In recent years we’ve seen video go one way, and audio another. HD televisions are more or less standard now, offering clearer, sharper pictures with smoother refresh rates. Ultra HD TVs — also called 4K — are also on the way with about four times as many pixels to look at.
On the flipside, the average resolution of the music we listen to has been moving in the opposite direction, with CD sales dropping and more people opting for heavily compressed music hey can easily stream or download to their phones.
Some say your ears can’t tell the difference between a CD quality audio file and an MP3, but a lot of music lovers beg to differ – including Apple founder Steve Jobs, who’s iTunes Music Store has ironically sped up the demise of CDs. Given a choice between MP3s and vinyl, however, Jobs chose vinyl!
The masses walking down the street listening to MP3s through EarPods might be rocking out, but they’re listening to some of the worst audio quality in generations.
– Mario Aguilar, Gizmodo.com
High Definition Audio On The Rise
There are a few signs that things are turning around:
Recently musician Niel Young helped to launch a device called the Pono Player, which allows people to download high definition audio — up to 24-bit resolution with a 192 kHz sampling rate. That’s far higher than the already high quality CD standard of 16 bit and 44.1 kHz.
The Pono Player is also just one source for high definition audio these days. Websites like AudioStream (www.audiostream.com) and HDTracks (www.hdtracks.com) already let you shop for HD music, while record labels – including Sony – also have online stores of their own selling HD tracks and music on DVD.
As well, a growing number of mostly urban radio stations are now broadcasting an HD alternative if you have a radio receiver capable of tuning in. There’s a list of available stations at HDRadio.com.
Going HD is a huge commitment for home and car audio, because the files can be huge. At the highest 24-bit sound quality, a single minute of music needs about 66 megabytes of storage, versus 2.4 MB per minute for the highest quality compressed MP3 or WMA. CD quality is about 10 MB per minute.
The mobile audio industry is already embracing the HD market, with more radios capable of streaming HD stations, and speaker systems designed to play the added range and precision requed for higher resolution music. Come into the store to sample it for yourself.
Leave a Reply