Future of Digital sound

[acorn]

Hi all

Would any one care to comment as to the future of Digital sound, considering the demise of SACD and DVD - A. What other formats have we got to look forward to. I realise that Blue ray is on the horizon but will this format be the panaseer of quality disks with no compression.

Dab has been foisterd on the Brtish Public with little or know consideration with regards to quality,so it seems that we have ended up with one of the worse bit rates in the world. There was a golden opportunity to set a high standard that would have even surpassed CD quality, but we are all aware of what has happend ie the more is better issue as prevailed at the expense of quality once again.

Regards Acorn

[James D]

As long as big corporations monopolise the formats then it will always go with the mass market.

If you want quality then keep buying vinyl and drive more releases onto that as this gives the small and meduim players a chance to compete on level ground with the big boys.

James

[Richard]

If you want quality then keep buying vinyl and drive more releases onto that as this gives the small and meduim players a chance to compete on level ground with the big boys.

Interesting comment James. I'd have thought cutting and pressing vinyl was more expensive these days than contracting out CD production?

Rich

[James D]

It is but it attracts a different audience than Cds do and one that isn't swamped by the mass market.

Of course of you are a chained outlet like Fopp you can bash out CD re-releases at £3:00 a copy and make a nice profit :-) and its a nice service for us. But it doesn't move the quality barrier forward whilst a lot of fresh vinyl does just that and pushes the quality back down the recording chain. Try some of the dance music coming out of Germany that has been specifically recorded for the vinyl market and the quality is absolutely outstanding - Thanks to Dave Dove for opening my eyes.

Then there are lables like Classic records specialising in the highest quality of remastered vinyl re-releases.

Its the quality end of the market now-a-days and favours the small and meduim operators.

James

[petercom]

Originally Posted by acorn

Dab has been foisterd on the Brtish Public with little or know consideration with regards to quality,so it seems that we have ended up with one of the worse bit rates in the world. There was a golden opportunity to set a high standard that would have even surpassed CD quality, but we are all aware of what has happend ie the more is better issue as prevailed at the expense of quality once again.

Regards Acorn

And the same thing is happening to TV. Once the BBC led the way with quality engineering - introduction of 625 lines, PAL colour etc - but, when given the chance to provide an HDTV service, bottled out for multiple lo-fi channels instead.

Once the analogue service is switched off in 2008 we may have to go to Sky to get decent quality video (lol) unless the BBC get on with their HDTV plans soon.

[James D]

Sky have some very good engineers buried in the organisation so there is some hope.

Shame their recent HDTV demo to the press didn't work though...

Having seen HDTV in Japan I can say that it is wonderful and does clearly show up material that isn't produced properly so it will push up production technical values.

James

[John Caswell]

Hi all,
Having been involved in all sorts of things Broadcastwise from manufacturing to transmission over many years I am afraid I am now somewhat cynical, it will all boil down to money.
I have, as JamesD says, some very good engineering friends at Sky and elsewhere and some of them are of the opinion that the only area to benefit from HD is sport as there is a lot of shekels in it for all concerned.
I most certainly will not pay £450 per year for Sky or anything/anyone else for that matter as generally the quality and content is c**p. Freeview has to be seen to be disbelieved, pay per view no thank you and as for the satellite channels..........
When you listen to the FM radio stations and immedately play the same CD/LP you realise how much is thrown away with companding, compression, bit rates etc. And DAB beggars belief!
It seems to me that all that matters is the number of channels they can put up and the number of advertisers they can attract. With the exception of the Great God Sport, programmes come a very poor second.
I am not a luddite as I have all the above mentioned reception mediums except DAB mainly because of what I was, and a lot were supplied as part of the job, but I would not buy them now, but I may be forced to in the future

John aka Dr john

[Andrew]

Hi Gents,

It's a great shame, but the common theme does appear to be quantity (and low cost) and not quality. How sad....and its not just music.

I had the opportunity to plug in another vernable HP PSU for a job last week, it must have been 25 years old to the day and still did its job admirably, rock solid regulation, spot on.....How may of today's products will be able to boast that kind of quality and longevity?

My real concern is how can our planet hope to sustain the throw away behaviour this ethos creates.

Anyway, I digress, sad about DVD-A, DAB is a joke, CD is not perfect and is certainly not forever, I have lost some 80's ones to rot (delaminating) and BTW my Dad's 78's still play OK....let's hope for more from HDTV and Blue Ray..........

I don't expect much, the mass market is downloaded compressed digital, perferably that costs nowt. James is right support the small vinyl producers. Perhaps I'm just a dinosaur?

I'll get me coat....

cheers,

-- Andrew

Whats the pits is Metro Radio broadcasting on FM in mono to save money, what the hell is that about, get out waste of space. This is really taking the ****.
Local radio is ****.
Will.

[petercom]

Well it is about the same as the BBC broadcasting mono Radio 4 on DAB to save on bit rate (multiplex bandwidth)!