Is an IPOD hi-fi?

And remember the words of Adolph Hitler: The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.

I seem to be missing something here: what "Lie" are the masses falling to in the case of the iPod?! What has Apple, and or Steve Jobs done to make you see fit to fit them in to a reference to Hitler? I'm serious...can you explain what it is specifically that you are objecting to? Your previous references are inflamatory at best, with the possible exception of the simple statement, "...it's not for me," which is perfectly clear. I can understand that it's not for you, but what makes you believe so strongly that it's not for anyone else, and or that the masses have been brainwashed into buying some kind of poisoned snake-oil? Or are you just trolling the Internet seas?

Marco

To:Seandtaylor99 , I have no idea what the encoding was. The units were being demonstrated at a Best Buy or Circuit City or some box store I was in. A very hot latino gal came up to me and popped the ear phones in. She had me and the sale until she turned it on, like finger nails across a chalk board man. So naturally I let her do her thing and she played everything from classical,rock,jazz,gospel, you name it,it was on the I-Pod. To bad it sounded like crap. But as far as the encoding was, I have no clue. But one would think If your trying to sell a product one would use the best format.

One thing for sure, I'll won't forget her, till they plant me 6 feet under. Hopefully I can stab out the sound of that thing in my mind, before I die.

But as far as the encoding was, I have no clue. But one would think If your trying to sell a product one would use the best format.

It would make a HUGE difference how the music was formatted. I'm sure at Best Buy they were pushing MP3's to show off the capacity of the unit, as most folks clearly just aren't that discriminating about the quality of the sound, judging by what sells, and how popular downloads have become. The iPod holds far more music in compressed formats, and that would be something they'd be bragging about too, especially if it were one of the smaller units like a Nano. Not to wish more abuse on your ears, but you may want to give it another try with files that are uncompressed (WAV) or compressed in a lossles format (Apple Lossless), and make sure to use a decent pair of earbuds (like Shure E4's or E5 or E500). You may not have the hot Latino to make the experience as memorable, but I bet you'd be more impressed with the iPod. Then again, maybe not.

Do you understand the concept of compression as it is related to audio files?

Marco

Okay, tell you what I'll do, in the near future,will try the I-Pod again and ask them what format the files are in,using the knowledge from this thread. Yes I do understand the concept of compression as i was in the music business with CBS for many years. However I am not up to speed on compression as it relates to downloaded music.So enlightenment there is warranted.

I also have great concerns on file sharing and how it relates to the artist and record label and if the royalties are being paid. I have strong concerns about piracy and downloaded material that is copyrighted and the artist is denied his royalty. Thirty years ago I was involved in crushing a few pirate operations here in the U.S. Artist should not be ripped off and denied their royalty. Piracy hurts everyone from the casual listener to the most ardent music maven.

Thanks for the dialogue.

Yes I do understand the concept of compression as i was in the music business with CBS for many years. However I am not up to speed on compression as it relates to downloaded music.So enlightenment there is warranted.

If you understand compression, then you understand the notion as it relates to downloaded music. Most downloaded music is highly compressed to facilitate fast transmission. There is at least one smaller service that is offering less compressed music as downloads..can't recall the URL, but the big boys (iTunes) is highly compressed and you may as well be sticking nails into your ears if you are expecting hi-fidelity. I believe the losses are not just in the actual musical content, but also just as critical, in the timing of the music. All that information is held in those zeros and ones. When you start eliminating a whole bunch of those binary digits, the processor has to interpret what was once there as best it can. That "interpretation" is what is driving the stakes into your skull...that, and perhaps a crappy pair of headphones. Somehow I don't think the Latino babe will be able to answer your question about formats, but hey, there I go stereotyping.

Good on you for fighting for the rights of the artist. Somehow I can't help but believe that the artists could be getting a better shake from the corporations that distribute their work as well. There seems to be a movement of more and more artists forming their own labels.

As far as anti-piracy - there is more than one side to that coin. If you are viewing it as black-letter law, then the agenda is very clear, but I don't believe the world is so black and white. Certainly I believe that on a mass scale piracy does hurt everyone. But I have to confess, I openly receive CD-R's from friends who have wanted to introduce me to new music, and have done the same in sharing music with friends. In many cases it has lead me to hear music I otherwise would never have heard, and to both buy and recommend music by same artists. Same thing applied to cassete tapes shared the same way in my younger days. Having heard a cut or two while visiting a friend, or previewing at a retail store would not have convinced me to necessarily buy or recommend same music. Does that make it ethically 'right'? No. Am I hurting the artists I enjoy? I really don't believe I am because I'm actually buying their stuff, recommending them to others, and seeing their shows in many cases. Had I not recieved the CD-R, I'm sure there would be many, many artists I would simply not be supporting in that way. You have a unique viewpoint having been on the other side. I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Marco