Will the ipod be the death of the CD?

Clarification,
I know there is a digital music system called ipod. But I have not, as yet, heard music from one of them.

As for downloading music from the net, I can honestly say I have not, as yet, done that either. Does the downloaded music sound as good as the original CD?

I don't know about the rest of you, I enjoy going to a record shop and browsing and picking out Cds to buy.

Call me old fashion.....

Good question.

Very long answer, but I won't go there.

CD = digital music = music broken down into binary code or zeros and ones. You can store those same zeros and ones on any kind of hard-drive or medium that is capable of digital storage.

Greater resolution of a passage of time/music = more zeros and ones and more space required to store them.

Less resolution = less space required = more distortion = not so great sound for the discriminating person.

MP3 or various forms of low-resolution music = less space = less resolution = more distortion = not so great sound.

WAV file or Apple Lossless file (other, much larger digital files) = CD quality sound = verbatim resolution to the original CD.

iPod = a miniature hard drive with an audio interface to attach headphones or a line output. iPods have a built-in DAC to convert the zeros and ones to an analog signal that sounds kind of like music. It is mostly used for headphone listening and occasionally hooked up to stereo systems or various boom-box-like iPod playback systems. The sound is OK, but because you are limited to amplifying the analog signal produced by the less than desirable DAC in the iPod, it is certainly not high-end audio. It really depends on how discriminating you are, and what you enjoy. It is an impressive piece of technology.

I don't think the 5-year prediction is going to be so, but it is certainly not a long stretch.

Downloaded music is low-resolution (compressed) music and does not sound good IMO. Digital music can sound pretty darn good, and you can load high-resolution WAV files onto an iPod and have an enjoyable experience if you like headphones to get you through a workout, or some tedious work, for privacy, etc. For now, an iPod does not sound as good as it gets through a stereo. Far from it.

I like going to record shops too. I own an iPod and listen to it on average about 3-5 days a week while working if no other music is available. I never hook it to my system. I have tried it and it doesn't sound very good compared to other means at hand.

OK, that was pretty long, but one could go on in greater depth. Hope that helps. See you at the record stores, as long as they're around.

Marco

You ask what an iPod is, you can learn all about it,
Here

No, I don't believe an iPod sounds as good as CD (even with un- compressed transfers) and I don't think downloaded MP3's are equal to CD.

I own a black 30GB iPod video, bought at Ebay for $151.00 with all accessories. For that amount of money it's worth having to avoid the bad music at my gym and the noise during long flights.

Other than that, I can't say I'm very fond of it's performance, even with my hot $300.00 headphones. Then again, my good system won't travel in my pocket.

Yeah Albert, those Megaline's would take both pockets, and leave no room for the turntable!

CD users of tomorrow are like vinyl users of today. History may well continue to repeat itself.

Arthur