MP3s any good for vintage gear?

[c.coyle]

Yep, the internet "grid" is as reliable as the phone system because, well, it's run by the phone companies! Virtually all your phone calls these days travel over the same grid, in digital form (which is why long distance calls are no longer noisy and expensive). Files are stored in massive, multiply redundant data centers, and will never be lost.

Here is a good (but probably a little outdated) book on the physical internet. Easy reading.

 

[Gingahippy]

I work in a design/engineering department. We're all assburgers.

We're also probably all in the 90%th percentile on HR's Most Wanted list so I dunno about rocking the boat...

"Assburgers"!! How have I not heard that before?? Briliance!

 

[Raynald]

Another vote to use FLAC moving forward. Storage is cheap, they tag easily and you have an exact copy of the original. If they don't sound better to you there is no downside. You can always convert to lower formats for whatever reason later. One day you may upgrade and realize there is a difference for you. If you go with any lossy format you will never have the option of going back to the original. I do agree that the better MP3 can sound good and when they are the only option are just fine for enjoying the music they contain.

 

[rwartner]

I consider my investment. Hardware, software, music, etc. I got into this and really enjoy collecting CDs. With what it is all worth it doesn't make sense to me to rip lossy (compressed files). Whether MP3 sounds worse is irrelevant. Why spend the money and time and then give the system a possibly inferior format? I would rather give it the opportunity to sound best. Especially when it doesn't take anymore to do it right.

You now have a small collection. What if you are nutty like me and your few CDs becomes a couple thousand? Will you look back and wonder what it could be like?

 

[Gingahippy]

I notice a distinct difference when flipping between standard and the high/extreme bitrate on Spotify. Way more than I thought I would. So from now on I'll give more credence to CDs and rupping them to FLAC/WAV and noy downloading 320kbps MP3s when I can. DAC unit comes later. Recap first. I figure that's the next biggest factor in playback quality.

 

[JoeESP9]

I have a problem with using the cloud for storing all my music. Having to use the internet to listen to music that I own goes against my grain. This doesn't mean I don't/won't use cloud storage. It means that no matter what I'll always keep my local storage and a backup. OTOH I can't see any reason for ripping to WAV files. The lack of inherent metadata tagging is IMO a more than sufficient reason. Every player program I'm aware of uses metadata tags to keep track of a music library.

 

[E-Stat]

Yep, the internet "grid" is as reliable as the phone system because, well, it's run by the phone companies!

But local ISPs are not. A significant fiber network feeding mine owned by AT&T was severed during some road work and down for two days. Every once in a while the repeater in my neighborhood goes done and I’m out for many hours.

 

[KrisM]

I have a problem with using the cloud for storing all my music. Having to use the internet to listen to music that I own goes against my grain. This doesn't mean I don't/won't use cloud storage. It means that no matter what I'll always keep my local storage and a backup. OTOH I can't see any reason for ripping to WAV files. The lack of inherent metadata tagging is IMO a more than sufficient reason. Every player program I'm aware of uses metadata tags to keep track of a music library.

Yeah, cloud storage is great, but trusting it? Nah.
Take a look at all those pics that were linked to photo cloud sites that are now dead.
I recently bought an old Jeep Grand Cherokee as a work truck, and went to a great forum to find info to fix a couple of small things. Lots of great info, but also a whole pile of dead pictures. Just sad that a big effort was made by somebody to help others, but is now truncated.

I know I'm an odd duck on here with this, but I do a lot of music listening with a program/app that doesn't require any proper tagging. It searches the folders the music is in.
Not that I don't do proper tags, I do. But I also curate my music library with a simple folder structure that works for me. Win-win on both fronts.

 

[cpt_paranoia]

Rip once.
Rip perfectly.
Rip lossless.

Storage is cheap. Your time is not.

You only want to rip once; it is a tedious, physically painful experience. Not so bad if you only have 2 CDs. Too awful to contemplate if you have 2500 CDs... Luckily, I opted to rip lossless when I started. Delta rips for new purchases I can cope with.

Transcode to a parallel directory if you must have compressed files for low capacity portable devices. Just let your computer to the work. It will take time, but it's no effort on your part. Make sure to transcode to a parallel directory; you don't want to overwrite your precious lossless files...

I'm no audiophile super-ears and no instruments type, and I have tinnitus, but even I can hear the difference between FLAC and LAME V0 VBR MP3, on an average system. The MP3s are just 'muddy'.

Don't use WAV; it's rubbish for metadata.

 

[BrocLuno]

In my world, once MP3's get above 192K, they are pretty good. At 320, they are very good.

As good, or better than, the average $100 cartridge on a used turn table running through a stereo that has not been serviced in 20 years, into speakers that have not been re-capped, etc.

The only way to know if you are loosing something, no matter the source, is to listen critically. The first step is a good pair of headphones (to eliminate the room effects and speakers issues). Then dig in. If you hear differences, something is wrong somewhere. If it sounds good to you and it's clean and clear - what else do you want ...

And I do spend time editing digital recordings. I also edit tapes. I swap cartridges to get the playback I want. My systems are tools. The sound is the goal. The way you get there is up to you ... Time in the hobby to get what you want is what it is about, in part

Does your local library loan CD's? Mine does, so I can find stuff I have on vinyl or tape. I can rip one track to 192 and listen against another source. Occasionally, the CD will be good enough that I need to rip at 256 or 320 and it is quite good.

I'm not a fan of VBR ...

The biggest problem I have is with other peoples MP3's ... What are they thinking ... Even portable player walk-around music should be better than that

In one system, I have a Dennon DVD-758 that will play CD's and MP3's on disk. I can A-B the MP3 against the source CD under phones and I often can't tell the difference. OK, My ears are not 20 any more. But I'm assured I can get pretty darn close with MP3

At that point they are easy to share, travel with in the car players, etc. What's not to like?

Yeah sure, if I was building an archive, I would go another way. But this is all for casual listening