| 03 March 2010
More and more music lovers are relying on music downloads and MP3 players for their music. Storing and transferring digital music is convenient and economical but what about sound quality. It is easy to sacrifice sound quality for convenience, but are we cheating ourselves out of an exhilarating experience without realizing what we are giving up? Do you remember the goose bumps the first time you heard a female jazz singer live, or the thrill of Eric Clapton's guitar? Can we have convenience and quality sound?
The goal of any good audio system is to reproduce music faithfully as the artist intended it to sound. Yo Yo Ma should sound as if he is right there in your living room, performing just for you. You should feel the texture of his bow moving across his cello strings. A good audio system will do that.
There are three steps to reproducing music; the more accurate each step is the more goose bumps you will feel.
First, music needs to be recorded well. We do not have control over that process, but we can pay attention to record labels, producers and artists. With very little effort it is easy to discern the difference. Unfortunately it's most likely to be the most popular pop stars that have the worst recordings.
Second, music needs to be stored in some kind of format that we can easily play back. Records were the first format that could be produced and distributed economically. Records only hold about twenty minutes of music per side and they are easily worn out or damaged. Rarely will a record hold its sound quality for more than 20 or 30 plays. In the early eighties we started to store music in a digital format; the digital format had many advantages - two that really stick out are the vast amount of information that could be stored in a small space and that there is absolutely no wear. If handled properly you could play a CD 10,000 times with no degradation of sound quality. The same is true of any music that is stored digitally.
Third, recorded music needs to be extracted from whatever format it is stored in and played back on a good audio system. When the music is stored digitally the most critical step is to change the digital information back into an analog format before it is amplified. This is where today's MP players and computers fall short. In order for the music to be stored and extracted digitally the information is usually compressed causing the music to sound thin and lifeless. Without a good digital to analog converter the music will sound thin and lifeless.
Like many music lovers this author believes records will still give you the best sound.
Can digital music sound as good as a record? Yes with the right equipment. A well recorded CD played on a quality CD player can rival a record and be far more convenient. Can an MP3 player or music stored on a computer sound as good as a good CD player? It can get real close if you use the right equipment. A good outboard Digital to Analog converter will be the first step. The Digital to Analog converter is the component that is the most critical to gaining rich life like sound from a digital format. Four or five years ago a D to A converter was considered an eccentric piece of electronics and was priced out of most music lovers comfort level. The good news is that as digital formats become more and more popular, so does the choices of affordable digital to analog converters.
As a music enthusiast I encourage you to listen to your favorite music as often as possible. If using an MP3 player or computer enables you listen more often, I say great. If you want to bring the life back to your digital music I encourage you to see an audio specialist who will explain and demonstrate the advantages of incorporating a good D to A converter into your system.
Happy Listening.
Bill Soderholm has been celebrating 46 years of goose bumps as the owner of Stereoland in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. You can check out more online at www.stereoland.com.