Pat Farrell;175559 Wrote: > thomsens wrote: > >> I'm not following you here. high-end usually means you obsess about > > >> quality. It is trivial to get better sound quality, don't use MP3. > Use > >> FLAC. > >> > >> If you don't care about the last percent or two, why bother with > >> high-end, just get something decent, say some $600 speakers and a AV > > >> receiver. Plug your SqueezeBox into it, and be happy. > > > > Not sure I follow your logic. Point is that transporter connected to > a > > decent system very clearly approaches the other sources. > > The point is that using MP3, you are throwing away all the stuff that > makes High End, be high end. There is no point in trying to improve the > > speakers, amp, or make the change from SqueezeBox to Transporter, the > weak link is the MP3 files. > > A Transporter is a good source in a $5000 up system. > It is a waste of money if the rest of your system is not up to the > standard. And using MP3s means there is nothing a Transporter can do > to restore what you've thrown away making MP3s. > > Look, it is simple. MP3s sound "pretty good". > They are more than adequate for a lot of people's listening 100% of the > > time. They are adequate for a very large percentage of people's > listening casually. > > But "pretty good" is not what 'high end' is about. It is about making > it > be real. Not real electric guitars distorting their brains out, but > real > as in a jazz singer's voice, or an acoustic guitar. Or piano. > > You can get "pretty good" for a lot less than the $2000 that a > Transporter costs. You can get a complete "pretty good" system for the > > $2000. Maybe "very good" to 99% of the folks who listen to music. > > That is not what audiophiles look for in a high end system. > > > > The reason I haven't used FLAC is for portability. It's > > more important for me to be flexible than to have that extra %. > > Then be happy with mid-fi. Save your money and spend it on more music, > > more women, more booze, etc. > > > A $600 system isn't in the ball park - didn't follow you there. And > of > > course you wouldn't buy a transporter with that system. > > SO what is your budget? My point is that you can get all the quality > that MP3 files have, extract it all, with a system with a total cost of > > less than the Transporter. > > If you are thinking about spending $5000 or more, which is the entry > point for most "high end" stuff, than you should stop thinking about > MP3. > > Since disks are so cheap, you can have all of your music twice, once in > > FLAC and once in MP3 for very little money. Terabytes of disk storage > cost about what a Transporter costs. This would hold several thousand > complete CDs in FLAC and MP3. > > > > -- > Pat > http://www.pfarrell.com/music/slimserver/slimsoftware.html
I guess you make a good point about budget assumptions. My budget isn't so limited that I'm concerned about a transient issue of my library being MP3 driving my system choice or that the transporter is $2K. I'd rather set myself up for the inevitable re-rip to FLAC and other nextgen hd formats that might come along. And I do hear a significant difference with higher end gear $10-20K+ with lowly MP3. As I said in the original post, 3 different shops were blown away by the MP3 disc I played. They expected crap and it sounded very good to them. So, if I get a high-end system, I can listen to MP3 most of the time, or simply put a higher quality source in if I want to critically listen. Why limit myself? And naturally I can replace the MP3 with FLAC over time. Your definition of audiophile is extreme, which is fine, but it's different than what I was thinking. There are plenty of us who not satisfied with a Tweeter system of any variety, but won't spend time arguing about a power cord's impact on sound either. For those people, it's a hobby that's become an obsession. For me, it's still just a hobby. So I guess we need a term that means discerning audio fan, but not perfectionist. In any case, I don't see it so black or white. -- thomsens ------------------------------------------------------------------------ thomsens's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1352 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=32232 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
