256 is indistinguishable from CD but must people want 320. 192 is near CD but I can hear phase alignment problems at higher frequencies most noticeably for me on hi-hats and in what is called AIR, or high frequency content that gives definition and space to individual voices.
That said I used to buy 3 records a week. When Napster came along it was basically catnip for music lovers. If they had worked out a deal with Napster then to charge me a monthly subscrptn it would have been a no-brainier for me. But they went the route of isolating the music lovers and creating political wedges between musicians and fans. It is unfortunate.
I can't remember the link but a professor for some distinguished US college does a blind listening test asking new students to rank different formats for subjective preference. As MP3 became more mainstream the preference for that MP3 sound increased. People like what they hear or are familiar with rather tan what is best - which should be clear to understandable to crackly record lovers. Also heavily compressed musical forms like pop, rock and dance can benefit from the digital phased hash that lower quality MP3 exhibit.
Personally I prefer MP3 at this stage. I have hundreds of records but MP3 is far more convienent. I can have a constant stream of music wherever I am, I do not have to have clean the stylus, record or change side, I no longer have to curse at noise and pops, and I can have my music on all my devices.
Also it is difficult to argue against the negative impact of payola on music. The standard for popular music now, during focus group listening tests, is not whether the music is good but whether the listener is more or less likely to change channel before the ads. Music as a form of expression can never live under those circumstances.
That said I used to buy 3 records a week. When Napster came along it was basically catnip for music lovers. If they had worked out a deal with Napster then to charge me a monthly subscrptn it would have been a no-brainier for me. But they went the route of isolating the music lovers and creating political wedges between musicians and fans. It is unfortunate.
I can't remember the link but a professor for some distinguished US college does a blind listening test asking new students to rank different formats for subjective preference. As MP3 became more mainstream the preference for that MP3 sound increased. People like what they hear or are familiar with rather tan what is best - which should be clear to understandable to crackly record lovers. Also heavily compressed musical forms like pop, rock and dance can benefit from the digital phased hash that lower quality MP3 exhibit.
Personally I prefer MP3 at this stage. I have hundreds of records but MP3 is far more convienent. I can have a constant stream of music wherever I am, I do not have to have clean the stylus, record or change side, I no longer have to curse at noise and pops, and I can have my music on all my devices.
Also it is difficult to argue against the negative impact of payola on music. The standard for popular music now, during focus group listening tests, is not whether the music is good but whether the listener is more or less likely to change channel before the ads. Music as a form of expression can never live under those circumstances.