Comments on: CD vs MP3

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:57:15 +0000

Well I think CD delivers “softer” sound (anyone who still loves vinyl records knows what I mean)
MP3 has better voice clarity but the audio is “dryer”
There is a difference

By: Damien

Damien — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:45:52 +0000

Rick W: Maybe that explains why I feel happier when I listen on a CD. ALl my emotional spiritual experiences while listening to music have been when I was playing a CD, and I usually play on mp3. I feel emptier when I play an mp3, possibly because a compact dic isn’t spinning around and theres nothing tangible. It’s just hard to get excited about a compressed computer file, when you have something tangible. Someone mentioned music being about what we hear and not the visual aspect. I disagree. Think of live tribal music, or a concert, there’s tons of visualisations, from the lights, to the singers outfit. Just as those are tangible things, so too is an album, vinyl or CD.

By: rick w

rick w — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:21:02 +0000

i’v recently heard that the sonic sounds unheard by the ear r noticed by the brain as missing in the origional music by being compressed format & produce less dophimine into the brain.making the song less enjoyable.

By: mikej

mikej — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:22:17 +0000

I think Andy’s commentary is the most balanced I’ve seen so far. For those of us who grew up with physical media, it’s not so much a matter of sound quality (some of us just use that as an excuse to stick with obviously less practical physical media) as it is that we are just used to a tactile/visual association with our music. But, perhaps it’s just time to admit that music is not about plastic disks in plastic cases with paper booklets. It’s about what we hear. Sure, paging through a nicely prepared booklet is fun. But let us not forget that there was a time when there were no recordings and all music was heard only live. There were no artsy covers to contemplate, no lyric sheets, bios or liner notes to ponder– just music. And while I admit to a certain sadness in seeing the CD gradualy slip off into oblivion, perhaps it’s good to be weaned off of things irrelevant to what music is actually about, much as it is good when a mother gradually cuts her child’s security blanket down smaller and smaller until he learns to live without it. Mind you, I don’t agree with the popular philosophy that implies that people who prefer CDs to downloading are not true music lovers. That’s just silly. Whatever media you choose, if you’re listening, you must love music or you wouldn’t be listening at all. That being said, music is about personal interpretation, and how our emotions are effected– how it makes us feel. It’s not about vinyl, tapes, CDs or even iPods; those are just the carrying agents. Music is about comfort, motivation and inspiration, whatever you hear it on. (I always smile when I hear downloaders say “I HATE CDs”. How can you hate something that never bit you?) I personally will still enjoy my CDs while I can still get them. Silly, perhaps, but like I said, they’re fun. When I can’t, I will adapt and never look back. Because at least I still have the music.

By: AH

AH — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:45:24 +0000

Yeah, nobody can tell the difference between 300 kps and CD quality even on a hi-fi audiophile system so shut the fuck up about there being a difference. Google it and see the tons of ppl who have blind tested it and discovered this.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 19 May 2005 09:30:26 +0000

That’s one reason why I still prefer to buy music on CD. MP3 is fine for ‘on-the-move’ where the quality tends not to have to be so high – or rather it’s sufficient for the enviroment (trains, cars, busy streets, etc.)

By: Martin G Brown

Martin G Brown — Thu, 19 May 2005 08:19:11 +0000

Of course about the worst thing you can do to your music it to re-encode it from one compression format to another. So even if you always listen to your music on MP3 you should never throw the originals out!

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 18 May 2005 06:20:52 +0000

Hey Mr Mindspring “OS X” – that’s really constructive. Try using more than mono-syllabic ape noises, and stop being anonymous, and I might take your comments seriously.

By: steven streight aka vaspers the grate

steven streight aka vaspers the grate — Wed, 18 May 2005 02:30:25 +0000

I know CDs are lower volume, and because they are digital, there is loss of sonic information, the ear processes music analogically.

I don’t know much about MP3s, but I’ve heard that CDs deteriorate in 5 to 15 years.

I hate the RIAA and the music industry, though I’m opposed to illegal downloads.

It’s been proven that those who tape music off the radio, put CD music on cassette, download music files, tend to buy more music, not less.

So the recording industry is whining greedily for stupid reasons.

My band encouraged audiences to bootleg, photograph, videotape our music.

By: OS X

OS X — Wed, 18 May 2005 01:44:28 +0000

> I have become so used to listening to my music in MP3 format that I am
> wondering if I have unknowingly accepted a lower quality of music.

Well, duh.