LA City Club
Softball at Shato July 27, 2011
Video
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Hanson at the Viper Room?
I saw an odd site a few weeks ago near where I work. At the Viper Room in Hollywood there was a small line of people waiting in line to see Hanson. Is this the MMMMboppp Hanson? Does anyone know about this? Did anyone see them play?
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Adding Warmth to MP3's
How are you making MP3's sound better. What technologies are you using? Do you use a different compression technology? What are your overall thoughts on the sound of MP3's?
------------------------------------------------------
For Mr. Adler and kin, the ability to compress music so that thousands of songs fit on a pocket-size player is no longer enough. What they want even more are digital files that provide sumptuous sound. Fortunately, a pile of software and hardware is available that tries to sweeten digital sound by putting back what compression has taken out.
One easy way to get that effect is to add tube equipment to a system, as Mr. Adler did. There are even CD players with tubes, offered by companies like Jolida, AH! Njoe Tjoeb, Lector and Acute.
Choosing tubes over digital and solid-state equipment is a divisive issue among audiophiles. While tubes sound warm to some, others argue that they are less accurate.
“One thing you have to ask is what are people really going for, accurate reproduction or pleasing reproduction,” said Anu Kirk, director of product management for Rhapsody, the online music service.
Music can also be warmed with software. One such program is the DFX Sound Enhancer from FX Sound, which the company says has been downloaded more than 19 million times. DFX Sound Enhancer, available free at fxsound.com, “synthesizes back missing harmonics,” said Paul Titchener, the founder of FX Sound.
Dolby Laboratories also has software that enriches sound, called Audistry, as well as one called Dolby Headphone, which simulates the surround-sound effect of a five-speaker system in regular headphones. Beyond these products, people who listen to music on portable devices can often improve their sound simply by compressing the music less. Analog music, like the tone from a violin string, is a single, smooth wave; digital music is made of samples taken from points on that wave and later reconstructed. The process is never perfect.
A typical MP3 is recorded at 128 kilobits per second, which captures about a tenth of the data on a CD, which itself is just part of the data from a record, tape or live performance. Most programs that convert CDs to MP3 files offer the option of using a higher data rate. “The higher the data rate, the better it sounds,” said Jack Buser, whose title at Dolby is worldwide technology evangelist.
Although 128 kilobits per second is standard, experts say that a setting of 160 should be enough for portable devices; 190 is better; and 256 may be too much. Mr. Buser recommends comparing recordings of a favorite song ripped at increasing data rates. “When you can’t hear the difference anymore, it’s overkill,” he said.
Anticipating a growing market of audiophiles, new services have been opening. MusicGiants.com will offer 1,200 Super HD downloads taken from Super Audio CDs and audio DVDs, which have a higher sampling rate than standard CDs. Downloads are $20 per album. MusicGiants.com also offers 500,000 uncompressed CD downloads, for $1.29 a song.
Link to article
------------------------------------------------------
For Mr. Adler and kin, the ability to compress music so that thousands of songs fit on a pocket-size player is no longer enough. What they want even more are digital files that provide sumptuous sound. Fortunately, a pile of software and hardware is available that tries to sweeten digital sound by putting back what compression has taken out.
One easy way to get that effect is to add tube equipment to a system, as Mr. Adler did. There are even CD players with tubes, offered by companies like Jolida, AH! Njoe Tjoeb, Lector and Acute.
Choosing tubes over digital and solid-state equipment is a divisive issue among audiophiles. While tubes sound warm to some, others argue that they are less accurate.
“One thing you have to ask is what are people really going for, accurate reproduction or pleasing reproduction,” said Anu Kirk, director of product management for Rhapsody, the online music service.
Music can also be warmed with software. One such program is the DFX Sound Enhancer from FX Sound, which the company says has been downloaded more than 19 million times. DFX Sound Enhancer, available free at fxsound.com, “synthesizes back missing harmonics,” said Paul Titchener, the founder of FX Sound.
Dolby Laboratories also has software that enriches sound, called Audistry, as well as one called Dolby Headphone, which simulates the surround-sound effect of a five-speaker system in regular headphones. Beyond these products, people who listen to music on portable devices can often improve their sound simply by compressing the music less. Analog music, like the tone from a violin string, is a single, smooth wave; digital music is made of samples taken from points on that wave and later reconstructed. The process is never perfect.
A typical MP3 is recorded at 128 kilobits per second, which captures about a tenth of the data on a CD, which itself is just part of the data from a record, tape or live performance. Most programs that convert CDs to MP3 files offer the option of using a higher data rate. “The higher the data rate, the better it sounds,” said Jack Buser, whose title at Dolby is worldwide technology evangelist.
Although 128 kilobits per second is standard, experts say that a setting of 160 should be enough for portable devices; 190 is better; and 256 may be too much. Mr. Buser recommends comparing recordings of a favorite song ripped at increasing data rates. “When you can’t hear the difference anymore, it’s overkill,” he said.
Anticipating a growing market of audiophiles, new services have been opening. MusicGiants.com will offer 1,200 Super HD downloads taken from Super Audio CDs and audio DVDs, which have a higher sampling rate than standard CDs. Downloads are $20 per album. MusicGiants.com also offers 500,000 uncompressed CD downloads, for $1.29 a song.
Link to article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
