A novelty, or a peek into the future?
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Gold Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY United States Post Number: 1841 Registered: Oct-04 | This idea was discussed a few months back somewhere on the board; last time it was an SD card, this time it's a USB jump-drive, either way, it looks like someone with The Stones still likes the idea http://www.shinealightstore.com/store/page4.asp?suptype=&t=1&sub_type=4&prod_id= 3&col=30 |
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Gold Member Username: StefanomVienna, VA United States Post Number: 1149 Registered: Apr-06 | I suspect iTunes is more the future of music than anything else at this juncture. That is a neat idea though, albeit a little pricey for me. |
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Silver Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 795 Registered: Feb-07 | I wonder what the storage format of the songs is? I also wonder about the sound quality... I would hate to pay that much cash for a USB key containing 192 kbps MP3s. |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 10000 Registered: Dec-04 | Oh yeah! I would accept nothing less than full-on format. But then again, I doubt that Mick or Keith even know that it exists. |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 10001 Registered: Dec-04 | Geez,that was 10k posts. My X would be soooo impressed! Do ya think?..........nawww! |
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Silver Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 798 Registered: Feb-07 | I don't really like the possibility of DRM built into the the device as well. |
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Silver Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 799 Registered: Feb-07 | You have way too much free time on your hands, Nuck. |
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Platinum Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY United States Post Number: 1842 Registered: Oct-04 | Nuck, does eCoustics send you a gold watch? |
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Platinum Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY United States Post Number: 1843 Registered: Oct-04 | Yes, I agree that iTunes, or something like it, is the future, and I do think that 5" discs, whether they be Redbook or some other high-resolution format, will be the last hard-copy format we will see for some time. But the idea of bypassing a disc drive is an appealing idea when it comes to playing hard-copies, don't you think? |
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Platinum Member Username: StefanomVienna, VA United States Post Number: 1150 Registered: Apr-06 | Heck, I personally don't use discs (excepting the computer's hard disc) all that much anymore. I've ripped my collection to Apple Lossless. From there, it gets streamed to my Airport Express, and then SPDIFed to my receiver. |
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Platinum Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY United States Post Number: 1844 Registered: Oct-04 | That's fine for your collection, but what about from this point forward? Do you download much from iTunes? Whole albums or just singles? |
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Platinum Member Username: StefanomVienna, VA United States Post Number: 1151 Registered: Apr-06 | I still buy CDs for the most part; can't say I've downloaded much from iTunes, except a few classics that I wanted here and there. |
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Silver Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 801 Registered: Feb-07 | I've actually gone the opposite direction - from years of downloading MP3's, back to buying CDs. |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 2835 Registered: Sep-04 | David, Why? I'm very interested to know your reasons. I've been having a right ding dong about this subject on another forum. Regards, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 813 Registered: Feb-07 | Hi Frank, My reasons for going the opposite direction that everyone else? lol. Mainly it comes down to reaching a point in this hobby/obsession where I know better. For years, MP3 for me was "good enough" because I did not have a system where you really could tell the difference in sound quality. Now that I've spent a few years, and a lot of money, on a system that I want to perform as good possible, I can now see that difference a good source makes. When I want to sit down for a serious listening session, I'll pick out a favourite CD, load up my CA CD player and enjoy. If I just want background sound while working around the house, the for the sake of convenience I'll listen to my MP3 (or FLAC) through my PC. Another nice thing about CDs too is that you always have a "hardcopy" backup of the music. Hard drives can be corrupted or wiped and your music is gone forever. Backing up is an option, but when you have over 200 gb of downloaded music, it becomes tedious. Another disadvantage to downloaded music is that it is always of varying quality (bitrate) and loudness. So unless you normalize all your music files (further degrading the SQ), you spend a lot of time adjusting the volume. |
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Gold Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY United States Post Number: 1848 Registered: Oct-04 | So does any new "hardcopy" medium stand a chance of replacing the disc? Is anyone buying DVD-A or SACD these days? |
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Gold Member Username: StefanomVienna, VA United States Post Number: 1152 Registered: Apr-06 | Given that CDs are dirt cheap to produce, have sufficient data storage, and are reasonably durable and reliable, I can't see much knocking them off any time soon. As far as DVD-A/SACD, I'm a 2.1 man. |
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Silver Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 814 Registered: Feb-07 | Here's a thread from awhile ago when I was debating on going back to CD's: https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/436112.html |
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Silver Member Username: HawkbillyNova Scotia Canada Post Number: 217 Registered: Jul-07 | I think as late as 2006 vinyl still outsold SACD/DVD-A, and while both formats were falling in market share, the sales of hi-rez formats was actually falling at a faster rate. I don't think they'll be a new physical distribution medium. Standard CD's will hang in until music "applications" completely take over. |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 10015 Registered: Dec-04 | But I doubt that we all have to store 1000's of cdr blanks in the bomb shelter just yet... |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 2609 Registered: May-05 | A few weeks ago I saw some thumb-drive USB memorty sticks with music on them in Best Buy. They were attached to rubber wrist bands. Didn't pay much attention, and they cost about $30. |
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Gold Member Username: My_rantzAustralia Post Number: 1891 Registered: Nov-05 | I have seen the future - and I don't like it! When our generation has passed on, will there be enough people who'll care about good sound quality? Not from what I can see - convenience before quality seems to be the ticket these days. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 2614 Registered: May-05 | That's the way its always been Rantz. Nothing new about it. I'm not too concerned about good sound going away. There's enough people who know better. How come vinyl's still around, and new titles are coming out everyday? |
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Silver Member Username: Jazzman71Phoenix, AZ USA Post Number: 145 Registered: Dec-07 | "...convenience before quality seems to be the ticket these days." Yes, judging by the people that seem to enjoy surfing the web and watching movies on 2" phone screens.  |
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Gold Member Username: My_rantzAustralia Post Number: 1892 Registered: Nov-05 | I'm not concerned either Stu - there'll be enough good listening material around in my lifetime to keep me happy. Anyway, I think future generations will have a lot more to worry about than where they get their music from and how it sounds. |
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Gold Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY United States Post Number: 1849 Registered: Oct-04 | I'm always amazed as to how many audio/electronic companies exist. Dozens of uber high-end speaker, cable, and component companies, all I presume making money, and all in the face of the iPod revolution. Given how few people I meet who actually care about this thing of ours, I'm guessing a lot of this stuff is selling overseas. There just aren't enough golden parachute CEOs, sports stars & lotto winners state-side to carry the whole industry, is there? |
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Gold Member Username: GavdawgAlbany, New York Post Number: 1118 Registered: Nov-06 | "A few weeks ago I saw some thumb-drive USB memorty sticks with music on them in Best Buy. They were attached to rubber wrist bands. Didn't pay much attention, and they cost about $30." they were selling something similar at the last concert I went to (matchbox 20 last month). you could buy the night's show on it, and play it back at your leisure. I could kick myself for not doing it. they played their a$$e$ off, and sounded fantastic. A studio performance on a CD could never match that show. |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 2842 Registered: Sep-04 | This is just a bid to provide a medium they can control. The future is probably hard disc storage or possibly solid state storage. It smacks of desperation in my view. |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 10030 Registered: Dec-04 | Portable desperation...gotta run, gotta go. |
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