4 ms·

The problem isn't that $format doesn't sound good, the problem is that when you convert $format to $otherformat for playback on $system, you lose far more quali

The problem isn't that $format doesn't sound good, the problem is that when you convert $format to $otherformat for playback on $system, you lose far more quality than if you converted from the original audio file.

anigbrowl 17y ago
Two words: repeat sales. Those who care about audio quality won't abandon their hardware playback platform for exactly this reason. Even those who don't understand the technicalities are vaguely aware of the problem. The solution is FLAC, but since it's free, lossless, and (typically) 2-3x larger, it has had fairly slow growth. Still: http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html
jrschulz 17y ago
ACK. Additionally, FLAC is perfect for future-proof archiving. MP3 is already declining (thanks to Apple) and while you will probably still be able to play MP3 files in twenty years, it will hopefully not be the format of choice. Other formats are superior to MP3 even today -- not only in sound quality, but in other areas like gapless playback and metadata capabilities as well. But hey, Jonny is still one of my heroes. :)
- jamesbritt 17y ago
  "MP3 is already declining (thanks to Apple) " How do you know that? And what format is supposed to be replacing mp3? It's the only audio format I run into on the Web (but then I don't use Apple products to play music).
  - jrschulz 17y ago
    I don't use Apple products either but I know that they sell tracks AAC encoded. And that's exactly why I see MP3 declining: before iTunes, there was no serious competitor for it.[1] But now the biggest online retailer of music uses an alternative. MP3's "market share" may only have gone down by a few percent. But thanks to iTunes, AAC songs can now be played almost anywhere. Since most people couldn't care less about the format of theit digital music collection, as long as they can play it, MP3 has lost a lot of its relevance. It will probably survive as a household term for digital music, irrespective of the actual encoder, though. [1] Yes, I do know Ogg Vorbis. It is even my lossy format of choice. But it's never been a threat to MP3.

anigbrowl 17y ago

Two words: repeat sales. Those who care about audio quality won't abandon their hardware playback platform for exactly this reason. Even those who don't understand the technicalities are vaguely aware of the problem. The solution is FLAC, but since it's free, lossless, and (typically) 2-3x larger, it has had fairly slow growth. Still: http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html

jrschulz 17y ago

ACK. Additionally, FLAC is perfect for future-proof archiving. MP3 is already declining (thanks to Apple) and while you will probably still be able to play MP3 files in twenty years, it will hopefully not be the format of choice. Other formats are superior to MP3 even today -- not only in sound quality, but in other areas like gapless playback and metadata capabilities as well. But hey, Jonny is still one of my heroes. :)

jamesbritt 17y ago
"MP3 is already declining (thanks to Apple) " How do you know that? And what format is supposed to be replacing mp3? It's the only audio format I run into on the Web (but then I don't use Apple products to play music).
- jrschulz 17y ago
  I don't use Apple products either but I know that they sell tracks AAC encoded. And that's exactly why I see MP3 declining: before iTunes, there was no serious competitor for it.[1] But now the biggest online retailer of music uses an alternative. MP3's "market share" may only have gone down by a few percent. But thanks to iTunes, AAC songs can now be played almost anywhere. Since most people couldn't care less about the format of theit digital music collection, as long as they can play it, MP3 has lost a lot of its relevance. It will probably survive as a household term for digital music, irrespective of the actual encoder, though. [1] Yes, I do know Ogg Vorbis. It is even my lossy format of choice. But it's never been a threat to MP3.