What I read
According to
“Can hi-res music hit the right note?” It’s been 35 years since the invention
of the CD, ends the vinyl. The music industry has been trying to sell new
formats ever since. It was more convenient, smaller and contain more tracts. What record
company didn’t know that consumers preferred in convenience over quality, came
the era of low-quality MP3. 1999, SACD and DVD Audio Disc was invented for
high-end sound quality but got killed by iPod. But now music
industry is “going towards more quality.” The streaming
is more popular than downloads but most music streamer use low-quality format,
but some are promoting high-resolution music instead. Now,
high-end audio market grew bigger for streams and downloads, many portable
music players are supported hi-res audio. The vinyl has come back but SACD is
not.
My response
When I first saw this
article, I said to myself, I have to write about it.
I consider myself as
an audiophile. Because most people who like music, but
they don’t invest their money in this area that
much, but not me. I loved listening to music since I was 10.
I have never owned a
vinyl, but I started with a cassette tape. Sadly, most of my
friends own a Sony Walkman, but I didn’t. I remembered I used
to ask my parent to buy me one, but it was too expensive.
At that time, I
bought cassettes or CDs I liked and listened on my friend’s Walkman.
At home, my father
owns a Denon Stereo which is kind-of expensive, so
maybe this is how I prefer the sound quality over convenience.
I always knew the
quality doesn’t come cheap, So I asked my mom to buy
me an iPod touch. I was very happy because I never own
something that expensive, at that time I still use “i-mobile”
while everyone else
used fancy Nokia. Since I can take care of stuff my mom
become more flexible about what I spent on.
Now, I have come a
long way from that iPod of mine.
I
used to buy CDs but now I switch to Tidal
(hi-res music streaming) and downloads. All that CDs I bought I gave it all to my
cousin. There is no point of keeping it if you will
never use it again. CDs
that manufacture in Thailand are usually have lower quality than import, but
downloads and streaming quality are same standardized globally. Steaming music has many advantages over
downloads music. The
most important is it has millions of songs and most of them are CD quality, few
of them are better. Downloads
quality can go as high as DSD128,
it is like 500Mb
per song (4 minutes). MP3
320kbps
is 10Mb (same song). For me, if you really love specific album,
downloads are still a better investment.
When
you have hi-quality
music the most important thing is a good system to play it. If your system is low quality you won’t be
able to hear the difference. The
system that you use are more important than better the file quality, means that you can easily
hear the difference in sound quality. A very good system needs a quality music
file to show their best. So, the best system required the best quality file.
Music
can cost you like a cheap T-shirt or a big house. As long as you are happy with
your music how much you spend is not important.
_______________________________________
My question for readers
Did you here the difference between MP3 and Hi-Res music?
What is your system to listen to music?
_______________________________________
- Can hi-res music hit the right note? (15 August 2017) BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40697475
One point that Bank makes in his response really stood out for me — the way digital lets us get rid of clutter in our homes.
ReplyDeleteI love the move to digital, both in music and other content. I haven't bought a single paper book for over a year, because it is so much more convenient to have books on my devices, and I've stopped buying DVDs for about a year now. I love books, but my home was cluttered with bookshelves of them that I kept in case I needed to refer to them again, or wanted to read them again. A couple of years ago, I picked out the best ones and shipped them to my brother: they now adorn his more spacious home, although I'm not sure that they get very much. With very few exceptions, of which I've kept the paper versions, everything is available digitally, usually also at lower prices. Now, I carry a substantial library in my pocket.
When I decided to give up DVDs for movies, the young son of one of my friends was very happy — he inherited my collection of more than a thousand DVDs of movies and TC series. Again, they had taken up a lot of space in my home, which is now far less cluttered than it was a couple of years ago.
For me, technology is bringing freedom from physical things, and that is a good thing.
I am the one who prefers reading a real book rather than an e-book.
DeleteI used to try reading from an e-book, but it fails. I like the way I touch the book, and its colour, smell and cover etc. for me it’s a delicate matter.
However, in watching a movie, I stop buying DVDs for 2 years, and I found another alternative way to watch movies, which is online streaming movie such as Netflix. I think nowadays people change the way they watch a movie. Moreover, the quality of the movie is good, we can see a lot of good documentary films from our computer, wherever.
I am a music lover, but I have never thought of hi-res music or vinyl. When I was young, I had bought a ton of CDs. What I liked the most is music videos in the album. I also enjoy watching M-TV and Channel V, where there is a vast array of music videos to watch. After that, I started buying CDs from its cover. Sometimes, I choose CDs from the cover without any idea what the album will sound like.
ReplyDeleteI jealous of your that you can differentiate between good or bad sound. I cannot do something like that. I would say that I have never thought of buying high-quality of music what I prefer more is a concert, The real experience of listening to music, for me, is to go to the concert.
I don't know what are and how they, mp3 and hi-res music, work or be different. I have to say that I hardly ever interest in this stuff but that doesn't mean I don't like music.
ReplyDeleteI like to listen the music and usually I listen in my digital media like computer and phone. I once buy a "Sony walkman" that is portable and handy and can be used while exercising and also swimming. But that's only once that I have some reason to exercise a lot and want to find something not to make it boring, and a walkman is more handy than a phone.
However, I see those many media not so important. We can listen to every song for free in a computer or a phone. I find no more quality in those media than in a computer or a phone.
To be honest, I did not understand anything at all in your text (sorry, but that's true). I like music, but most of the time I listen my playlist in a car, when I spend few hours in a traffic jam or in a gym, when I run my-daily-five-kilometers. I prefer live music - jazz or classic. At least once a month I try to attend concerts of the Bangkok Philharmonic Orchestra at Mahidol University. And it's absolutely beautiful and amazing concerts! It seems to me that no one music systems can compare with this. (So, it looks like I'm quite old)
ReplyDeleteMy father is the one who influence me to love linstening to music. During working time and wasting time on the road, I am always listening to music, sometime from my device, sometime from CDs and sometime from online streaming. I prefer buying CDs or DVDs of the bands I love because I want to collect them. To see them laying on the shelves in my room makes me feel happy. Unfortunately, I hate that how easily CDs can be broken, despite the high price.
ReplyDeleteI am low technology person, but I love listening to music. To be honest, I have never heard about Hi-Res music until I have read your blog post. What is the difference between MP3 and Hi-Res music is probably the quality of sound and cost. I have to confess that I cannot distinguish between good and bad sound quality if they are not highly different. I think what system I normally listen to is MP3 or MP4. I am satisfied with it, but once I have a chance to listen Hi-Res music, I might not be satisfied with MP3 or MP4 again.
ReplyDeleteI can hear the different of quality between MP3 and Hi-Res music but I don't care about it. Some of my high school friends spend a lot of money to buy a high quality headphone and amplifier but they don't buy any CD or file from website which is illegal. I think the most important things is not a hi-res quality because I think that MP3 is enough for me. It is unnecessary to spend money to buy a high quality file because when you have a hi-res file, it means your accessories need to be high quality too. So, you need to spend your money more.
ReplyDelete