Re: MP3 Format (WAS All My CDs Marked down to $5.00)

[Daryl Shawn <highhorse@mhorse.com>]

great cartoon, Stephen!

I fully agree with you on MP3's. I hear my own tunes go from cassette to 
WAV to MP3, and can hear the dramatic changes in each stage. Even at the 
highest-bit encoding, there's just something missing with MP3. 
(personally, I prefer cassette even to WAV, but I think that's more of a 
personal taste thing...I still prefer vinyl to anything else).

Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com

> (back into text mode!)
> It's not just the physical quality though.  After six years away from 
> my old CD collection in storage, and just as long accumulating MP3 
> copies of some of the more beloved tracks, I found an old cassette of 
> a combination of songs not only about driving, but also containing the 
> kind of guitar bits that make me like to play.  There was no label, 
> and I popped it into a deck to see what it was, to hear Cross-town 
> Traffic and Easy Rider, for a start.
>
> On one level I found it cosmically encouraging given the timing of my 
> getting back to playing the acoustic this week; on another different 
> level, I found myself far more satisfied with the sound quality of my 
> cassettes than MP3s.  Sure, I used to take pains to assure max quality 
> when I made tapes for myself, but it was as much of a difference as I 
> experience between cassettes and CDs.  And made me begin to question 
> the use of the format at all, except as a promotional or sales 
> sample.  Or it's a down week.  I had to fire another plumber today!  Ugh!