Highest quality audio possible?

What is it? Is it a DVD's surround sound, a CD, a record? I guess the recording process would matter too. Anyone know how the ultimate recording could be achived?

I've heard of 800kbp FLAC files

I've heard of 800kbp FLAC files

Ace_WondersX

http://gizmodo.com/5213042/why-we-need-audiophiles

You would need this: http://www.realtraps.com/video_ultimate.htm

http://gizmodo.com/5213042/why-we-need-audiophiles

Rollingstones7

Wouldn't the highest quality audio possible be live music? -WCGWest-Coast-G

No. Audiophiles have ways of making recordings sound better than even real life. :o

[QUOTE="Ace_WondersX"]I've heard of 800kbp FLAC filesInfinite-Zr0

[QUOTE="Infinite-Zr0"][QUOTE="Ace_WondersX"]I've heard of 800kbp FLAC filesthepwninator

Ok, since no here read the article I posted I'll give you a rundown. I collect records (I'm not an audiophile though) and I think they are way superior than CD's or mp3's. The tracks on mp3 are really muddled and bleed into , and on vinyl the clarity between tracks is amazing. It give the sound a 3-D quality. CD's on the other hand traditionally offer sound close to records, however, recently CD's are mastered the same way as mp3 so they both suffer from ridiculous loudness. FLAC is great but I doubt you have your computer directly hooked up to great speakers and comuter CD writers tend to compress the sound.

Just a note, ANYTHING run through an ipod headphone jack is REALLY compressed, you will only get full sound out of your ipod by using the bottom thingy.

Ok, since no here read the article I posted I'll give you a rundown. I collect records (I'm not an audiophile though) and I think they are way superior than CD's or mp3's. The tracks on mp3 are really muddled and bleed into , and on vinyl the clarity between tracks is amazing. It give the sound a 3-D quality. CD's on the other hand traditionally offer sound close to records, however, recently CD's are mastered the same way as mp3 so they both suffer from ridiculous loudness. FLAC is great but I doubt you have your computer directly hooked up to great speakers and comuter CD writers tend to compress the sound.

Just a note, ANYTHING run through an ipod headphone jack is REALLY compressed, you will only get full sound out of your ipod by using the bottom thingy.

Ok, since no here read the article I posted I'll give you a rundown. I collect records (I'm not an audiophile though) and I think they are way superior than CD's or mp3's. The tracks on mp3 are really muddled and bleed into , and on vinyl the clarity between tracks is amazing. It give the sound a 3-D quality. CD's on the other hand traditionally offer sound close to records, however, recently CD's are mastered the same way as mp3 so they both suffer from ridiculous loudness. FLAC is great but I doubt you have your computer directly hooked up to great speakers and comuter CD writers tend to compress the sound.

Just a note, ANYTHING run through an ipod headphone jack is REALLY compressed, you will only get full sound out of your ipod by using the bottom thingy.

Rollingstones7

[QUOTE="Rollingstones7"]

Ok, since no here read the article I posted I'll give you a rundown. I collect records (I'm not an audiophile though) and I think they are way superior than CD's or mp3's. The tracks on mp3 are really muddled and bleed into , and on vinyl the clarity between tracks is amazing. It give the sound a 3-D quality. CD's on the other hand traditionally offer sound close to records, however, recently CD's are mastered the same way as mp3 so they both suffer from ridiculous loudness. FLAC is great but I doubt you have your computer directly hooked up to great speakers and comuter CD writers tend to compress the sound.

Just a note, ANYTHING run through an ipod headphone jack is REALLY compressed, you will only get full sound out of your ipod by using the bottom thingy.

blackngold29

DVD's soudn better because you can put music on it uncompressed (there's more memory space) so it really could sound great. Personally I like my music Right/Left, not five seperate channels.

CD is the mininum for high end audio, at 1411kbps (16bit 44.1KHz Stereo)

you can get SACD and DVD Audio which will do higher bitrates and channels (for example, 24bit 48khz or higher in 5.1 surround)

Vinyl is analogue, and most people record it to digital file at 24bit 96Khz (4000kbps+).

