10:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 12:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/Mar 9th 2009 7:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/
http://www.soniconthenet.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2656

I have used this for the few video game and Anime OSTs that I actually bought just to make sure that I have a backed up copy somewhere just in case I lose my CDs or my house catches on fire or some other disaster happens to take away my material possessions.]]>Mar 9th 2009 8:30AM