Sound Quality?

[RodnJen]

The Zeppelin thread got me thinking about how I manage my music. I obviously need more Zep after listening to some of the favorites.

Which is the best path to take? Should I buy a CD then load to my ITunes on the home PC? Or, is it better to buy/download the entire album on ITunes? I'm talking sound quality only, not cost. I'm over lugging CD's on the boat and I only carry a couple in the truck.

Thoughts?

 

[was thatguy]

The Zeppelin thread got me thinking about how I manage my music. I obviously need more Zep after listening to some of the favorites.

Which is the best path to take? Should I buy a CD then load to my ITunes on the home PC? Or, is it better to buy/download the entire album on ITunes? I'm talking sound quality only, not cost. I'm over lugging CD's on the boat and I only carry a couple in the truck.

Thoughts?

IMO, ripping from CD is the better quality.
On my PC laptop I use a 3rd party ripper that is FAR superior to any windows media offering.
On the Mac I use the iTunes ripper.

Ripping gives you more options on quality vs speed.

 

[gmnhra]

iTunes compress the crap out of the original media...
probably no diff between ripping the CE or just buying from iTunes....

a lossless file format like FLAC is the only answer to better sound quality

depends on the head unit as to what it will play...not sure if there are many head units that will directly play FLAC files..

the guy next to you is going to be louder anyways so it probably doesn't matter

 

[bowtiejunkie]

I like a physical CD for my money, then rip it into iTunes. Many times you can buy the CD from Amazon for cheaper than the iTunes download, plus some CD's come with an "Autorip" (MP3) copy for free. You can download this MP3 version and import to iTunes. There are high quality formats that you can rip CD into, but I'm not versed enough on it. However, some head units won't play these higher quality digital formats, so you have to research it a bit.

CD quality is still tough to beat IMO.

 

[mjc]

The best I have is vinyl copied to CD then ripped at low compression

 

[was thatguy]

I have EAC on my laptops.
My version is the original that the kid did for his thesis years ago.
You'll need a 3rd party codec file path, bits it's pretty easy to set up.
(I use mitioak, but there is most certainly a newer, "non pirate" option today!)

EAC is a monster ripper. It may seem intimidating and massively overkill, but that's sort of the point.
It will sample every bite until it gets it perfect. You can set the modes from mediocre to what they call "paranoid mode"...I've never had the patience to use paranoid mode, it takes HOURS to rip a single CD in that mode.
It will analyze the head unit and give you the options available with your head unit limitations (as the above poster correctly mentions).

Here is a link.

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

 

[rivermobster]

Maybe just dump iTunes and get a portable MP3 player, that will work with your boat?

Truthfully, sound quality and boat are not two words that go together all too well.

The MP3 format can be ripped up to 320bit rate, but from what I know, iTunes will only go up to 192, and they just barely went to that rate a couple years ago! Their music quality is some of the worst. :thumbsdown

Buy the CD, rip it to a 320bit rate, and put those files on a flash drive or portable mp3 player and find a way to hook to your boats head unit. Shouldnt' be too hard to do.

Hint: Windows media player WILL rip to 320, but not by default. You must go in and change all the settings.

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/mp32.htm

 

[Racey]

In double blind studies, using the best reference equipment available, the vast majority, like +99% cannot tell the difference between uncompressed CD quality and MP3 V0 VBR (~224kbit/sec). And even audio engineers (whose jobs are literally to listen to samples all day long) with the best equipment cannot tell the difference 100% of the time.

Bottom line, high quality mp3 (V0 or better bitrate) is absolutely high enough quality and is between 7-10x smaller in file size than uncompressed or lossless compression.

 

[gmnhra]

In double blind studies, using the best reference equipment available, the vast majority, like +99% cannot tell the difference between uncompressed CD quality and MP3 V0 VBR (~224kbit/sec). And even audio engineers (whose jobs are literally to listen to samples all day long) with the best equipment cannot tell the difference 100% of the time.

Bottom line, high quality mp3 (V0 or better bitrate) is absolutely high enough quality and is between 7-10x smaller in file size than uncompressed or lossless compression.

This comment would create a 500 page internet battle on some of the audiophile boards I check into occasionally...
For boating....no need for uncompressed...
I beg to differ in a critical listening environment.
massive difference between analog....digital...and compressed digital...

although maybe my ears are just "helping" me justify my audiophile hardware purchases......