Many CDs nowadays are beginning to sound worse because record companies demand that most parts of the song are made louder, this ruins the dynamics and makes it uncomfortable to listen to, and a decent vinyl master can blow a cd out of the water (Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Stadium Arcadium is a good example)

This is called the Loudness War, reseach it more on google, wiki and youtube

There are lot more details that i wont go into, its very complicated

Oh and when people say FLAC is the best you can listen to, flac is just a way of compressing wave files down without losing data (hence the term lossless codec). I can make a 192kbps mp3 into a flac and a 256kbps mp3 would still sound better. But yes ripping a cd or vinyl straight to flac (or wav or any other lossless format) is the best way of preserving audio

lossless flac with good headphones and/or other alternative.the_foreign_guy

FLAC on a mp3 player compresses the sound... Also, most headphones bump up the mid-range frequencies to make them sound "more impressive"

I thought this guy made some good observations. Not really about the quality, but how different ways to listen to music has led to people listening to individual songs with no care for the album as a whole.blackngold29

I wrote a research report on the subject. The gist of it was that the Internet causes conventional media to either lengthen or shorten.

[QUOTE="blackngold29"]I thought this guy made some good observations. Not really about the quality, but how different ways to listen to music has led to people listening to individual songs with no care for the album as a whole.Rollingstones7

I wrote a research report on the subject. The gist of it was that the Internet causes conventional media to either lengthen or shorten.

[QUOTE="blackngold29"]I thought this guy made some good observations. Not really about the quality, but how different ways to listen to music has led to people listening to individual songs with no care for the album as a whole.Rollingstones7

I wrote a research report on the subject. The gist of it was that the Internet causes conventional media to either lengthen or shorten.

That is so true. Before, what may have been a short article in a newspaper now has multiple websites devoted to it. At the same time though, as people's attention spans are shortened, videos need to become flashier, shorter, and more engaging to keep the masses enthralled.

[QUOTE="Rollingstones7"]

I thought this guy made some good observations. Not really about the quality, but how different ways to listen to music has led to people listening to individual songs with no care for the album as a whole.blackngold29

I wrote a research report on the subject. The gist of it was that the Internet causes conventional media to either lengthen or shorten.

That is so true. Before, what may have been a short article in a newspaper now has multiple websites devoted to it. At the same time though, as people's attention spans are shortened, videos need to become flashier, shorter, and more engaging to keep the masses enthralled.

http://gizmodo.com/5213042/why-we-need-audiophiles

Rollingstones7

...They "see" music in three-dimensional visual space. You close your eyes in Fremer's chair, and you can perceive a detailed 3D matrix of sound, with each element occupying its own special space in the air...that article ^^^^

The highest quality currently possible in digital format is 24-bit, 192KHz uncompressed PCM (9216kbps). I'd fully expect it's even higher than that, but I couldn't find anything to confirm it. To put that into context, CD's are 16-bit, 44KHz uncompressed PCM (1411kbps).

As for the highest quality currently possible in any form, that would be sound recorded in a completely analog recording studio, onto reel-to-reel tape and then mastered onto vinyl. With no computers or any form of digital equipment used at any stage, from when the sound waves hit the microphone's diaphragm, to when it gets pressed onto vinyl.

American Idol displays amazing sound! (ends sarcasm)CleanPlayer

[QUOTE="CleanPlayer"]American Idol displays amazing sound! (ends sarcasm)blackngold29

Yes, and it's infected the UK, too!

[QUOTE="blackngold29"][QUOTE="CleanPlayer"]American Idol displays amazing sound! (ends sarcasm)BlueBirdTS

Yes, and it's infected the UK, too!

...because these audacious guys decided to make a record meant for lights out, theater of the mind, serious listening-the kind that's oh-so currently out of vogue in this multi-tasking, short attention span culture...musicangles review

YAY! That guy's site musicangle reviewed Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta and was all like WOO like I am about it.:) [quote="musicangles review"]...because these audacious guys decided to make a record meant for lights out, theater of the mind, serious listening-the kind that's oh-so currently out of vogue in this multi-tasking, short attention span culture...VacantPsalm