Lukaz often says stuff like:
"I strongly believe that 44.1 and 16 bits is all we need. There are some EXTREMELY good recordings on 44/16 that prove by their high quality that the medium is not the limiting factor - it is the recording engineering , love, passion and attention to detail that makes good recordings. Most of the hi-rez stuff is utterly boring and meaningless. Having said that, most valuable artists recorded many years ago and only on analog or 44/16 so whats the point of discussing benefits of Hi-Rez files if Louis, Ella, Miles and Zappa are dead ?"
I disagree that "most of the high rez stuff is boring and meaningless" but what I find endlessly fascinating is that we are just beginning to mine the possibilities of the format most of us have become so invested in since the mid 1980s. Fremer says a similar thing about vintage vinyl.
"They had no idea how great the recordings that they were making were and it is only with modern analog equipment that we are discovering that."
That DACs are being made that render my properly done CDs truly satisfying and my crappy ones better is big....huge....to me.
If I have to create a special savings account and wait a year or two for an Alpha DAC Ref or a Lampi 7 that is a worthwhile thing to do. In the mean time the technology will keep pushing the envelope and those advances will trickle down into more affordable gear.
I spend a small amount of time every week looking into what new high resolution downloads have been added to the catalogs at Acoustic Sounds and HD Tracks. They are growing very quickly but are still somewhat limited. Also $25-30 a pop isn't cheap.
I buy used CDs all the time for a few bucks each.
BTW - I appreciate Chris's enthusiasm. I've read enough on this site to know it's not habitual pandering.
