CD to mp3

[Joe Sr.]

Who has the time?

Well...apparently I do.  I think it's one of those things, you either make time or it doesn't happen.  cheers, j

3 kids under five.  I have no time for anything.

[jaybeerman]

3 kids under five.  I have no time for anything.

Ouch.  I love kids and don't have any, my wife has two - a daughter thats grown and a son thats a senior in high school.

I grew up with two younger brothers.  For a good portion of our childhood we didn't watch tv, but I can recall times that my dad would come home from work dead tired.  He would sit down on the couch, talk with my mom and listen to music while we ran around the house.  I'm guessing that's where I got my need to unwind via listening to music (at least in-part).  cheers, j

[denny]

Thanks, Denny.  I appreciate the advice from someone who's knowledgeable.

Any experience with an RCA to USB adaptor?

When I was transferring albums before (through the mic-in), my recollection is that I had to bring it in through an amplifier.  I can't recall for sure why (it's been a few years) and I was going at it ad hoc.  My assumption is that the unamplified signal from the turn table just wasn't enough to register without the amplifier.  I don't know if that would be an issue going with an RCA/USB adaptor.

JOE

Without seeing the adaptor, I's guess you would still need a preamp.  The output of a turntable is miniscule.  In addition, phono preamps apply a special RIAA equalization to the turntable signal.  without that a turntable won't sound right.

[denny]

Well then that leads to the question:

If the analog recording technique used on vinyl records is better, could modern methods and materials be used to make the records more robust?  And convenient?

ANALOG RECORDING IS NOT BETTER!  In addition, pressing any recording to vinyl severely degrades the frequency response.  Especially the low end since the needle can't track a recording with full low end without jumping out of the groove.  I can make a digital recording sound just like vinyl...roll of the high and low end and add some distortion and hiss.  Voila!  Now, if you prefer the way analog sounds, fine.  But as someone who had to put up with the shortcomings of analog for many years before digital recording, there's no way I can say analog sounds better.

[punatic]

Thank you!  That's the way I remember it too.  I bought my first CD player in 1984.  I remember the CDs sounding orders of magnitude better than albums.  So much so that I stopped listening to my vinyl.  I was particularly blown away by Dire Straits Brothers In Arms, the first DDD album I ever heard.

I have a fairly substantial hearing loss now, so the difference in sound qualiity between 128k and 256k is pretty much beyond me, especially the higher frequencies.

[euge]

Interesting to see you say that digital is better than analog (I agree) Denny. But for years musicians and audiophile have claimed otherwise. I didn't understand it and thought- well I must have un-sensitive hearing... To me a quality mp3 sounds great on current average stereo equipment- which has improved vastly in comparison to the mass market devices available in the 70's. Though I still hear people claim that vacuum-tube amps sound the best.

I too have some degraded hearing due to: rock concerts, loud bars, gunfire and idiot friends who liked to blast their car stereos past the threshold of pain. I haven't been to a concert in years- hurts my ears.

[Joe Sr.]

3 kids under five.  I have no time for anything.

Ouch.  I love kids and don't have any, my wife has two - a daughter thats grown and a son thats a senior in high school.

I grew up with two younger brothers.  For a good portion of our childhood we didn't watch tv, but I can recall times that my dad would come home from work dead tired.  He would sit down on the couch, talk with my mom and listen to music while we ran around the house.  I'm guessing that's where I got my need to unwind via listening to music (at least in-part).  cheers, j

Oh, I still listen to music.  We've got something on all the time.  Currently my reggae play list on itunes (wife is out).  Often jazz or blues on satellite radio. My wife is a musician, so music is ubiquitous in our household.

I just don't think I could make the time to clean an album, put it on the turntable, and then have to flip it and all that.  If I turn my back, someone winds up screaming and crying...  Or the kids would wind up scratching the albums.

[jaybeerman]

3 kids under five.  I have no time for anything.

Ouch.  I love kids and don't have any, my wife has two - a daughter thats grown and a son thats a senior in high school.

I grew up with two younger brothers.  For a good portion of our childhood we didn't watch tv, but I can recall times that my dad would come home from work dead tired.  He would sit down on the couch, talk with my mom and listen to music while we ran around the house.  I'm guessing that's where I got my need to unwind via listening to music (at least in-part).  cheers, j

Oh, I still listen to music.  We've got something on all the time.  Currently my reggae play list on itunes (wife is out).  Often jazz or blues on satellite radio. My wife is a musician, so music is ubiquitous in our household.

I just don't think I could make the time to clean an album, put it on the turntable, and then have to flip it and all that.  If I turn my back, someone winds up screaming and crying...  Or the kids would wind up scratching the albums.

Joe Sr, I hear ya.  someday

denny, come on.  I know what you're saying BUT, you're addressing one factor in a discussion with many factors.  I have a very nice DVD/SACD player and I have a mediocre LP player - don't talk about numbers or anything else, just sit down and listen to the two.  They both have their pluses and minuses, but I can guarantee you that you'll like the Jimmy Guffre 3, 1961 on LP.  cheers, j

[denny]

I can guarantee you that you'll like the Jimmy Guffre 3, 1961 on LP.  cheers, j

I might love the music, but I guarantee you that the sound quality would put a damper on my enjoyment.  I can't tell you how many concerts have been ruined for me because I spent more time thinking about the poor sound quality than the actual performance.

[corkybstewart]

So now lets talk about playback.  What are the best options for high quality audio.  Are there amps out there I can hook to my computer that will play both sets of speakers(indoor and outdoor)

[Joe Sr.]

I've got a friend that swears by Sonos.  It will play your iTunes playlists remotely.  Not sure if it picks up other playlist formats.

I haven't been willing to spend the cash, but the wireless amps and handset controllers are pretty cool.  I think you can also control it from your iPhone with an app.

[euge]

I've got a friend that swears by Sonos.  It will play your iTunes playlists remotely.  Not sure if it picks up other playlist formats.

I haven't been willing to spend the cash, but the wireless amps and handset controllers are pretty cool.  I think you can also control it from your iPhone with an app.

I saw this last week. Pick up the wireless bridge and I think you can have surround-sound.

[mtnrockhopper]

petabyte hard drive

I think you could probably reduce the bitrate a little and be OK. 

Then buy an ipod and fit one song on it.

[dbeechum]

I've got a friend that swears by Sonos. 

Similarly, for $99 you can get an Apple TV box that hooks up to your receiver, will play anything off anyone's iTunes in the house, can be controlled from the phone, rent movies from Netflix and iTunes, play Youtube videos, etc.

And the AirPlay makes it truly awesome since you can fire up things like Pandora through it, songs on your phone/touch and video.

[jaybeerman]

I might love the music, but I guarantee you that the sound quality would put a damper on my enjoyment.  I can't tell you how many concerts have been ruined for me because I spent more time thinking about the poor sound quality than the actual performance.

I'm the same way to the point that my wife hates going to concerts with me.  Ok I guess we just have differing opinions.  I love music, it's my life, not my profession but definitely my life - I can hear the difference between a terrible recording (on LP or CD/DVD/SACD) and good recording and I can hear the difference between a CD and a LP, but I still like the sound quality of a good LP.  cheers, j