Is Hi Rez audio dead? (1 Viewer)

[Pupp]

When I'm driving, I rarely turn on the radio/stereo.

The times I do turn it on, I always tune it to a station that plays music I have no familiarity with.

In practice I've found that playing music I am familiar with, is very distracting to me while driving. But if I don't know the music, I've found it blends into the background noise and is not distracting for me.

I usually just plug my phone into the radio and select a playlist. I mean, the only real reason for me to upgrade the car radio is so that I wouldn't have to physically plug my phone into the radio. Hardly worth spending hundreds of dollars for that convenience.

 

[TJPC]

I very rarely am in the car driving without my wife. She hates any other noise in the car, so the "stereo" system is off. Even as a young person I was a news junkie, so I only listen to talk radio when on my own.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Regarding the car stereos, with respect, I think you’re missing Sam’s point. Sam was pointing out that high resolution audio in 2021 and beyond isn’t just for people sitting in their homes listening to two large tower speakers hooked up to an SACD player or something similar.

One can get an incredibly high quality sound system for the car at prices probably less than you’d imagine, and then use that sound system to play any number of lossless and/or hi res audio files available from both subscription services like Apple Music and digital stores like HD Tracks.

I believe Sam’s overall point is if you limit your thinking to high res only being on disc and only for sitting in front of a stack of speakers in your living room, that you’re missing out on how high res audio is being delivered and utilized today.

 

[jcroy]

Most music recordings are produced to sound good in a car or on earbuds, and 24bit, 192khz is way overkill for that.

I would agree with this ^ assertion in the case of stuff first recorded after y2k, in musical genres like rock, country, hiphop, dance, etc ...

For stuff which was first recorded before the 1990s, this might not be quite the case. IIRC before the redbook audio cd became ubiquitious, albums were recorded with the limitations of magnetic tape, vinyl records, etc ... in mind. So the volume differences between loud and soft passages was constricted by the vinyl record noise floor, and less low end bass.

Hi-rez audio formats primarily benefit recordings of music most people don't want to listen to.

Actually I would highly disagree with this assertion, though for very different reasons than what others might have in mind.

As a prominent counter-example, some very extreme forms of punk rock and heavy metal music is stuff that most people don't want to listen to. These same punk rock and/or heavy metal recordings would likely not benefit at all from being encoded in 192kHz / 24bit resolution (or higher).

 

[Phil A]

My vehicle reads WAV or FLAC files (on a thumb drive) up to 192kHz (but will play them back at 48kHz). I have slots for two thumb drives (so far the biggest I've been able to use are 256GB) and I have both CD quality and above and about 12,500 files on the thumb drives In previous vehicles I was able to play compress MP3 or WMA files and converted a bunch of things to 320kbps which sounded decent. I never listen to the FM radio (even at home - once in a bit I'll listen to internet radio on the outdoor speakers and that's usualy 320kbps stuff). As previously noted in the thread much on FM is stuff I've never heard of. I used to have a separate FM Tuner at home (in additonal to other systems will tuners built in) and I have nothing hooked up for many years. My music server in the main system can play internet radio and there are some decent 320kbps stations if I want to listen (have too many music files to get to it - keep buying more).

 

[jcroy]

My vehicle reads WAV or FLAC files (on a thumb drive) up to 192kHz (but will play them back at 48kHz). I have slots for two thumb drives (so far the biggest I've been able to use are 256GB) and I have both CD quality and above and about 12,500 files on the thumb drives In previous vehicles I was able to play compress MP3 or WMA files and converted a bunch of things to 320kbps which sounded decent.

My car stereo also plays *.wav, though the official car instruction manual doesn't mention it. Haven't bother trying *.flac yet.

 

[Sam Posten]

Thanks @Josh Steinberg - it seems what you and I are missing isn’t in the technology capability but the posters in this thread seem to delight in their quirks and snobbishness. So introducing facts is beyond the point. They are welcome to their opinions and POV, but taking any of their posts at face value has to be viewed through that warped lens.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Considering my only "hi-rez" device is an Amazon Echo Studio that I'm not sure is even working half the time (Amazon Music HD keeps downgrading me for some reason), I'd say hi-rez is kind of a disaster at this point and deserves to fail...oh wait it already did.

 

[jcroy]

I never listen to the FM radio (even at home - once in a bit I'll listen to internet radio on the outdoor speakers and that's usualy 320kbps stuff). As previously noted in the thread much on FM is stuff I've never heard of. I used to have a separate FM Tuner at home (in additonal to other systems will tuners built in) and I have nothing hooked up for many years. My music server in the main system can play internet radio and there are some decent 320kbps stations if I want to listen (have too many music files to get to it - keep buying more).

At home, I only ever listened to FM (or AM) on-the-air radio to wake up in the morning.

For many years, I kept it tuned to a rap/hiphop station. Primarily because I won't hit the snooze button, and I keep the device at the other side of the room where I have to get up and walk to turn it off.

In contrast if I tuned it to a talk radio, rock, or classical/jazz music station, I've found that I would sleep through it and not get up at all.

 

[jcroy]

I very rarely am in the car driving without my wife. She hates any other noise in the car, so the "stereo" system is off. Even as a young person I was a news junkie, so I only listen to talk radio when on my own.

(Without getting into politics).

