Some interesting artciles on Streaming and iTunes.

venkatcr

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Venkat,
Thanks for the excellent links, especially the MusicGiants. Now I can listen to exactly those tracks that I want, without having to spend for the whole CD.
 
A good guide on how to use EAC to perfectly rip your audio cds. But i wonder why the author always mentions about an AV receiver.
A true music lover would always prefer listening music on a 2 channel stereo amp(integrated or pre+power combo) rather then a AV receiver

That is exactly my fear. I wonder if two channel system will become a rarity and, in a few years, we will be scrambling around for antique two channel systems. As I said some time ago, music files have become so ubiquitous, that CD may be on the way out. Will AVRs and DVDs do the same to two channel amps and CD Players. The other day when I went to some general electronics shops and asked around for a CDP, the shopkeepers looked at me as if I was mad man.

Anther interesting thought crossed my mind. The way DVD players are stacked in these shops, and the way DVDs are pirated and sold, did we ever have a day when CDP were stacked one over the other in these shops? I have never seen a pirated CDs the way DVDs are being copied and sold.

Again as I said some time, collect as many CDs and convert them to loss less CODECS. Time is running out for audiophiles, folks, the end of the two channel music cometh!!! :)

Cheers
 
I still believe even if music files totally take over audio cds, still 2 channel music is here to stay.
In my opinion 2 channel music will co-exsist in the form of audio cds or a better media as well as digital music files.
If I like all the songs from one particular album, I wont prefer taking a longer router by downloading that whole album. I will simply buy the audio cd
Yeah, If you are looking for one particular track then downloading it from an online music store may save you some money.

About 2 channel hardware getting extinct, i dont see that happening in atleast next decade, maybe more. Yeah the quality of entry level hardware may go down to attract more buyers.

This is what I feel about it.
 
Rikhav,

I agree with you that stereo music will take a reasonable time to become extinct. But as more music labels start recording in multichannel sound (and do a good job of it), people will prefer multichannel music as time passes. The same thing happened to mono vrs. stereo, though people have long since forgotten that 'format war'.
I however, don't agree that CDs will be here for long. With network speeds rapidly going the gigabit route, downloading CD quality music albums will become fast and routine in India. This actually has been the case for some time now in all 'developed' countries. And as a user, I would prefer the option of storing and rapidly switching through my music collection, rather than inserting CDs each time. The same format war was fought between LP and CD, proponents of LP claiming 'warmth', 'ambience' etc. while CD gave the user rapid access to tracks, longer lasting physical storage media and compact size. CD won (notwithstanding some folks who still live and die by LP). Similar arguments are now emerging in the CD vrs hard-disk based music access. We already have reasonable size, lossless storage options with Flac. I have a feeling CD will follow the route of the LP, as better ('audiophile' quality) network streaming devices become ubiquitous and cheap. We are already seeing that trend with Logitech (Transporter which is costly and Squeezbox which is more affordable) and others.
Just my thoughts.

-Ajinkya.
 
Hi ajinkya
I agree with you that more prefered medium would be digital music files and hardcore audiophile would still opt for a audio cd or another media

But I still have my doubts about multichannel music taking over stereo. I dont think everyone would prefer to listen to each and every music in multi channel format
 
But I still have my doubts about multichannel music taking over stereo. I dont think everyone would prefer to listen to each and every music in multi channel format

Rikhav, Ajinkya, at the outset, my statements were meant to be humorous, but I really like the way both of you have taken the points forward.

Regarding, multi-channel music, Rikhav, believe me, you have to hear it to enjoy it and understand what we have been missing with 2 channel stereo. I have a couple of DVD-A and a SACDs of Western Classical. You feel as if you are sitting inside the orchestra. In addition since the music dies not all come of just two speakers, a well mixed number brings astonishing clarity to the voice and instruments. Even when the violins are playing at full blast, you can hear the gentle tinkle of a accompanying bell, or the soft note of a piano that starts to take over from the violins

I understand one can argue that in real life you are sitting in front of a stage and all music is coming from front of you. So why have surround music? Well, how about the artists themselves? They are sitting right in between the performance. Take the case of Sivamani for example. He plays a number of percussion instruments which surround him in a full 360 degrees. I always wondered how wonderful it will be feel you are Sivamani and hear all his drumming from around you.

The same is the case of the Western Classical. There are so many instruments and so many players, that if well recorded and well mixed, a DVD-A/SACD can really immerse you in the music.

Though I love 2 channel stereo, I did listen to a few of these multichannel music, and love listening to them too. Some of the popular albums such as The Wall by Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, some numbers of Beatles, Moody Blues, America, and other artists are being remixed. And they can really do this as the original tapes will be in 4 or 6 channels.

Even in simple Carnatic music, I have seen recordists use a minimum of 4 mikes and record each input separately. These are then mixed in the studio into two channel.

Cheers
 
Okay, I agree music in surround sound is truly a different level of experience specially when its recorded well
But, still as i said earler 2 channel music would co-exsist simply because its not possible for everyone and everywhere to enjoy surround music in a proper way. Say for eg. when listening on headphones
And some would just like the music to be in stereo. So its a matter of personal prefrence and so I feel 2 channel music is here to stay for a long time.
 
Rikhav ,
Very valid point about the headphone listening...I did not think about that one.
I have seen 'Dolby' compatible headphones for multichannel listening? Any idea what these are and whether they can offer a solution to the headphone problem? I assume they do some clever signal phase delays to give a sense of space and envelopment but have never listened to one personally. I think Marantz DVD players (among others) have a special 'Dolby' headphone socket.

Any technical info on this from members (at the risk of straying away from the main topic of this thread) would be helpful.
 
There are two ways of 'simulating' surround sound in a headphone.

1. The simpler method is to use multiple transducers inside the headphone. There are headphones available with upto 4 transducers one each side. The surround channels to sent to each of these transducers by a small circuitry inside the headphone. Since all the transducers are very near to each other and to your ear, additional logic is needed to create distance and time delays.

2. The other method is called virtualization. These are acoustical simulators that simulate surround sound with an ordinary headphone. Dolby has one called Dolby Headphone. Dolby Headphone simulates the creation of up to five virtual loudspeakers all inside your head.

For more details see details on Dolby's Headphone at Dolby - Dolby Headphone with 5.1 Surround Sound Stereo.

Neither of this methods can create the space and timing that a 5.1 or a 7.1 can create.

Cheers
 
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