Comments on: On Audio Compression http://www.trisweb.com/archives/2005/03/10/audio-compression/ programming, web, music and life Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:35:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Tristan http://www.trisweb.com/archives/2005/03/10/audio-compression/comment-page-1/#comment-1131 Tristan Fri, 11 Mar 2005 07:59:17 +0000 http://www.trisweb.com/archives/2005/03/09/audio-compression/#comment-1131 It's true, the market will never demand it. I was talking to John just now about how CD players (and other digital systems) interpolate samples, and they don't even have to be very good at it to get a nearly perfect result. By nearly perfect, I mean mathematically identical to the input waveform. With a good DAC, it should be equivalent to analog with a frequency response equal to half the sampling frequency. So he says as long as you have a high enough frequency, then it really is mathematically identical. The one thing that discounts is that frequencies above or below what we can actually hear might be important. But of course, for most people, they're not. I'm sure someday higher-quality physical formats will be widely available. I mean, we can't stay at CDs forever; technology has advanced, and if the market's not keeping up with it then it's only because there's no demand. Eventually that won't matter anymore and it'll become commonplace. Hopefully. It’s true, the market will never demand it.

I was talking to John just now about how CD players (and other digital systems) interpolate samples, and they don’t even have to be very good at it to get a nearly perfect result. By nearly perfect, I mean mathematically identical to the input waveform. With a good DAC, it should be equivalent to analog with a frequency response equal to half the sampling frequency. So he says as long as you have a high enough frequency, then it really is mathematically identical. The one thing that discounts is that frequencies above or below what we can actually hear might be important. But of course, for most people, they’re not.

I’m sure someday higher-quality physical formats will be widely available. I mean, we can’t stay at CDs forever; technology has advanced, and if the market’s not keeping up with it then it’s only because there’s no demand. Eventually that won’t matter anymore and it’ll become commonplace. Hopefully.

]]> By: Dad http://www.trisweb.com/archives/2005/03/10/audio-compression/comment-page-1/#comment-1130 Dad Fri, 11 Mar 2005 07:51:04 +0000 http://www.trisweb.com/archives/2005/03/09/audio-compression/#comment-1130 For me I still think of CD's as a compromise. The industry could grow their CD sales if they were in a dense high quality format, like the old direct to disc audiophile LP's. You might rip them down to a portable format as needed, but you'd still have a good high quality version to rely on - one you didn't mind paying for. Of course the cost of this to the record companies would be the same, and there would be a new boom in audio equipment too. Just a dream. For me I still think of CD’s as a compromise. The industry could grow their CD sales if they were in a dense high quality format, like the old direct to disc audiophile LP’s. You might rip them down to a portable format as needed, but you’d still have a good high quality version to rely on - one you didn’t mind paying for. Of course the cost of this to the record companies would be the same, and there would be a new boom in audio equipment too.

Just a dream.

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