“Amazon.com Inc, taking aim at Apple’s dominant iTunes store, on Thursday unveiled a service that it hopes will boost digital music sales and encourage more people to use its Cloud music service,” Alistair Barr reports for Reuters.
“Amazon launched Amazon AutoRip, which gives customers free digital versions of music CDs they purchase from the world’s largest Internet retailer,” Barr reports. “The digital music files are automatically stored in customer libraries in remote datacenters run by Amazon, where they are available to play or download immediately through the company’s Cloud Player service, the company said.”
Barr reports, “Amazon’s MP3 digital music business has been around since 2007, but its market share is less than 15 percent, according to The NPD Group. Apple Inc’s iTunes store is the clear leader, with over 50 percent of the market.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What’s a CD?
Blah blah blah blah….
Here’s some REAL music to download-
https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php
Answer to MDN:
A superior hi fidelity music product.
1
Wrong, that would be vinyl.
Speaking professionally, you are correct sir.
What was the question d?
CDs are also a frequently vastly cheaper way to own music. For the usurious price of two or three iTunes songs, it is often possible to buy a good used CD. I’ve bought some for as little as a penny plus $3 shipping. Multiply the price advantage over hundreds of titles, and the cost of a large music collection plummets. And if you can’t stand to have a tangible asset, liner notes and a durable backup to your hard drive data, you can donate your CDs to a thrift shop and still brag about not owning that “obsolete” technology.
While CD quality is not the best, MP3 is crap — even high bit rate MP3 can be distinguished from CD quality on a decent audio system. Therefore, I’m not interested. Period.
When downloads are CD quality (even be lossless compressed CD quality) then I’m in. Until then downloads are not an option or me — even if they are free!
“…on a decent audio system..”
And therein lies a fault in your argument. What I’m sure you are referring to is a system that encompasses at least 1-2 seperate components. Those components are connected to 2-4 speakers. And they all intended to sit on a shelf in your home None of those components are likely found in K-Mart or Walmart. The subject of this article isn’t about that category of product nor is the article produced by ‘Stereophile’ magazine.
And your reasoning is exactly why Amazon’s move is entirely a PR move and will have zero effect on sales. If you want a CD for higher audio quality, you don’t want Amazon’s crappy MP3s. Plus, you would just rip your CD instead of wanting to download an MP3.
Those who just want digital audio files and don’t want CDs won’t care about the service.
…HIGH QUALITY AUDIO
I buy and rip audio CDs because I want my music in Apple Lossless Format, not in a lossy mid-quality format; because I have high quality audio equipment and the difference is clear as day.
When Apple starts selling high quality audio on the iTunes Store I’ll buy from there, in a flash, but at the moment I will not.
I buy a lot of music, sometimes spend hundreds of dollars a month with Amazon on CDs. I am sure I am not alone.
Don’t care about Amazon’s efforts here, but I do use Apple Cloud Match service for streaming to my iOS devices.
I hear ya, but just for spits and wiggles, give this ‘Mastered for iTunes’ EP a try and see what you think (it’s $5) or at least one song (I recommend ‘Quarter Chicken Dark’).
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/goat-rodeo-sessions-live-from/id493050519
I rip CDs either Lossless or AIFF myself, and I am enjoying stuff from HDTracks (just got ‘Friday NIght in San Francisco’ today) but there is something to the way music is mixed before being compressed that can improve the quality.
I have Coltrane’s ‘Love Supreme’ from iTunes and it sounds remarkably good up against my 24/96 copy of ‘Night Train’.
CD = Certificate of Deposit
Oh, right. That reference likely doesn’t help, either…
I feel so depressed…. try as I may, a recording at 256Kb recording sounds exactly like a lossless one. I have quite an expensive HiFi (EPOS speakers signed by Robbin Marshall himself, Dennon Amp about $1.2K, all kinds of sound isolation techniques to limit sound coupling into the room structure, crazy expensive speaker wire doubled just to make sure, ) but I cant tell the difference. Not CRAAAAZY expensive, but quite expensive.
People keep saying the difference is night and day……but all I see is day and day.
What to do…?
What plays you digital files and what kind of DAC are you running it through?
I have a Denon AVR 989.
It has a direct Digital input. So it is connected direct from Apple TV’s HDMI port.
For MUSIC (as opposed to movies) I set the AVR 989 to play STEREO (i.e. NOT 5:1).
I also set it to play DIRECT…i.e all base and treble controls bypassed. So it’s just the Digital input, the amps’ DAC and Amplification in the path before it hits the speaker inputs.
This “setup” I am told gives the best HiFI sound. I tend to agree with that (after having switched to other settings and been able to tell the difference).
But I cannot tell diff between 256 and LOSSLESS versions of the same track. Tried all kinds of music, classical and rock.
It’s not that I am unhappy with the sound, I actually thought I had a real good sound. But, if it’s supposed to be night and day, that makes me depressed.
