As we’ve mentioned many times before, at Gigsby we’re big proponents of audiophile quality sound. We think that if artists and producers take the time to produce high quality music it’s only logical that the end user be able to experience and appreciate all of that hard work. Naturally, one would think that with all the advances in technology that sound quality would be much better today than it was even 25 years ago. According to Tony Andrews of Funktion-One’s paper titled Sound Quality, the exact opposite has happened. Tony says that in the process of converting from analogue to digital, “we have actually gone backwards” in terms of sound quality.
Tony goes on to say:
The limiting factor today is the source material, signal processing chain and the medium it is stored to and transmitted with. MP3s are the final insult in a series of events leading to bad quality source material.
So it’s clear that the all too popular MP3s are the root cause of this sound quality destruction. But what’s the big deal? MP3s are also the reason that many more people today have access to music than ever before. With more potential listeners, there are more fans and likely many more people paying to see live shows.
Like every argument, there are many issues with this thinking. In this London Times article, referencing Jonathon Berger’s Stanford student sound quality study, MP3s are now conditioning us to prefer low quality MP3s and the “sizzle sound” or distortion that’s created from them. By flattening the complexity and depth of music, producers are now being forced to make albums “louder than other people’s records” in order to attract listeners’ attention. If this trend continues, artists and producers will continue to have fewer and fewer opportunities to differentiate themselves through creativity and talent.
We can conclude with encouraging DJs and promoters to make sure high quality sound is heard at gigs. DJs should use high quality lossless tracks and promoters should make sure the sound systems are high end. It’s in our best collective interest!
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Tags: Audiophile, Best sound quality, Electronic Music, Funktion One, Jonathon Berger, lossless, MP3, Tony Andrews