Cost of hi def / res tracks
Posted by: Sloop John B on 13 January 2014
I feel I am being conned similarly to when CDs first came out that they were dearer than the equivalent of vinyl or cassette.
Surely the most costly part of an album is the actually recording of it and isn't it recorded in high resolution anyway and then downsampled for CD and other formats?
I wouldn't mind paying current CD prices for a high resolution album that I already have on vinyl and CD with possibly two or three masters of it on CD but it really frosts my bum have to pay a premium of 2 to 3 times the cost of the CD for the higher resolution file.
I would be interested in someone from the Naim label explaining to me if I am wrong and if there is such a huge cost involved in a high resolution download comparatively to the whole recording process.
Dear Mangomonkey,
I don't think the exact future of the way domestic music replay is going to be delivered in the medium term is yet clear.
The idea of streaming everything from the internet has its attractions, but not for those who do not have a decent internet connection. I suspect that this means there will always be a need for home storage of music, be it on media such as CDs or Lps, or in the form of files on hard drives.
Nowadays one can find a massive range of music on youtube and not a penny to pay for the doing so. And in the case of of older recordings - out of copyright - then no reason to avoid the chance.
Who could have dreamed of this a decade ago? Some might have but they surely could not be absolutely certain.
My suspicion is that the seeds of the end of so called "hi-res" is already sown with some of of this premium priced stuff actually not being of decent enough quality to justify the price.
A decent mastering on CD quality is not perfect, but it is fine enough for most people. In reality low quality MP3 is fine enough for many more.
If your taste is contemporary pop music, then the advantage of a CD master over an MP3 is nothing in any case, so the CD will perish for recordings where the additional cost of a CD quality issue is not necessary, but for recordings that fully utilise the quality that CD brings, there is a flourishing trade, and the range of classical recordings available is greater than at any time to date.
Will the chance to download CD quality files take over from CDs? I don't know!
I don't suppose anyone knows as the CD will survive as long there are people who are prepared to buy them. And when you look at the riches of great recordings sold for as little as £2 per disc, I see next to no chance of downloads [currently mainly high grade MP3 that are less fine than CDs] taking over when each track typically sells for 89 pence.
I do realise that some people only want one track from an album, but most people buying classical want the entire piece and not just one track from it.
I think you seem to suggest a negativity from those who perhaps think there are bigger issues to worry about compared to exactly how music is distributed in the future. Just because most people don't speculate in an idle and ultimately futile fashion neither implies that people do not care, or even that the future will not contain the chance to listen to decent quality replay of music in the home. Just how that will happen is not something to worry about, any more than any hear can be sure precisely how it will happen.
Legacy replay in current systems will guarantee a certain inertia, and thus any new system or notion is going to have to work very well and be very inexpensive for it to gain any traction. How many notions have fallen by the wayside in short living memory? A classic was Betamax for video, where a superior system from tape video was defeated simply because the widespread VHS was simply more present.
Will Blu-ray ever supplant DVD? I have my doubts! Will "hi-res" defeat CD and CD standard? Again, I doubt it.
Do I care? The honest statement, is that I do not. There are enough CDs already made for me to have everything I couldd ever want, already pressed!
ATB from George
Glad you're back - you have a gift for words.
Change of plans - no longer think it's a great idea to sell CDs. Too much work - specially unnecessary decision fatigue - which ones to keep, which ones to discard...
Was it the very rational fear of the FBI or Interpol knocking on your door with a warrant to seize all electronic devices?
I like high resolution music so i hope to see more and more available.
I hope CDs go away, as i'm fed up with all this ripping.
The main thing i notice with high resolution recordings is how much easier it is to hear the words.
You seem to wish that if CDs "go away" the result will be an increase in hi-res music availability. By what logic? MP3s are the opiate of the masses. Without CDs as a standard, hi-res recordings could become about as available as new recordings on vinyl. As has been said here before, quality recording and sound mastering can be a larger factor in the final sound quality than the resolution.
I think you guys should give Mango a break: he has bought more Naim kit than anybody and I'm sure he'll give the Signature amplifier a go.
But he buys a lot of it used. And re-sells. How does that help Naim?
Change of plans - no longer think it's a great idea to sell CDs. Too much work - specially unnecessary decision fatigue - which ones to keep, which ones to discard...
I don't know how those who sell online do it. All the meticulous wrapping, etc etc., for just a couple of dollars. I truly appreciate it as a buyer, but would not have the patience as a seller.
All materials we use are recycled, with the exception of a bit of sticky tape and address label. A stroll down to my village Post Office is not a hardship and does me good. Even if we're only making a couple of quid at a time, the revenue mounts up, it's better than unwanted things going yellow and taking up space, and I get some satisfaction from knowing that something I don't want is heading for a home where it will be appreciated.