I agree that MP3s are not the same quality as CDs, and add that CDs are not the same quality as vinyl. I wish I had made an old-fashioned LP. I suppose I still can, but it would be very expensive.
I bought a 1930s gramophone a couple of years ago to play 78s. I was able to contrast the sound of some Benny Goodman/Charlie Christian recordings on 78s and CDs. I can state that, in my opinion, sound reproduction has not improved at all - it has just got different. With the CD versions (re-mastered) I can hear every instrument, even the bass drum, but the guitar sound is weak and lower in the mix. On the 78s, Charlie Christian jumps out of the speaker, right into your room - a fantastic sound - but some instruments are lost. In this instance I prefer the 78s. I actually WILL be recording a CD in February with the Paris-based viol player, Jonathan Dunford - well, he asked me to - for Alpha Recordings. I wonder if I could persuade them to make it a 78?! Rob MacKillop -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
