| Author |
Thread: A novelty, or a peek into the future? |
    
Gold Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
United States
Post Number: 1841
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 09:03 am: |
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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: Stefanom
Vienna,
VA
United States
Post Number: 1149
Registered: Apr-06
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 09:23 am: |
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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. |
Silver Member Username: Dmitchell
Ottawa,
Ontario
Canada
Post Number: 795
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 09:47 am: |
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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. |
Platinum Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 10000
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 10:59 am: |
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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. |
Platinum Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 10001
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 11:00 am: |
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Geez,that was 10k posts.
My X would be soooo impressed!
Do ya think?..........nawww! |
Silver Member Username: Dmitchell
Ottawa,
Ontario
Canada
Post Number: 798
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 11:01 am: |
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I don't really like the possibility of DRM built into the the device as well. |
Silver Member Username: Dmitchell
Ottawa,
Ontario
Canada
Post Number: 799
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 11:03 am: |
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You have way too much free time on your hands, Nuck. |
Platinum Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
United States
Post Number: 1842
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 11:22 am: |
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Nuck, does eCoustics send you a gold watch? |
Platinum Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
United States
Post Number: 1843
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 12:02 pm: |
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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? |
Platinum Member Username: Stefanom
Vienna,
VA
United States
Post Number: 1150
Registered: Apr-06
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 12:22 pm: |
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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. |
Platinum Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
United States
Post Number: 1844
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 12:35 pm: |
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That's fine for your collection, but what about from this point forward?
Do you download much from iTunes? Whole albums or just singles? |
Platinum Member Username: Stefanom
Vienna,
VA
United States
Post Number: 1151
Registered: Apr-06
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 12:43 pm: |
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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. |
Silver Member Username: Dmitchell
Ottawa,
Ontario
Canada
Post Number: 801
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 01:01 pm: |
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I've actually gone the opposite direction - from years of downloading MP3's, back to buying CDs. |
Gold Member Username: Frank_abela
Berkshire
UK
Post Number: 2835
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 11:34 am: |
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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. |
Silver Member Username: Dmitchell
Ottawa,
Ontario
Canada
Post Number: 813
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 11:44 am: |
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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. |
Gold Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
United States
Post Number: 1848
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 01:14 pm: |
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So does any new "hardcopy" medium stand a chance of replacing the disc?
Is anyone buying DVD-A or SACD these days? |
Gold Member Username: Stefanom
Vienna,
VA
United States
Post Number: 1152
Registered: Apr-06
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 01:23 pm: |
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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. |
Silver Member Username: Dmitchell
Ottawa,
Ontario
Canada
Post Number: 814
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 02:50 pm: |
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Here's a thread from awhile ago when I was debating on going back to CD's:
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/436112.html |
Silver Member Username: Hawkbilly
Nova Scotia
Canada
Post Number: 217
Registered: Jul-07
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 04:45 pm: |
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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. |
Platinum Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 10015
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 04:49 pm: |
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But I doubt that we all have to store 1000's of cdr blanks in the bomb shelter just yet... |
Gold Member Username: Stu_pitt
Irvington,
New York
USA
Post Number: 2609
Registered: May-05
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 10:03 pm: |
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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. |
Gold Member Username: My_rantz
Australia
Post Number: 1891
Registered: Nov-05
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 11:00 pm: |
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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. |
Gold Member Username: Stu_pitt
Irvington,
New York
USA
Post Number: 2614
Registered: May-05
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| Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 11:06 pm: |
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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? |
Silver Member Username: Jazzman71
Phoenix,
AZ
USA
Post Number: 145
Registered: Dec-07
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 12:15 am: |
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"...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. |
Gold Member Username: My_rantz
Australia
Post Number: 1892
Registered: Nov-05
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 12:29 am: |
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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. |
Gold Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
United States
Post Number: 1849
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 08:38 am: |
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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? |
Gold Member Username: Gavdawg
Albany,
New York
Post Number: 1118
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 10:55 am: |
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"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. |
Gold Member Username: Frank_abela
Berkshire
UK
Post Number: 2842
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 12:11 pm: |
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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. |
Platinum Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 10030
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 05:42 pm: |
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Portable desperation...gotta run, gotta go. |
