No it is not. Audio CD stores files in raw WAV format. MP3 takes this raw file and compresses it to reduce file size. There are 2 types of compression techniques. Lossless and Lossy. MP3 uses lossy compression algorithm, which means it will discard some bits of data from the audio file while encoding to create a smaller sized file. If you convert an MP3 file back to WAV, the difference in quality will be huge.
I am sure you have used ZIP compression system on various files. Like for example zipping a Word document (DOC) file to email it to someone and then that receiver unzipping it to get the original DOC file. That happens because ZIP is a lossless compression format. Imagine if ZIP used lossy system like MP3. You will send a letter as zipped DOC file to a friend. He will unzip and open the DOC file only to find half the words missing in the letter. But he will still be able to understand the contents of the letter because he can easily fill up the blanks with probable words. But that doesn't mean he is reading the letter as intended by you. In the end he may understand the letter but it may not contain the same words you wrote before zipping it. This is what happens with songs on MP3. You will listen to MP3 and believe you heard the song. But when it is composed by someone like AR who arranges multiple layers with minutest detailing, chances are you will miss a good amount of detail just because MP3 as a format is not capable of preserving it. And I am not talking about just 128 kbps MP3 here. The maximum bit rate attainable for MP3 is 320 kbps and yet it will not come anywhere near the quality of original CD. Therefore always listen to songs in original CDs, like the way the composer intended it to. Don't let MP3 decide which part of the song you should listen and which you shouldn't. Don't allow MP3 to take away all the joy of listening to those soulful compositions, that too for a measly Rs. 99. And if you are like me who listens on PC and is lazy to put in CDs every time you want to listen to, here is what you should do. 1. Buy the original CD first (there is no legal alternative to this). 2. Rip the songs from CD into lossless FLAC format. 3. Listen to them in your favorite software music player. Some of them support FLAC by default, while others have free plugin to enable playback. 4. Rediscover what you have been missing all those years on those "CD quality" MP3 songs. For those who are wondering how to convert an audio CD to FLAC file, here is a good pictorial guide. http://www.teqnilogik.com/tutorials/eac.shtml Naveen On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 7:09 PM, sriramvr_in <[email protected]> wrote: > > > 128 kbps mp3 encoding itself is cd quality. > > --- In [email protected] <arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com>, > Gomzy™ <gomtesh.upad...@...> wrote: > > > > WAV is better than MP3. Simple. > > > > On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 2:30 PM, sriramvr_in <sriramvr...@...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > how can quality differ when the uploaded version is original? > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected] > > > <arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com><arrahmanfans% > 40yahoogroups.com>, > > > > raamkumar vaidyanathan <raamkumar_vaidyanathan@> wrote: > > > > > > > > Be original. Listen to Music and Enjoy..Really quality differs from > the > > > downloads.. So , go for It .. It is just Rs.99 > > > > > > > > http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kJzFXMZBLQo/S0rLzZhvCJI/AAAAAAAAAH0/Ntv2z9Lz_6I/s400/Picture%20001.jpghttp://lh6.ggpht.com/_kJzFXMZBLQo/S0rLYI9DXVI/AAAAAAAAAHs/RykTlxAYpHY/s400/Picture.jpg > > > > > > > > > > > http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kJzFXMZBLQo/S0rL7uI6S0I/AAAAAAAAAH8/76xrxH9w3VA/s400/Picture%20002.jpg > > > > > > > > http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kJzFXMZBLQo/S0rMpsVDn5I/AAAAAAAAAIE/3agKz1bhryY/s400/Picture%20003.jpg > > > > > > > > http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kJzFXMZBLQo/S0rPfpbjB4I/AAAAAAAAAIM/86eq-f4Sio4/s400/Picture%20004.jpg > > > > > > > > > > > > Regards,Ram..   ~  Rαнмαη αddicÑ‚â„¢  ~ > > > > > > > > > > > > The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. > > > http://in.yahoo.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
