Infidelity: Sound Quality Takes a Back Seat
I have lived through a lot of advances in sound recording and playback technology. I hadn’t even really noticed when the term hi-fidelity fell out of favor.
When I listened to my new Radiohead album yesterday, I did not know that there was a discussion going on as to whether we had all been ripped off. It seems that the files are 160 kbps MP3s as opposed to the 320 kbps MP3s that are available for previous albums. The technical answer based on research is that we cannot perceive a difference in sound quality between these two bit rates under most listening conditions with most sound files.
I was once the proud owner of a wind up Victrola with a cracked diaphragm and a broken RPM governor. I had some Lefty Frizzell 78s that I liked to listen to occasionally. I also had a CD player and a handful of modern recording artists. Comparing the two listening experience is like comparing apples and Apple Inc..
160 kbps MP3s versus 320 kbps MP3s is like listening to the same apple.
BTW, there is a nice virtual back pat for Al Gore on the landing page of Apple Inc. today.
