Frustrated with music mediums (1 Viewer)

[McPaul]

How do you all listen to music? I've been becoming very frustrated lately as CD's are just too pricey (as well as too bulky), Mp3's just sound horrible unless played on mini computer speakers. Not to mention if you're using napster they're somewhat not legal. Minidisk would seem to be a good option to me, but you need the CD to copy to Minidisk in the first place, and I'm already frustrated in buying CD's, and my friends aren't CD collectors so I don't have a network of CD collections to make minidisks of either, so what do you guys use? Am I missing something with minidisk?? I know there are several minidisk users on this forum and would like to hear their thoughts on the subject.
------------------
I AM CANADIAN!

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Paul- MiniDisc is a good "replacement" for MP3, in that, in my opinion, the compression is a lot more transparent than MP3 (depending on the bit rate, of course!). But MD is still a lossy compression format. And in general, you cannot buy pre-recorded MDs of new stuff.
But for CD's, in general I don't pay any more than $12 a disc. Sale prices on newly released material, and cruising the local used stores (and web sites) can get you even better prices.
------------------

 

[Andrew Pratt]

the majority of my CD's come from the used stores and friends. I simply can't afford the price of new ones and for the most part most of the music I like was released a while ago..
------------------
http://www.mts.net/~glendap/

 

[Matt Broeska]

used lps can be had for as little as 99 cents. go vinyl or go home.
------------------
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

[SamRoza]

I don't know where your MP3s come from, but it's rare that I Download one, or make on on my own that doesn't sound at least as good as CD.
I have lots that suck, but at the same time, I can always find a better copy that sounds equally as good as original.
Sam

 

[Saurav]

I haven't bought a single CD since I got my turntable, and no regrets whatsoever. My 'table kicks my CD players butt anyway.

 

[Joshua Moran]

I disagree MP3 compression really messes up the Bass. Even at a high bit rate like 192 the music sounds like it was recorded in a can.

 

[Dave Dahl]

It seems that you are asking for something that does not exist. Namely: a high resolution playback format with little or no cost to the consumer. I agree that music CD's are too expensive and I also agree that compressed music generally sounds, well, compressed. The trick here is to discover which is more important to you and then act accordingly.
Dave

 

[Clinton McClure]

I don't agree that mp3 encoding messes up the bass. I have come across some which were ripped with crappy equipment and that God-awful Realjukebox program which sounded a bit tinny or, more often, muddy like they were recorded underwater.
All the mp3s I rip are done at either 256 or 320...mostly 320, which is CD-quality. I usually find degredation of sound quality if anything is ripped below 192, but I have heard tracks at 128 which sounded very good.
I use AudioCatalyst by Xing to grab & rip to mp3 and I use Winamp to upconvert to .wav for cds.
Maybe if you used sensitive testing equipment, you might "see" a difference in sound quality, but to me, the cds I burn using files ripped at 256 & 320 sound to be near-replicas of the original...so close you'd most likely not be able to tell the difference.
THIS POST DOES NOT SUPPORT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
------------------
My DVD Collection Casa del Clint
[Edited last by Clinton on October 25, 2001 at 02:13 PM]

 

[Howard Christian]

I am not sure about one thing
What happens when you grab a cd to mp3 and from mp3 back to cd?
Well if it's digital to digital it shouldn't lose any quality right?

 

[Howard Christian]

What about if you convert mp3 to wav and burn it to cd?
does it degrade? or how does it compare to the original cd?
generally I buy cds by artists I like and I really hate to buy cds that only have 1 or 2 good songs in the album

 

[Bob_A]

Get some Boston Acoustics computer speakers (look at the 7500 model...I believe it is 70-80 bucks w/ sub at Best Buy)...believe me, your mp3's will sound excellent!!!

 

[Howard Christian]

I have Klipsch 4.1 for my PC speakers
they are very dynamic and excellent for games!
Anybody tried the Swan Diva computer speakers?
I heard they are pretty good

 

[SamRoza]

I'll say it once again-
I have little or no trouble getting CD-quality MP3s
Maybe I'm not elitist enough to notice a difference...
Sam

 

[Jack Gilvey]

If you want a real music experience, listen to Matt and Saurav.
------------------

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

Howard,
When cd is converted to MP3, lossy compression is used and the sound is degraded. Some of the data is lost. When converting an MP3 back to an original CD format like wav, the lost information is not recovered. Although the mp3 conversion to wav does not lose sound, the conversion to MP3 does, so the net effect of the round trip is a loss of quality even though its digital all the way.

 

[Norm Strong]

No public library in Calgary? That's where I get my music. If they don't have it, ask them to get it through interlibrary loan. The last CD I got had to come from Provo.
------------------
Norm Strong ([email protected])

 

[Kwang Suh]

There's always the Tramps stores here in Calgary.

 

[McPaul]

I'm not interested in buying better speakers, I use Harman Kardon speakers now. I want to be able to listen to my music on my home system, thank you.
I know that records aren't for me. So that idea is out.
Andrew, I love a lot of old stuff too for the most part but because of my listening tastes I can go to so many extremes, many old selections, many new releases. So I do like to buy current releases. Also not so sure all that stuff is even AVAILABLE on record.??
Sam I'm curious as to how you are making your mp3's? Every mp3 I get is at 320 but I still hear skips and pops and hisses and compression artifacts, and it does sound like it came from a can. I believe it also has something to do with the type of encoding used. (read that on this forum months ago).
Still no response from minidisk users.
Kwang - I'm curious about tramps but afraid to buy used cd's. dont you get a lot of music with scratches and stuff on it? and how long does it take between a cd being released until it appears at tramps? There's a tramps somewhat near me at southland crossing. I'll check it out sometime. Is that where you get most of your music?
Dave Dahl. Yes I am asking for something that doesn't exist, is that too much to ask for!??!
Public library? of course, there's dozens. You can get music there? what range? you can get something specific there?
------------------
I AM CANADIAN!

 

[Philip Hamm]

MiniDisc kicks ass as a home recording format. I can't tell the difference in quality between MD and the source. I don't know exactly what you're asking for though. It seems that you want to get lots of music that people worked hard on and invested a lot of time, effort and money into, without having to pay for it. As the saying goes, there's no "Free lunch". I suppose if you can borrow CDs than MD may be a way to do this, but so would CD-RW or Compact Cassette.
I use MD mainly to "portablize" my vinyl, and for that purpose it is unsurpassed.
------------------
Philip Hamm
AIM: PhilBiker
[Edited last by Philip Hamm on October 26, 2001 at 06:57 AM]