 

[rivermobster]

I have EAC on my laptops.
My version is the original that the kid did for his thesis years ago.
You'll need a 3rd party codec file path, bits it's pretty easy to set up.
(I use mitioak, but there is most certainly a newer, "non pirate" option today!)

EAC is a monster ripper. It may seem intimidating and massively overkill, but that's sort of the point.
It will sample every bite until it gets it perfect. You can set the modes from mediocre to what they call "paranoid mode"...I've never had the patience to use paranoid mode, it takes HOURS to rip a single CD in that mode.
It will analyze the head unit and give you the options available with your head unit limitations (as the above poster correctly mentions).

Here is a link.

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

I'm gonna be a total smart ass here, but...

How exactly to you make one's and zero's perfect?? :champagne:

Kinna kidding, but kina not. The ONLY thing on a digital copy of anything is a whole bunch of one's and zero's. If you are gonna change those, you are gonna change the actual music somehow, then it's not a tit for tat copy anymore.

Just curious.

 

[sintax]

As mentioned above.... EAC + FLAC is the best setup you can do. (there are some configuration guides online that go over the necessary setup and configs to get the best possible rips)

Previously FLAC was kind of a turn off due to the size, but now that the portable storage (USB / SD cards) is sooooo cheap, there is no downside. The quality in exceptional!


As far as sound quality and not being able to tell XXX vs YYY.... That all depends on the ears (old) and the quality of the setup.

 

[was thatguy]

This comment would create a 500 page internet battle on some of the audiophile boards I check into occasionally...
For boating....no need for uncompressed...
I beg to differ in a critical listening environment.
massive difference between analog....digital...and compressed digital...

although maybe my ears are just "helping" me justify my audiophile hardware purchases......

I agree.

Some of the car stereos I've done over the years for SQ competitions, you would (seemingly) know right away.
Tuning with tone discs for 2 days front staging exposes just about every flaw... both system and source.
It's why I got EAC to start with.

Before the era of jump drives and Bluetooth, I always made MP3 discs for in the cars.
A good ripper and burner was mandatory, and easily discernible to the ear.

 

[was thatguy]

I'm gonna be a total smart ass here, but...

How exactly to you make one's and zero's perfect?? :champagne:

Kinna kidding, but kina not. The ONLY thing on a digital copy of anything is a whole bunch of one's and zero's. If you are gonna change those, you are gonna change the actual music somehow, then it's not a tit for tat copy anymore.

Just curious.

Magic.

 

[rvrrun]

We are born with about 20-20khz hearing and it starts degrading from the time we pop out of the womb. Do whatever is easiest and most cost effective to you, you will never notice a difference in quality.

 

[rivermobster]

Magic.

I really did lol at this! :lmao

 

[was thatguy]

We are born with about 20-20khz hearing and it starts degrading from the time we pop out of the womb. Do whatever is easiest and most cost effective to you, you will never notice a difference in quality.

Truth that.
I used to do hearing tests with my tone discs to find tweeters that would reproduce.
Funny how eventually no tweeters and passives ever worked above 15K ...

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Spotify on high quality advertises 320kbps. Not sure of connectivity requirements or what happens when you download but it sounds pretty good and has a built in eq.

 

[rvrrun]

Truth that.
I used to do hearing tests with my tone discs to find tweeters that would reproduce.
Funny how eventually no tweeters and passives ever worked above 15K ...

There are exceptions. My theory professor had perfect pitch and could tell if a note was a few cents off. It was weird to hit a key on the piano and have her rattle off the note and octave.

 

[was thatguy]

There are exceptions. My theory professor had perfect pitch and could tell if a note was a few cents off. It was weird to hit a key on the piano and have her rattle off the note and octave.

I hate those people!!

I remember how I would pull my hair out trying to find the perfect cross points only to have Deb tell me "it don't sound right"...

 

[rivermobster]

Spotify on high quality advertises 320kbps. Not sure of connectivity requirements or what happens when you download but it sounds pretty good and has a built in eq.

Spotify is awesome. But that's the paid version only. I'm good with their free service at 192. I would never know the difference at work.

 

[SPL2K]

Spotify on high quality advertises 320kbps.

And thats still only about 25% of the information you receive from a cd.
Buying the actual cd and then ripping it to iTunes in AIFF (1411kbps) format is the best (without a bunch of external processors and software). Apple Lossless is also good.
My customers are always amazed at the difference when we play their favorite song in standard mp3 format or Pandora and then I play the AIFF version from my phone or iPod.