Back in the day, I listened to a lot of "talk radio" for what would be called "opposition research" nowadays. Some stuff was quite funny, albeit in a "deadpan humor" manner (whether intentional or not).

 

[titch]

I very rarely am in the car driving without my wife. She hates any other noise in the car, so the "stereo" system is off. Even as a young person I was a news junkie, so I only listen to talk radio when on my own.

Wives destroy any pursuit of audiophile stereo equipment because they don't look nice and those cables are a mess. I've seen quite a few quadrophonic and 5.1 audiophile set-ups over on quadraphonic.com, and I'm 100% sure those guys freaking out to the Doobie Brothers in quadraphonic surround do NOT have wives! I have a large collection of audiophile stereo and surround physical media. Although there are few releases, it definitely isn't dead. There is a market for wealthy collectors, who have listening rooms far away from their wives.

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[titch]

Analogue Productions have audiophile SACDs

Vinyl Records, SACDs, DVD Audio, Audiophile Equipment|Acoustic Sounds

Acoustic Sounds Audiophile Vinyl Records

store.acousticsounds.com

And Mobile Fidelity as well

Digital

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mofi.com

And if you have deep pockets, you can find anything over at Discogs.

 

[jcroy]

Wives destroy any pursuit of audiophile stereo equipment because they don't look nice and those cables are a mess. I've seen quite a few quadrophonic and 5.1 audiophile set-ups over on quadraphonic.com, and I'm 100% sure those guys freaking out to the Doobie Brothers in quadraphonic surround do NOT have wives! I have a large collection of audiophile stereo and surround physical media. Although there are few releases, it definitely isn't dead. There is a market for wealthy collectors, who have listening rooms far away from their wives.

(As a counterexample).

One of my ex-wives was more into the video/audio thing than me. Though not hardcore into the really high end stuff.

In those days, I didn't care about video/audio equipment and I wasn't really into stuff like laserdiscs, dvds, etc ...

 

[ScottHM]

One can get an incredibly high quality sound system for the car at prices probably less than you’d imagine, and then use that sound system to play any number of lossless and/or hi res audio files available from both subscription services like Apple Music and digital stores like HD Tracks.

The environment and structure of a car does not really lend itself to hi-resolution audio listening. The noise floor is too high, the placement of speakers is compromised, and the acoustics are poor. Hi-resolution audio definitely has its place, but it's not in the car. Not that it hurts to play it there, you're jut not doing it justice.

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[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t disagree but respectfully that’s not the point I was trying to make and apologize if I am the cause for that confusion. There was a contention made that high res audio was dying out because physical media delivery platforms like SACD are not widely popular and because not everyone sits in front of two giant tower speakers when they want to listen to music. I was simply try to echo what Sam was saying, which is that physical media sales and SACD player hardware shouldn’t be the sole metric to determine their popularity, because there’s far more high res availability and accessibility on sites like HD Tracks than there ever had been in the physical realm. It’s perhaps similar to people who say “this movie I want isn’t available in HD or 4K” when in fact the movie is readily available in those formats, just digitally rather than on disc.

 

[ScottHM]

I was simply try to echo what Sam was saying, which is that physical media sales and SACD player hardware shouldn’t be the sole metric to determine their popularity, because there’s far more high res availability and accessibility on sites like HD Tracks than there ever had been in the physical realm.

I guess I did misunderstand, and agree with you. In fact, while I haven't streamed any hi-resolution content, I have downloaded several of Reference Recordings albums, which are usually available in a variety of hi-resolution formats.

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[Josh Steinberg]

I guess I did misunderstand, and agree with you. In fact, while I haven't streamed any hi-resolution content, I have downloaded several of Reference Recordings albums, which are usually available in a variety of hi-resolution formats.

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That’s a pretty epic collection of classical works on that homepage, they must sound fantastic.

 

[ScottHM]

That’s a pretty epic collection of classical works on that homepage, they must sound fantastic.

The ones I've purchased sound very good.

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[TonyD]

Lossless and Spatial music is FREE if you already have Apple Music which tens of millions of people already subscribe to. Prime Music and Tidal already support lossless and spatial tiers. No idea why you are suddenly pivoting Tom talking about who might switch services to get this feature. It’s available today.

Not free. Included with the cost of your monthly subscription. How does that make it free?

Anyway music in the car has been a thing since they put radios in cars.
I can’t drive anywhere without music being on.
I don’t have a hundreds of dollars sound systems but it’s pretty darn good and music I play through Amazon or Apple sounds as good as anylace else I can hear it.

Back in the 90’s I was slow to start buying cds. I was all about the vinyl.
Once I discovered sacd and dvd-Audio I started buying up as many of those as I could find but they were mostly too expensive and often went out of print anyway.
Rarely even pop one in anymore to listen too. I’m not. 25 year old single guy anymore and it isn’t quite the same when someone is asking you why that’s so loud.

In the car while doing GrubHub or DoorDash I have plenty of time alone and don’t have to worry about Turning it down.

In my opinion the car is one of the best places to listen to music and I’m surprised people think it isn’t worth the effort to even turn on music in there.

 

[jcroy]

Once I discovered sacd and dvd-Audio I started buying up as many of those as I could find but they were mostly too expensive and often went out of print anyway.

I never ended up on the sacd/dvd-audio hobby for one big reason. There were a total of less than 5 titles released on sacd/dvd-audio, which I had any interest in.