I’m no expert on this but I am assuming you are streaming both types of files through your AppleTV. Here are some things to consider-
Your AVR (which is a nice model) might not have the best DAC, even though it is 24/192. One way to tell is to play a CD though your DVD and the same album through your AppleTV.
They should sound about the same.
One thing to try (if you like this sort of thing) is to also use an optical cable from your Apple TV to your AVR and see if the music sounds better and if differences between the two file types are more discernible that way.
Here is another point to consider; your DAC may be excellent and upconverts your 256k to sound great (this is what my Peachtree Audio Nova does, even streamed music sounds almost as good as my LossLess server attached via USB to it).
Now, here is my opinion; the AppleTV is not good for audio and your LossLess actually sounds worse than it should. The reason I say this is because I wanted to sell my Mini that I use for a server and just stream with an AppleTV as you do. I hooked both up to my amp to A/B them. I have iTunes EQ my music because the Nova has no EQ, but even with that turned off from my library, the Mini via USB blew the AppleTV via optical away. Bummed me out a little because I was wanting to simplify my system but I am glad I figured it out.
Now because your AVR is so different from my integrated amp (but the same price!) that setup might not make a difference on yours. I can stream music from my iMac to my Mini and it sounds good, but it didn’t when I streamed it through the AppleTV. That’s nothing against the AppleTV, if it sounds good to you, then don’t worry. Enjoy it every chance you get. I have bought the original TV, a 720p TV2 hooked to my grandkids TV, and 3 TV2 1080p for my kids and they are great, just not for my situation.
Good luck!
Thanks! I always wanted an excuse to buy the Mini. 🙂
The question is how old are you? Hearing certain tone levels diminishes in your late 20’s. by the time you’re 40 or over lossless is fine. Wait until you get tinnitus.
Yeah – with some of the bands around these days having tinnitus is preferable!
Oh crap – I’m starting to sound like my dad. Knew it would happen one day, must have early onset something or other.
Tinnitus – what songs do they sing again? It’s not rap, is it? 😉
256K bitrate is fine for the masses. I understand the pompous ass crowd needs superiority though.
So you’re typing this on a Mac…and on a Mac forum?
Anal retentive more like. Hi-Fi folks aren’t that pompous just evangelical about sound fidelity (even if others can’t tell the difference or couldn’t give a fig if they can).
Yeah well my source tells me u can have whatever leading up to the speaker but the speaker itself has to be able to put it out…
Try finding a store with b&w speakers and ask them to play each sample – better yet if you eant see if they will use the rest of your stuff to push to the b&w speakers… Think you’ll hear it then
But you might have some undiagnosed hearing issue or… You might not be able to hear it…
If you were in Canada up north you might give me a reason to pump up the volume on mine abd give them a workout but even at low volumes it can be heard…
All the best…
And please no b&w comments from the peanut gallery masses unless you have heard them (that includes saying huh? what’s that?!)
They are nice.
Yawn.
Album sales are dead folk crawling.
If they’d offer this for DVDs and BRDs they’d have a winner.
I haven’t purchased a music CD in forever… And I’m not buried in CD “jewel” cases.
ITunes will not only give you a free mp3 version of CDs bought from Amazon… It will give you free mp3 versions of any CD you can lay your hands on. Pop it in snd watch it happen.
This is really big news because it is SO HARD to rip music using Apple’s iTunes. (into the superior AAC format)
Now if Amazon REALLY wants to break ground, they can offer free digital download versions of DVD’s that you buy through Amazon.
I still buy cd’s when they’re cheaper than the digital version, and this does save me converting them myself and waiting for it to come in the post. It’s not going to lead to me buying any more or less music from them though.
The unmentioned part is that it is retroactive. Music you purchased previously will be part of the plan as tracks are rolled out and agreements with IP owners are updated.
Apple would sell them to you.
That’s not true about Apple. If you own the CD, and its on iTunes, Apple has iTunes Match so you can get the CD downloaded to your iOS devices.
Only if you subscribe to match.
Sometime in the 70’s, a new hobby appeared in the developed world. As discrete electronic circuitry became less expensive, studio-quality audio equipment became affordable for an increasingly wider segment of the middle class. A “stereophile” was a person who carefully and thoughtfully put together the best music playing audio system he could afford (the domain was pretty much exclusively male). Magazines appeared quickly, catering to this crowd, and the hobby persisted for a good decade or two, until integrated, and then digital circuitry made it possible for practically everyone to afford a decent music reproduction system.
“Stereophiles” still exist; these are people who still carefully combine expensive audio devices in order to create the best possible combination they can afford. This is still a hobby, just like model train making, or stamp collecting. It still represents only a small subset of the general population.
