Great article on the NYTimes about audio

[Lowe]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/bu...ref=technology

Cracking read that, and the final phrase sums it up perfectly.

“Abnormality can become a feature.”

[Zak33]

Lowe.. that article is GOLD. Pure GOLD.

I agree with every phrase I think.....

But iPods and compressed computer files — the most popular vehicles for audio today — are “sucking the life out of music,” he says.

and

There are improvements in the quality of media everywhere — except in music.

I always get angry about Sound Cards for gaming too.... every week we see a new CPU, some faster ram, quicker and quicker graphics, larger and larger screens, higher frame rates.. ever larger and faster HDD's...

and the same old sound cards.

[kalniel]

I always get angry about Sound Cards for gaming too.... every week we see a new CPU, some faster ram, quicker and quicker graphics, larger and larger screens, higher frame rates.. ever larger and faster HDD's...

and the same old sound cards.

You can blame MS for that one - the revamped audio stack from vista onwards rendered a lot of the advanced audio features that were coming out in cards useless.

I think we've moved on from quality of intermediary steps - nowadays devices are about passing through faithfully, so we have lossless compression for ipods and other mp3 players, HDMI for computers and so on. If you want the quality then you still stick a decent amp and speakers at the end of it, or if you don't you don't.

[Terbinator]

We need options in games for desired sound output/format !!! BC2 in lossless would be eargasm worthy.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Enhanced audio formats like DVD audio and SACD did not catch on since people were already happy with CD and the newer discs tended to be more expensive. It was a bit of a shame as SACD does sound really great through a decent system.

[kalniel]

We need options in games for desired sound output/format !!! BC2 in lossless would be eargasm worthy.

You can't output BC2 over digital at the moment? Why not?

Or do you mean something else (like sound effects are compressed lossily or something?) Generated audio is nearly always lossless at source.

[Terbinator]

You can't output BC2 over digital at the moment? Why not?

Or do you mean something else (like sound effects are compressed lossily or something?) Generated audio is nearly always lossless at source.

Oh no, I'm running it over SPDIF fine - but all you get is some (whilst good) EQ settings. Contrast this to say the PS3 for example where you have format, channels and frequency (depending) to choose from.

[TooNice]

You can blame MS for that one - the revamped audio stack from vista onwards rendered a lot of the advanced audio features that were coming out in cards useless.

I'll blame Creative too. They pretty much killed their only notable competitor (Aureal) after they started their reign prior Vista. Apple, Microsoft, Intel, pff, none of those ever angered me as much as Creative (yes I am aware that MS do not have a clean record, but none of what they did affected me directly).

But iPods and compressed computer files — the most popular vehicles for audio today — are “sucking the life out of music,” he says.

I don't believe that in the least. The human eyes may be outstanding at telling minor nuances in colour/other differences between two pictures, but the human ear isn't. Don't get me wrong, I like my track lossless, and until iTune (et al) start offering me lossless tracks, I will stick to buying physical CDs.

However, when you are out and about, you ought to be more focussed on not getting run over by a car, or a cyclist who decides to ignore the lights. Under those circumstances, you are not listening 'critically', though it's still better to listen to something that's 99% than nothing at all. And yes, convenience is also important. Back when I had a CD player, I would never change disc on the way to uni (walking to/from), nor would I bother carrying additional CDs to change disc on the way back. Whereas I can carry dozen's of CDs worth of music on a humble mobile phone. "Sucking the life out of music"? That's over-dramatising a bit. Truth is, a lot of MP3 player support lossless tracks, so the only push I'd love to see is for the iTune-like stores to carry them.

What sucks the life out of music when you are out and about aren't the source, but the headphones IMO. It still makes a tremendous difference going from the stock ear bud of most portable players to, even a solid £20 earbuds. Every penny spent up that about that price range is pretty much diminishing return free (IMHO), and I reckon that the average person, if they tried it, may even think that up to £60 is quite acceptable for the improvement you gain (I've converted a few sceptical friends simply by getting them to listen to some higher end headphones). It would probably save a great number of people's hearing if people are even explained about something as basic as 'open headphones' and 'closed headphones'. How many people have you see playing music so loud you can still hear from a couple of row away in a bus/train? Rather than getting annoyed by them, I tend to think "The poor bastard will probably need hearing aids by the time they are 50 if they carry on like this".

BC2 in lossless would be eargasm worthy.

I am never against technological advancement, so by all mean, bring it on. But when people are playing games via onboard sound card on £15 headset, I'd bet that there won't be much discernible difference. And even if there were, would you notice it while you focussed on the action?

[Terbinator]

I am never against technological advancement, so by all mean, bring it on. But when people are playing games via onboard sound card on £15 headset, I'd bet that there won't be much discernible difference. And even if there were, would you notice it while you focussed on the action?

My reasoning being that if your going to drop £100 on a sound card you may as well go for a digital set-up such as DTS-MA and a speaker kit too boot. And assuming you mean me, i don't use a £15 headset you cheeky sod!

[TooNice]

I am referring to more to the lowest common denominator. If you look at the various 'Spec me a new PC' thread, you'll often see that people omit a discrete sound card usually on basis that the onboard one is sufficient. And let's face it, even higher end headset are still a far cry from higher end headphone/speaker in terms of the details. Yet for the sake of convenience, a large number of people settle for (often cheap) headsets. Well, as previously noted, I -do- favour and advocate lossless, but I am not convinced the market does.