What is your favorite music format? (1 Viewer)

[Alan Benson]

The 2-sided vinyl stereo LP. Honestly, I think having a Side 1 and a Side 2 was good for musicians.... They planned their albums more creatively back then. Having an "intermission" gave rise to more complex sequencing and better themes.

And the large format for graphics and packaging gave them a chance to do things no longer possible today....

Of course I appreciate (and prefer) the sound quality that's available now.... But in terms of an overall format -- long-form rock/pop reached its creative peak with the full-length vinyl album....

 

[Josh_Hill]

I go for good ol CD!

 

[KeithH]

Parker said:

Alright. 2 Channel DVD-A is now included. I added in the votes of those that said they would have chosen 2 channel DVD-A into the counting.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

 

[RicP]

The 2-sided vinyl stereo LP. Honestly, I think having a Side 1 and a Side 2 was good for musicians.... They planned their albums more creatively back then. Having an "intermission" gave rise to more complex sequencing and better themes.

Actually I disagree. Because of the physical limitations of the LP, artists were more limited in how the album was sequenced.

You couldn't put more than 22 minutes on a side, maxing you out at 44 mins for the entire LP.

You had to plan the sides accordingly. Meaning that unless you had 11 4 minute songs, you had to split them up evenly to spread the total time across the LP, even if it meant sacrificing artistic integrity.

You couldn't put any complex wave forms as the last tracks on a side because of the groove compression, forcing you to place the most complex music first on an LP, where it may not have suited the album.

Along with other limitations...

It's ok to wax nostalgic for the LP, but the CD overcomes virtually every one of the LPs faults and shortcomings. If the artists of the 60s and 70s had CDs to work with, their music would have been even greater than it was.

Don't blame the format, blame the lack of innovative talent these days.

 

[Sam Rossi]

I really think 2-channel SACD (and some of the newer DVD-A titles with the 192K stereo) is where it's at, but I've been less than pleased with the frequency of new releases.

On the other hand, I've picked-up some redbook CDs recently that sound wonderful; Josh Groban's debut release, "New Favorite" by Allison Krauss and "The Look of Love" by Diana Krall come to mind right off the bat.

I like the novely of many multi-channel DVD-A releases such as "Workingman's Dead" but find that I still prefer my music in good ole 2-channel.

SamR.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Either way, the format of LPs gave us such unique albums as Tales From Topographic Oceans, 2112, and Foxtrot.

As you can tell from my now defunct "Take the Plunge" thread, 2-channel SACD all the way, baby!

 

[Rachael B]

You now have one write-in vote for Laserdisc 2-channel PCM. Hey, it's a big CD with video. I have about 50 music LD's. I often times don't watch them closely but listen as if they were a CD. Best wishes from Laserland!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Of course I appreciate (and prefer) the sound quality that's available now.... But in terms of an overall format -- long-form rock/pop reached its creative peak with the full-length vinyl album....

Until very recently, that was the sonic peak as well. I've lately gotten into SACD as well, and am very impressed to say the least, even 5.1. If all multichannel can be done like "Kind of Blue", I'm sold...stunning.

 

[KeithH]

Rachael, why am I not surprised that you put in a plug for laserdisc? I imagine with your quality laserdisc players, music discs sound quite good. The CLD-D406 I once had was very poor for audio, at least with CDs (via the analog outputs or as a transport).

 

[John Thomas]

As long as it's aural, it's good. Format, schmormat.

 

[Mark C.]

I have yet to feel compelled to jump on the SACD/DVD-A bandwagon. When I listen to music, I'm usually doing something else, away from the speakers, so multi-channel music won't work for me.

As for 2-channel SACD, on a true high-end system, there's a bit more soundstage than Redbook, but that's about all I notice.

 

[Rachael B]

Keith, an LD can hold more than a CD. Neil Young's UNPLUGGED on LD has more songs than the CD version. CD's are just blind baby LD's.... The X9 does sound golden too! Best wishes!
P.S.- I have a Japanese LD of Dr. John and The Meters coming soon. Can you say grits aund shramp? Gumbo music!

 

[KeithH]

Rachael said:

CD's are just blind baby LD's....

Wow, you are full of good lines today. Had I gotten into LD at an earlier stage, I probably would have amassed a good collection of music LDs, in which case, I would not have sold my player. Such is life.

 

[Jeff Pryor]

Along with CDs, I still listen to LPs and audio cassettes. I haven't heard SACD or DVD-A yet so can't make a judgement, but I can make a prediction: These formats will fade. Sure, what do I know, right?! Well, I for one think the CD format sounds good enough for home reproduction and I really don't think I'm going to waste even more money replacing my CD collection with 'more advanced' CDs. Like I said, I haven't heard the new formats yet, but how much better can they sound?

 

[Jack Gilvey]

. Like I said, I haven't heard the new formats yet, but how much better can they sound?

Lots.

 

[Mattias_ka]

You couldn't put more than 22 minutes on a side, maxing you out at 44 mins for the entire LP.

You can put around 23-24 minutes on each side without losing

any quality. But you CAN put, 30-35 min on each side but losing some in sound qulaity. I KNOW, I have some LP's that runs over 30 min.

I also think the vinyl IS the best way to listen to MUSIC.

Reproductions of sound and music is a big differce.

And with a good turntable you can dream away...

-Mattias-

 

[Marty Christion]

All my music listening is done via Lame encoded, VBR MP3's. MP3 at home, in the car, at work, and on the go.

 

[JamesCS]

Like one or more others here, I voted CD 2-channel and DTS Multi channel. I have not yet had the opportunity to listen to SACD or DVD-A. If/when I get a player and some software I may very well change my vote.

 

[Danny Knapp]

Favorite format!!?!!?
MP3 of course! They might be compressed but they are good to listen to for many many hours at work on one CD-R!
(But if you want to get technical then I guess it would be CDDA)
Oh well.

 

[Marvin]

Now, the fact that CD is winning the poll at this point leads me to believe that a fair number of people who have voted at this point have not had the good fortune of hearing SACD yet

Absolutely. I'm still waiting for either SACD or DVD-A to start releasing, what's the word?, er, releases of groups that I like. As I recall, I didn't buy my first CD player until after they started releasing the Beatles albums on CD.