As for vinyl being better, it is, and will remain so for acoustic music. Music when recorded is in analog form, or it used to be, and then put onto an analog medium. It remains in that state until pressed to albums. Conversely, to convert old stuff to new CD format requires an A/D conversion. Sampling rates and such degrade the sound. I think where most people misunderstand the problem is cost vs SNR/THD. CDs give you a better sound when spending less. If money is no object then vinyl will give you the best sound. And when I talk quality components I’m talking Pipe Dreams, Nordost Flatline and players like JA Michell Gyrodec SE Turntables. Can most of us afford stuff like that? I know I can’t but I have been to enough high end component shows and have heard enough vinyl to know it gives you a great sound.

Cheers!

That’s the way I see it. I mean, I am sure Apple takes their DRM very seriously, thus the measures they take to protect it. But it really is easy to work with and for the user it can be pretty much a non-issue. Without DRM I can’t see how the music industry would have let Apple sell their music.

As for a buck a song, inflation adjusted that’s dirt cheap. I remember paying $1 for a vinyl 45. OK, if you liked the B side, it came out to .50 a song. But that was the early/mid-70s. To take the song with you, you still had to record it to a cassette which, before metal tapes, was crap and died a quick death. But even CD “singles”, when they were somewhat popular a few years back, cost up to $5.

Compared to what the RIAA had and wants, Apple has staked out a fairly decent middle ground. Compare how Jobs talks about music and music lovers to how the RIAA talks about music lovers and the disdain they show their customers. Jobs constantly talks about the customer. Does the RIAA even know they have customers?

Joe

That’s the way I see it. I mean, I am sure Apple takes their DRM very seriously, thus the measures they take to protect it. But it really is easy to work with and for the user it can be pretty much a non-issue. Without DRM I can’t see how the music industry would have let Apple sell their music.

As for a buck a song, inflation adjusted that’s dirt cheap. I remember paying $1 for a vinyl 45. OK, if you liked the B side, it came out to .50 a song. But that was the early/mid-70s. To take the song with you, you still had to record it to a cassette which, before metal tapes, was crap and died a quick death. But even CD “singles”, when they were somewhat popular a few years back, cost up to $5.

Compared to what the RIAA had and wants, Apple has staked out a fairly decent middle ground. Compare how Jobs talks about music and music lovers to how the RIAA talks about music lovers and the disdain they show their customers. Jobs constantly talks about the customer. Does the RIAA even know they have customers?

Joe

The DRM satisifies the RIAA, which I agree is pretty much just the mob with bad fashion tastes. And I am thankful Apple has made their DRM so user friendly, which is not what the RIAA is doing with CDs nor what they want, (what dweebs). Compared to what the RIAA is doing, Apple’s scheme is far easier to work with. That said the only thing I find worse than the RIAA stealing from the artists is others stealing the song and guaranteeing the artist sees no money.

Nice talking with you!
Joe

$1.00 per song is way too much

I do care about fidelity, but for less money fidelity wouldn’t be as big an issue. for the same amount…… it is.

finally if you can burn it, play the cds on any medium, and transfer it to any amount of computers you want then it’s wide open to (argggggg) piracy. why would they put DRM in it if it does no good.

As far as quality of sound goes, ask any professional musician (I mean real musicians who know how to sing and write songs, not Pop divas who only know how to wiggle their behinds and lip sync) if it doesn’t matter. bet you’d be suprised.

“And no one does all that easier than iTunes.” OOOOOOOOOOK, if you say so.

First: B) And why can’t you do all that with a song from ITMS? I do it all the time.

Second: Hmmm. I’m torn about that one. With regular Pop/Rock/Country/most R&B tunes it’s certainly no worse than listening to the radio and often better. None of that “compress it til it sounds like a pancake” stuff. Heck, even most of the pop cds out there are already so horribly compressed that data compression doesn’t make a wit of difference. I still hear the tape hiss from those old songs from the 70s. Which is worse? There is definitely a difference when it comes to most classic music.

But then I remember when the argument was “The audio quality of a CD is much lower than an actual vinyl record.”

Third: See above. Of course your position here pretty much negates your complaints in your second point. It seems you don’t care as much about fidelity as you proclaim.

Where do you buy singles for $1.00? I can’t find a place anywhere.

I will almost always buy the CD of an album I really want. Bela Fleck’s Perpetual Motion for instance. Dump it in iTunes (I definitely use AAC encoding) and safely tuck the original away as my “back-up”(after I have thoroughly read through everything).

But for that nostalgic tune by Ambrosia that brings back fond memories or the ocassional more current tune like U2’s Vertigo, I am not spending even $10 for the album just for that one song. And I don’t care enough about the fiedlity of that song (which would not be how I remember listening to it anyway).

And no one does all that easier than iTunes.

Joe (just so I am not totally “anonymous”) F.

Second the quality of the DRM compressed audio is much lower than an actual CD.

And third MP3’s and other non DRM formats CAN do everything I’d expect from a CD purchase even transfer to my Ipod.

So for the same money you’d rather have DRM limitaions and lower quality?? You may consider that fabulous but I don’t.

Unfair monopoly? this coming from the recording industry? wow I needed a good laugh.

“In retaliation, Sony BMG and EMI introduced copy-protected CDs that aren’t compatible with iPods.”

good for them. keep doing it. pretty soon all your junk will be so incompatible to everything else your sales will continue to fall.