I really only embraced the Great Satan of streamed music, and
specifically ITunes, about ten years ago, when my friend Bob bought me my first
IPod. As is the case with most new technology, I am usually about ten or
fifteen years behind the rest of the world in embracing these innovations. I very
much like my IPod Touch; I quickly transferred a lot of my CDs to my IPod, and I
use it constantly. Whereas the sound is somewhat degraded, the convenience of
having so much of my music library available at my fingertips makes this IPod a
winner for me.
The debate continues among audiophiles about whether or not the
degradation of sound is too great a price to pay for the convenience, and many
people prefer to store and listen to their music in the .WAV file format of
compact discs. Certainly the sound quality of those larger .WAV files is
noticeably better. Vinyl is making a comeback as well, because many audiophiles
prefer the sound of analog tracks and eschew digital technology. I’m not sure
where I stand on the digital vs. analog debate. In the past, I had most of my
music library on cassette tapes because I did a lot of my listening in the car.
Of course, everyone knows that recording music to a cassette tape degrades the
sound as well, but again, there was the convenience factor. The truth is, I
lost my ability to discriminate between good and bad sound sometime after my concert-filled
youth, when I neglected to put cotton in my ears during some of the louder
concerts. Once the high end is gone, it doesn’t come back, and my ears are still
ringing from a Boston concert I remember attending in the early Eighties. I may
not be the best person to ask about sound quality, although I was very
concerned about it in my early listening career. For me, the convenience of
digital files is still the most important thing. Lately I’ve been getting a bit
annoyed with ITunes because there are always memory sucking-software updates
and more and more files that cannot be converted from the Apple digital format
to MP3. As well, there are privacy concerns and sometimes I feel ITunes is
taking over my computer. Someday soon, I might choose another streaming source.
Still, it is hard to compete with the convenience of shopping for music online.
OK, I admit it, I’m lazy.
I understand Neil Young’s point about sound quality, although, as my
wife Shauna points out, it’s not as if this is the London Symphony Orchestra
complaining. This is “Nasal” Neil Young, and his music is, well, not all that
complicated. Most of the time, when I listen to music now, it is either in my
car or through some compact wireless speaker, and not on the sophisticated
audiophile quality stereo system I used to own. Once again, the convenience of
having so many songs at my fingertips, and also being able to take a compact
digital player along with a wireless speaker with me almost anywhere I travel, makes
this technology appealing to me. A year or so ago, I read Neil’s most recent book Waging a Heavy Peace, and in it he
discusses at great length his efforts to develop better digital files to more
truly replicate the original recordings. I don’t know whether or not he has
been successful in this venture, but the timing of his latest announcement has
me wondering. Does Neil have a better mouse trap? Bring it on rock star, I’m
all ears. I’m not worried about his absence from the internet. I have the
albums I like in vinyl or CD, and they are already converted on my IPod. As well, I am learning about a lot of other good songwriters, specifically because their music is available online. Maybe the sound could be better, but for this aging music lover, it's OK.
-Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-
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