Selvin's article sure is very interesting, CharlyD, thanks for posting it. Gratifying to see that some out there besides hobbyists like us are aware of what is going on and are more than a little concerned about it. Maybe some Chronicle readers will be pursuaded that the latest thing isn't necessarily the best thing.

This exerpt from the Selvin article makes me shake my head a little. "But Sweetow also notes that music with lyrics may act entirely differently on a cerebral level than instrumental music. "The words trigger the emotion," he says. "But those words aren't necessarily affected by fidelity."

Then one contemplates those times when during an instrumental chorus of a jazz standard the lyrics start running through your mind. Wonder how they'd classify that?

Great link! Well done for posting this one and thanks from me also. (Wish I had found this before I launched a rewrite of War and Peace on another posting about iPods...tee hee...)

I guess it is hopefully but a matter of time before all serious listeners across all genres / levels of high end / mid range / low budget or mega bucks machines actually do start to question which is more important to them - quantity and technology or quality and satisfaction of listening experience.

Fond dreams methinks.

In the same vein, today the Chicago Tribune devoted almost a full page to a survey by one of its intrepid reporters to a dozen or so small independent shops making a decent living selling used and new vinyl to, surprise surprise, customers in their 20's and younger. One record buyer who was described in terms of his tattoos and piercings was quoted as saying that MP3 versions of his favorite music were just songs, but the vinyl versions got to his emotions - made the hair on his neck stand up. Great sign of hope for the future of vinyl and high res. music in general.

Then came the rain on the parade. The newspaper gadget geek, whose contribution was featured on the same page, touted a TT product in the $150 price range WHICH HAD ONLY USB OUTPUTS. He recommended that vinyl buyers could use he device to transfer their vinyl to their computers, load MP3 versions into their portable players, and, if they desired, make CDs so they could play the music on their main systems and in their cars.

One step forward, two back.

This is such fun! Great posting and superb timing by CharlyD!

This could almost be a chat room with only a few on the same planet...my questions on other postings regarding legalities and other such trivia seems to have wilted somewhat...OOOPS...maybe all these techie folks have discovered a new and wonderfully mysterious method of all the magic they do whilst still remaining legal...and top quality and and and...but wait...what do I see...

i pretty much listen to an ipod all day at work and i have to say that - after getting really nice "starter" hi-fi system that was largely thanks to the advice i got on this forum, i'm finding it very difficult to listen to mp3s now. it's so harsh...no sense of "space" in the music either...

one thing that some independent record companies are doing which i think is BRILLIANT is offering a coupon for a free download of the mp3s of an album with purchase of the vinyl...the last 2 records I bought (on Merge Records) are Caribou's Andorra and Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga...both of them had the coupon in the vinyl...

honestly I think this can be a great future for the indie labels, and maybe some of the really good vinyl reissue places like Sundazed, Rhino etc. People like to criticize the recording industry so much, so it's worth noting when they do something right like this.

Also, I'm finding that the vinyl version of newer records (esp. in the case of Spoon) *really* help ease some of the problems I have with overly loud and aggressive mastering and dynamic noise compression that goes on today in a lot of modern rock.

the spoon i find almost unlistenable on MP3 or CD, but the vinyl definitely sounds good, it's still pretty aggressively mastered for vinyl, but I can actually listen to it and appreciate the music.