AVRant #39: Kay the Fun-Sponge

[admin]

Tom and Dina discuss the Rolling Stone article The Death of High Fidelity. Summary - compression is bad. CDs are being "optimized" for compression… oh that's a good idea. Convincing people that there is something wrong with MP3s should be a top priority for all of us. Tom's a child-man and absolutely proud of it. All child-men should stand together in solidarity. Listen in for all this and more.

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[corey]

Convincing people that there is something wrong with MP3s should be a top priority for all of us.

The Rolling Stone article says: "Levitin says that most people find MP3s ripped at a rate above 224 kbps virtually indistinguishable from CDs."

There's certainly something lacking in 96kbps mp3s, but why lump my 320kbps mp3's together with them?

 

[Johnd]

Five stars for the podcast. I loved the commentary on compression and the lessening of expectations of our up and coming listening crowd. I couldn't agree more.

I've never seen a picture of Dina before this, but after listening to her (and the mention that Tom and she were in a video at last years Cedia event), my curiosity was piqued. I always thought she was sexy, with a provocative voice...I'm sure that sultry Texas drawl has something to do with it. And this opinion is purely respectful, as I know she is married.

A negative one star for Dina's input (the three minutes on Hawking). Minus one for her ignorance (on who Stephen Hawking is...c'mon, don't they have books in Texas? )). And a minus five stars for her calling him "geeky looking" after seeing him on his website. I don't know what to say to that. I truly don't.

When she sees people in wheelchairs or with disfigurements whilst walking down the street does she holler "Ewwww!" whilst pointing at them with a condemning finger? Unbelievable. Sultry and sexy image? All gone for me.

 

[Tom Andry]

There's certainly something lacking in 96kbps mp3s, but why lump my 320kbps mp3's together with them?

You are correct sir - different compression rates definitely hold different levels of contempt in my heart but I'd rather start from the standpoint that compression (any) is worse than no compression. Once we can agree on that we can begin your discussion. Besides, most people don't even realize that there are different levels of MP3 compression. I know that WMP defaults to 128 which is only barely tolerable for our mostly talk Podcast.

 

[Tom Andry]

Five stars for the podcast.

Thank you

When she sees people in wheelchairs or with disfigurements whilst walking down the street

I try not to think about that. I can only assume she saw a younger picture of him.

 

[Tom Andry]

Ah, I see. I sent Dina to this website and there is only the little thumbnails on the top. From those it's hard to know his true condition.

 

[Johnd]

Ah, I see. I sent Dina to this website and there is only the little thumbnails on the top. From those it's hard to know his true condition.

Well, maybe I'll cut her a little slack then Tom. That is only a facial shot. Ya think I'm a little reactionary at times?

Perhaps a little understanding would do me good. Dina's sexy and sultry again (in a respectful way since she's married). It seems she could not have known of his condition from that headshot. Now, how she has never heard of him is another matter...

 

[Tom Andry]

Dina's sexy and sultry again (in a respectful way since she's married).

Sexy and sultry? I guess you haven't seen her picture.

 

[AndrewH]

Hi everyone,

Just started listening to the podcast a few episodes a go and I am really enjoying it and is how I found this great forum. It's great listening to podcasts to help the work day go by!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I could have listened to you talk about the fidelity article for a lot longer as it was very interesting and nice to know I am not alone! I personally convert my music to apple lossless for my ipod and it looks like I need to buy the 160gb. Not just so I can fit more songs but to make sure that they can all remain as lossless. Unfortunately I have reached almost 100gb and I only have 60gb to use. 100gb worked out to be a little over 4000 songs I think. I might have to bite the bullet and convert them all back to 320.

I also got really excited about Pandora but was devastated when I got home and found out it doesn't work in Australia

Anyway, keep up the entertaining and informative work.

Andrew

 

[Seth=L]

I enjoyed the rant, however...

MP3s are compressed, but not the way they compress CDs now. CDs are suffering from Dynamic Compression, and it seems about the only way to get away from it is to get into classical music. There are a few artists that don't have horrible dynamic compression, and it just so happens I enjoy those artists. Most "radio" music I do not enjoy.

I would hope, and I know this is a long shot, that when HD radio or some other digital audio broadcast replaces FM, we will get less compressed audio. It's a huge stretch, and it probably won't happen.

For the record, Dina is very striking, and pretty much everything John said. Correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't think she lived in Texas (from Texas) but does live in a Southern state (from Southern state).

 

[Sheep]

It's not the format that's the problem, it's what you do with it. Guns don't kill people.. etc etc

SheepStar

 

[Tom Andry]

I would hope, and I know this is a long shot, that when HD radio or some other digital audio broadcast replaces FM, we will get less compressed audio. It's a huge stretch, and it probably won't happen.

Just a note that the HD in HD radio doesn't stand for High Definition. It stands for Hybrid Digital. It is less compressed than regular radio but if the CDs they are drawing from are compressed (good point about the compression differences btw), it really isn't going to make much of a difference.

 

[Seth=L]

Just a note that the HD in HD radio doesn't stand for High Definition. It stands for Hybrid Digital. It is less compressed than regular radio but if the CDs they are drawing from are compressed (good point about the compression differences btw), it really isn't going to make much of a difference.

The reason I mention HD radio is because like Sirrus and XM, it comes in without static. I was aware it wasn't as high resolution as CD. Without static dominating the signal you might be able to hear the nuances of music a bit better, even in a car (unless you don't have a muffler).

 

[Tom Andry]

Yeah, my clarification was more for the casual reader. I'd love to have HD radio but I'm just not willing to replace the head unit in my car to get it (the only place I'd ever listen to it).

 

[superczar]

we recently did an ABX comparo between 320 kbps MP3 (EAC ripped) and a FLAC and the original CD (the track in qstn was dire straits- private investaigations)
we couldn't get it right at all

 

[Sheep]

Just a note that the HD in HD radio doesn't stand for High Definition. It stands for Hybrid Digital. It is less compressed than regular radio but if the CDs they are drawing from are compressed (good point about the compression differences btw), it really isn't going to make much of a difference.

And to add to that, most stations compress and EQ their own signal to snag viewers when they flip through stations.

Radio is just wrong.

SheepStar

 

[birdonthebeach]

She's from SC, lives in SC, and is FABULOUS....

 

[Seth=L]

She's from SC, lives in SC, and is FABULOUS....

I was pretty sure it wasn't Texas, thanks for clearing that up. Poor John might have wandered Texas looking for her, and of course he wouldn't find her.

 

[stratman]

Kay The Fun Sponge needs a shrink badly and maybe some prozac. She suffers from penis-envy, she wants to be one of the guys, she's figured us men-children have more fun than the sour women-adults. The trick is (for you unmarried guys) to hook up with a woman-child.

 

[Johnd]

She's from SC, lives in SC, and is FABULOUS....

Really. South Carolina, huh? I could have sworn I heard in one of the rants it was Texas. I must have been overly mesmerized by her sultriness and sexiness. Hmmm.