As a professional musician with a 35-year career, I am somewhat ambivalent about this group. On the one hand, I admire the people outside of my musical profession who make it their passion to enjoy product of my work at its best. On the other hand, I can’t help but wonder if the passion for achieving the best possible system for music playback isn’t a goal in itself (in other words, the actual music enjoying experience is secondary to the pursuit of gear itself). And even those for whom music is the primary driver, the percentage of their music listening time that is spent using their prized gear is ever so small, compared to the amount of music listening time spent on an iPhone / iPod / iPad or other mobile device.
The point I’m trying to make is this: while the “stereophiles” may be very vocal in their desire for pristine music sources (196/24 and nothing less…), they still represent negligible percentage of the music listening population.
I have met hundreds of other professional musicians in my life. Not one of them had a high-quality audio equipment at home, for their personal listening purposes. They all had standard, commercial stuff, perhaps not the cheapest $200 stuff, but nowhere near $1000+ that some of the stereophiles do. More importantly, most of their music listening was done on iPhones or iPods.
For my phone, I convert all my music into AAC at 96kbps. For my mobile music enjoyment (on the subway, on the bus, in the street, all noisy places), anything above that would waste my storage space without a reasonable chance of ever being heard by me, over all that outside noise.
The reality is that AAC at 256kbps hit the widest possible target for music quality and portability. Stereophiles will likely have to continue to look elsewhere in order to meet the desires of their hobby.
I must say, that hits the nail on the head. Having been something of an audiophile years ago, I have morphed into someone who just wants to listen to music and enjoy it. I still like to pop in a really good symphony and enjoy the soaring strings through my home system, but everything else, I’m multi-tasking and just want to listen to the music while I exercise or work. For those that truly hear the difference, I salute you, but for me, Apple has hit the sweet spot, and I am content.
I had someone tell me years ago that you can have the best music player in the world, but if you connect it to crap speakers, you still hear crap.
That being said, what do you like for headphones?
I have fairly inexpensive Senheisers at home, and even cheaper Sonys for the street. I’m not a big fan of Apple’s earbuds, even though they have plenty of low end and and a solid dynamic range. Unfortunately, for me, they are too uncomfortable. More importantly, they are too open (i.e. they allow too much outside noise into the ear canal). This forces me to crank up the volume, in order to hear softer passages in music. This is just way too dangerous for my hearing and I would prefer to preserve my hearing into my old age (and cranking up an iDevice with Apple’s headphones is a sure way to damage one’s hearing). That’s why I prefer over-the-ear types. Sometimes, though, I do carry the in-ear buds with silicone fitting, which filters outside noise quite well.
I’ve also known musician most of my life, and very few of them want ‘the ultimate’ stereo. Some even have just downright crap for music listening, and I have noticed that carried over to their instruments and the way they mix their personal recordings. But they are musicians, they MAKE the music.
Now, move on to studio personnel, show promoters, and fans who spend serious time listening. Not just to the melody, rhythm or beat, but the entire audible spectrum of the note, its dynamics, its mix and arrangement.
I know hundreds of people who drive, but very few who love to work on cars, and none of those work at auto factories. But they know motors inside and out because they have a passion.
Most people I know take pictures, many store them and make albums. Fewer still bother to buy a DSLR and learn how to use it, and almost none who have an SLR and process their own film.
Many people can taste wine or view art and come away with much more than what I got from it.
And let me go ahead and add that most people I know have computers, but most think I am a little crazy for spending ‘so much’ on Macs. Oddly, many of them have Beemers, Benz or Lexus, something they spend extra on because they appreciate their driving experience.
I was fortunate enough to have a father that had some pretty good audio equipment in the early 70s. It wasn’t made out to be a big deal, so I just took for granted that most people had this type of stuff (incidentally, we were the LAST family I knew to buy a color TV). I guess I was spoiled by the Koss Pro4AAA headphones fed from a Sansui quad receiver/ Teac RtoR that I used to train my ears to every nuance of pop, classical, and rock music, because later in life, I could not afford quality equipment to enjoy music. We had set ups for movies, and they sounded OK, but not what I wanted.
Now, for the bit-rate argument, not all high rez music is worth it if it was mixed for crap to begin with. But if you want to fully enjoy classical, you just can’t hear the complete effect at 256. Same for Jazz. The decay of the cymbal, the pluck of the string, the thump of the piano when marcato’d need the extra info. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy the song any other way. I listen to music any way I can. But just because you watch videos on your phone or laptop much of the day doesn’t mean you don’t have a 50″ plasma at home. Now, something that I argue with ‘purist’ about occasionally is Apple ‘Mastered for iTunes’ mixes. I think they are excellent and on some music and equipment is very hard to tell from higher bit rate versions.
I hope they continue this and eventually make it an upgrade price rather than require new purchase.
The system I have now cost around $2200. When completed it will be about $3000. Obviously I could spend waaaay more, but this is the level that satisfies me, just as your Senheisers do for you.
CD? Entire albums? Don’t you know that albums are “an artificial construct developed by the music cartels to get more of your money for less effort”?
At least that’s what MDN says. . . :))