One of the best parts about running a special report like Audiophiles Unite! is that we become a magnet for useful information, updates and corrections. Our readers had a lot to say about their fidelity preferences, compression issues and our omissions.
What exactly is the format for uncompressed audio CDs? Do iPods support lossless compression? How do you rip a perfect copy of a CD? Do we know our ears from two pencil-size holes in the ground? The following is a sample of the many responses to our special report, as chosen for publication by Wired News editors.
Before we start, though, we'd like to draw your attention to our online comment tool, in case you've missed it. Just click the Rants + Raves button on the toolbar located below the headline of every story page. Registration is easy -- we ask only for your name and a working e-mail address.
Now, on to the feedback....
I can't hear the difference
By far the widest-used encoding scheme, and with good reason, is Lame 3.90.3 with --alt-preset-standard. APS is the result of much tweaking of internal settings, and results in higher quality for the bitrate than just about anything else. On anything but specialty high-end speakers, and definitely on portable audio devices, APS-encoded MP3s are indistinguishable from standard 16-bit/44.1 KHz CD audio.
-- Jason
You don't have the right
I wish tech journalists would stay away from audio topics. So your proposed suite of four programs is better than iTunes. How exactly? If you're worried about future-proofing your collection, use iTunes and rip to Apple lossless; you can always convert to .aiff or .wav, both of which will be around for a long time to come, should you need to. ITunes also has built-in error correction for scratched CDs.
-- Roger Angus
I want more!
While your article "The Digital Audiophile's Toolbox" was interesting, it would have been nice if you had been platform-agnostic in your choice of tools. Not everyone is using Windows. Since I use Linux, I can't use iTunes, Exact Audio Copy, Winamp or MP3 Tag Studio. Luckily, the creators of Lame were farsighted enough to realize that people running Mac or Linux operating systems might want to use their programs.
-- Martey Dodoo
I keep wondering why everyone is worried about compression so much when it comes to selling new music. I want RAW sound files so that my music is future-proof. In our digital history, more fidelity and more resolution are what have led to new media buying crazes. Look at DVDs, HDTV and digital cameras. You don't buy an HDTV TiVo and look forward to smaller file sizes! You simply buy more storage capacity.
We are no longer limited to a CD's delivery format of 700 MB (that's only a 10-minute download now), so why is my music still being ripped by Apple Computer, Napster and Musicmatch from a CD in the first place? The music on a CD is compressed to begin with! I want what comes from the studio, whatever the file size, before it's ripped, before the highs and lows are taken out, and definitely before it's compressed. That's future-proof, that's what the internet allows and, most importantly, it will finally shut up the vinyl people.
-- Adam Emery
I enjoyed this article, but what would be helpful to me is advice on how to configure a high-end, music-on-hard-drive system. I have Kef Ref 7's Krell preamp, a Sunfire power amp, and my music stored on a hard drive, ripped using Windows Media Player. When I ask how to squeeze more quality, I'm told to buy a CD player, which I don't believe and don't want to do. What is the best format for lossless compression? Is it worth it to get a soundcard for the PC with balanced output? Thanks!
-- John Couleur
Dear sir, you are an idiot
I must object to your completely incorrect depiction of the iTunes software. ITunes software does keep a complete backup of all the music on my iPod. Please correct your ludicrous statement. ITunes is in perfect sync with a music collection on the computer. I wonder if you meant that with iTunes you cannot copy illegal music files from other people's computers directly onto your iPod and then onto your own hard disk for illegal burning. Your advice amounts to soliciting illegal copying, thereby undermining legal services.
-- Frans Schoffelen
Since more than a few people actually use Apple computers with their iPods, it would be nice if you mentioned somewhere (maybe near the top of an article) that your software recommendations are going to completely ignore this platform. Thank you.
-- Dean Swift
"In the days when the original Napster was terrorizing the record industry ..., digital audiophiles were so excited to be on the receiving end of that bounty that they rarely paid attention to more esoteric concerns like sound quality."
BZZZT! Wrong. By definition, audiophiles always care about sound quality. I suggest that you look up the definition. "Audiophile" is not a synonym for "music lover."
-- John
You wouldn't know what an audiophile recording was if you stepped in a pile of shaded dogs. Come to the Consumer Electronics Show, come to the Alexis Park Hotel, come and listen to some real music systems. The things you describe are painfully awful garbage, and guys like you calling things "audiophile" only make matters worse ... as if you can have a compressed format that is also "audiophile." You just aren't picky enough -- you're clearly satisfied with terribly compromised sound.
Double-blind tests are insufficient to determine quality. They only determine an average tolerance to differences in sound, but if the group being tested has an average expectation for sound quality, its members wouldn't know good from truly great. Useless!
You really should do yourself and your readers a favor and hear what truly great audio sounds like. You have no real reference, so your opinions and conclusions can only be judged against the extreme limitations of your experience and knowledge. Go out and get some more before you sully the word "audiophile" again. The way you use it is a sin. It's as if you're calling a person who is fond of Taco Bell a gourmand with a predilection for fine Mexican cuisine.
-- Chris
Just thought you should know
Something else that is needed for audiophile CD ripping is AccurateRip. Believe it or not, every CD drive has a read offset that makes it difficult to extract bit-identical .wav files from a CD. Instead, error correction is used by the CD drive to reconstruct the original wave form, sometimes resulting in a noticeably different sound. AccurateRip compensates for the CD offset. It is a plug-in for Exact Audio Copy. I put together some instructions on how to configure EAC to work with FLAC and AccurateRip.
-- Carlton Bale
You mentioned that the uncompressed format on CDs was the .wav format. The truth is that .wav is just a wrapper for audio files and can have many different compression types. The same is true with .aif (.aiff files on the Mac). The uncompressed CD format is really the Pulse Code Modulation. The .wav and .aif file wrappers commonly use this format, but it is never a given.
-- Chod Stephens
David Wilson of Wilson Audio has used, at electronics shows, iPods playing .aiff files ripped to them directly from iTunes as his audio source to demonstrate his premise that the speakers are the most important component. I'd say that if iTunes/iPod is a good enough front end for the manufacturer of $85,000-plus speakers to demonstrate how good they sound, it should suffice for us, too.
-- Peter Gnemmi
Super Audio
You could have considered the fact that many people have started buying more vinyl because many people like to spin their own records at their parties, rather than throw on a randomized playlist.
-- Brent
The real problem is the digital rights management schemes. Why would you pay a premium price and then suffer the indignity of being restricted on how you can copy or use your music? It's not a winner until then. I'd probably pay $2 for a track that was hi-fi and had no crappy protection scheme.
-- Jim Hassinger
In my living room, with my system, all the DVD-As sound better than SACD. SACD sounds great. But DVD-A sounds greater. Go out and get this DVD-A and your life will be complete.
-- Don True
I was reading your article "When Hi-Fi Meets the IPod." It has some good information regarding lossy and lossless audio usage. It should probably be noted that the iPod nano and standard iPod both support lossless audio formats (Apple Lossless, .wav and .aiff) according to Apple's specifications. ITunes encodes in all three of these formats if you so choose in the Importing preferences. The iPod shuffle only supports .wav files as a lossless format. Apple also uses high-quality DACs in its iPods as measured by Stereophile magazine writer John Atkinson.
-- Nathan Sheldon
