Should Sound Quality of Computer Audio be improved

Petty,

I actually understand your apprehension when it comes to big corporations and their motives, which are no mystery by the way, and there may be some validity to your fears about what lies in store ahead in terms of recording quality, but there is really nothing new there. High quality recordings and high end audio are luxury items. Look at the glass as half full maybe. There are still a lot of very good recordings available for reasonable cost despite the fact that 99.9% of the world probably doesn't care. NEtwork bandwidth is the bottleneck still for most home computer audio technology. That has always been the prime motivation for "acceptable" lossy formats like mp3, etc. However technology will progress and even that bottleneck will fall eventually and provide a more suitable for high res audio, video, and whatever. TEchnology is still the bottleneck more so than any evil corporate aspirations. You have to have the intrastructure to support hi res digital and that comes with a cost. It will get better over time. Until that happens, CDs and other hard storage formats will not go away. PEoples wants and needs will still drive markets. Audiophiles will always have to pay some degree of a premium somewhere in order to satisfy their luxurious wants and needs.

If you dont believe computer audio has arrived yet as a viable replacement for CD and even vinyl, then you need to go to the Newport Beach show June 1. It will change your thinking. You have not heard anything yet.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Agree with you 100% Mapman. Until this occurs (As you have
described in your response) there is no sense in even talking about doing away with other Audio Formats.
Sometimes New Formats take 5-10 years for greater than 70%
Market penetration. The Tool for this has to be ever
increasing Music Selection. People have to feel that they are not going to lose their favorite Music transitioning to
a New Format, as other competing Formats go by the way side. I still don't see why we shouldn't take advantage of having more than one Audio Format. I know that some believe
in multiple Formats; but, some are just militant about
Computer Audio taking over the entire Audio Market yesterday. They don't seem to care about giving people
enough time to transition. Increase High Rez. Music Selection, so people don't lose their favorite Music when
rug is pulled from under old Audio Format. I look at High
Rez. Download Music Selection, and I don't see a plan for
careful transition to protect everyone's Music. Selection
is slowly increasing, this is changing. Use this Barometer
as a measuring stick to determine if pulling older Audio
Format is premature- adjust accordingly. Impatience is
absolutely "NOT" convenient. Getting rid of all other Audio Formats yesterday, in favor of Computer Audio, is just a Train Wreck- not a transition. No sense being militant about it. New Format (High Rez. Download) should be of higher Sound Quality than old Format (CD). Even swap
of CD for same Rez. Computer Audio is just that- an even swap, or very close. It is not a large step up in transition as High Rez. Downloads would be. This has to be the Golden true measure of transition to a higher Sounding Format. What does second place Computer Audio get you? The
American Public love a winner, and will not tolerate a
loser- it is that simple!

Petty, therein lies one of the big advantages of computer audio - it can be a direct replacement for CDs as well as a high resolution medium. No need to replace your CD collection if computer audio does take hold - just rip your CDs to your hard drive while simultaneously enjoying the option of higher-than-CD resolution. You can have your cake and eat it too.

Again, nobody is "pulling the plug" on any other format. No matter what you or I say, the only way that happens is through market forces. I don't want any format to be wiped out any more than you do - but if computer audio renders CD redundant in the eyes of consumers it will become obsolete.

No sense making something obsolete that doesn't require-
Wasapi, Kernel Streaming, ASIO, That is not subject to
Computer Virus, That is not subject to fragmentation, That
is not subject to Hard Drive Crash, That is not subject to
Back-up Hard Drive Crash, That is not subject to powerful
magnets wiping out memory, That doesn't put your entire
vulnerable Music Collection in one place (Eggs in one basket), That is not subject to Hard Drive Errors...etc...
etc...etc. An extra 5th Wheel? Try an extra 20 Wheel
conglomeration! Compared to that, something that gets by
on four Wheels (CD) is hardly obsolete. Compared to CD,
Computer Audio looks like an Audio Format built by
Committee. It requires massive amounts of redundant steps
easily bypassed with CD. You also don't have to search for Meta Data either. Computer Audio is an Audio Format that is
done the "HARD WAY"! Hardly conductive to relaxation with
Music. I mean waiting three hours to Download High Rez.
Music Files....pop a Disk in a machine and you are done!
No Software, no headaches...just "MUSIC"! If Music is not the point, then what is?