Apple 24-bit
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- Juanmonk
Apple are in talks with record companies to release tracks at 24-bit as originally recorded. At the moment cd's are 16-bit and fook knows how much more they're reduced for mp3's. Not necessarily a bad thing, but is it worth it when most people listen to tunes on those shitty apple earphones anyways? Plus the fact that it's possibly just an excuse to overcharge for downloads, market higher GB ipods etc ... what do you's think?
- mcmillions0
they would actually be selling 24-bit aiff/wav in itunes? i'm a little skeptical of that, but what's wrong with selling higher-resolution files? for all the people that use shitty earbud headphones, there are a number of people who put money into their home entertainment or over-ear headphones, so it makes sense.
- Peter0
What do I think? Shut up and spend your money on the new 24 bit ipod. More bits, dammet. More pretty colors.
- mcmillions0
alright, now i just have to air out some dirty laundry—aside from earbud headphones sucking dick in general, FUCK apple's supplied headphones. what a waste of rubber and electronics.
- Juanmonk0
Yeah, the apple earphones suck balls. Fall apart and crackle like a bowl of cereal after a whiles. Would be good to hear high quality tracks through a good set of speakers though.
- aanderton0
If they aren't going to charge any extra for higher quality I'm all for it. If I ever download music I try to get 24bit where possible, just sounds a lot better.
- pinkfloyd0
I always wondered about the loss of quality with the mp3 formats. I love music, so 24 bits sounds awesome. Has anyone tried these headphones?
http://storeimages.apple.com/181…
After getting bose headphones, the standard apple headphones aren't cutting it. I just don't like how big the bose headphones are, so i'm looking for something in ear.
- Juanmonk0
^ Not seen them, look not bad. I'm with you on that, can't wear those oversized headphones anymore, end up looking and feeling like a total tool.
- d_rek0
While the quality of digitally compressed music is always on the rise it in no way, shape or form compares to true, uncompressed analog signals.
The fact is, compressed music, unless specifically engineered for certain bitrates, typically always compromises the artists and sound engineers intended output.
By giving us higher bitrate, uncompressed audio we get about as close to we can to the artists and the audio engineers intended output.
Think of it this way...
It's sort of a similar argument for photographers with Film VS Digital photography. Granted, Digital photography has been making leaps and bounds lately, it still doesn't hold up to the same quality of a beautiful glicee or 4cp print.
- Peter0
In ear phones? Buy Swedish.
Nocs have -fair- dynamic ranges.
Comes in aluminum, stainless steel or titanium:
http://nocs.se/Or Jays. Greater dynamic range, but not as great build as above if you're a huge metal fan.
http://www.jays.se- yeah, that shit looks like it would definitely clog my ears up. pretty though?mcmillions
- in-ears are suppose to clog your ears up, dude, sealing you off from the noise around you.Peter
- i mean clog up my ears in the sense that they're now congested after wearing in-ear headphones for awhile. my hearing hasn't gone quite back to normal yet.mcmillions
- hearing hasn't gone quite back to normal yet.mcmillions
- There's always hear aid's
;)Peter
- epic_rim0
I think this is great news. Recording engineers in the last ten years (and more specifically, mastering engineers) have been producing music with the understanding that their stereo image, dynamic range and nuance are going to be decimated (literally) by MP3 compression. That made sense back in a time when the media and channels that music was being distributed on were limited. Now that we live in a broadband world world where hard drive storage is practically limitless (although iPods and Iphones are definitely limited) it's high time we start undoing the destruction that compressed audio has done.
- TheMagicSheep0
gizmodo article
Why 24-bit Audio Will Be Bad For Users
Tom Davenport — Apple and other digital retailers are planning to offer 24-bit audio to consumers. It should be an easy sell; recording studios use 24-bit, it's how the music was mixed, and it's how the consumers should hear it. Right? Wrong.
24-bit audio might be the staple of recording studios, but there's a reason it should stay there. 24-bit has a really low "noise floor" — that hum you hear if you turn a silent amplifier up really high. With 16-bit, the noise floor is slightly higher. While that might be a problem in a studio where you're boosting sounds to be clear and loud, it's irrelevant to the end listener who is given the fully mastered and noise-free version already. Even CDs are 16-bit, and the sonic quality of a CD is an accepted definition of consumer-worthy HD quality.
24-bit also has a better volume depth, known as dynamic range. However, CDs already have a huge potential dynamic range, but the loudness war has resulted in music squashed to within a few decibels of its life. This is the same reason TV commercials are so loud. When modern music is mixed to blow your ears off already, it negates the dynamic benefits the digital revolution once promised. This is a cultural issue within the industry, which faces protest on March 25 with Dynamic Range Day.
Finally, the digital effects used in studios to mix music benefit from the higher 24-bit resolution file for microscopic processing duties. Home listeners have no reason to use these effects. And let's not forget the huge file sizes and the fact many portable music players don't support 24-bit playback.
A consumer will never need 24-bit. Ever.
Which is where Dr. Dre comes in. The hip-hop producer has offered his Beats headphones to audiophiles for some years with his business partner Jimmy Iovine, CEO and chairman of Interscope, who have clearly struck on the potential for marketing their high-grade headphones as a means to appreciate these HD files.
The Beats Audio team have taken the 24-bit concept to the other major labels and retailers, perhaps suggesting they can claw back traditional sales revenue from the growing subscription market, where the likes of Spotify will be unable to compete because the new file sizes will push up streaming time and costs.
"We've gone back now at Universal and we're changing our pipes to 24-bit," Iovine told CNN. "And Apple has been great. We're working with them and other digital services - download services - to change to 24-bit. And some of their electronic devices are going to be changed as well. So we have a long road ahead of us."
About the author
Tom Davenport is a recording engineer and writer from the farmlands of England, contributing to Spinner, thisisfakeDIY, Antiquiet and The Ocelot. He blogs at tomdavenport.co.uk and Twitter while thinking up fictional twitter accounts, including the first fan-made transmedia project.
To the hi-fi industry, audiophile has always been another word for sucker. There's no doubt that good quality equipment will sound better than iPod headphones, but with the marketing might of the modern music industry, there could soon be more audiophiles than ever.Were iTunes to offer 16-bit lossless audio, as on a CD, the recording community would rejoice and recommend it. However, 24-bit is shaping up to be a huge con. The industry might be smart to find and sell intangible value, but with higher prices and storage, the consumer loses again.
- d_rek0
For the record, that gizmodo article is utter horseshit.=
- agreed. just trying to add to the conversation. a little counter-point never hurt anyoneTheMagicSheep
- epic_rim0
yeah, that giz article is a bit like Sarah Palin talking "science" about global warming.
- dskz0
Makes perfect sense. Audiophiles will love it.
That said: I still like and use mp3.
- d_rek0
@epic_rim,
To me it sounds like a lazy audio engineer bitching about having to do some work for a change and put out shitty mixes for the ipod generation.
- epic_rim0
@d_rek
surprisingly, the amount of effort it takes to get an ipod mix is close to the effort it takes to make a nice, dynamic mix. Also, I've never met a lazy audio engineer.
- jadrian_uk0
It's BS, analog sound will always be better than digital sound. technocrate's BS.
- dbloc0
I don't think the general public will notice a difference.