Archive for March 10th, 2005
On Audio Compression
Thursday, March 10th, 2005
Preface: Keep in mind that the only reason I care about audio fidelity and sound quality is that I care about good music. I love music of all kinds, and I believe it deserves faithful reproduction. I make it a point never to forget why I strive for better quality audio.
The trend in recorded audio quality has been a bell curve over the last hundred years or so. From the phonograph to the LP to higher quality recording and digital mastering, to the slight step down with the move from vinyl to CD, music is moving today toward a huge decline with the advent of “perceptual compression” like mp3 and other formats. The music industry should know that it’s their fault entirely that this decline happened, and that it led to the entire mp3 revolution, the file-sharing predicament, and the eventual decline of the physical media. Read the rest of this entry »