High-Quality Audio

By Scott Wilkinson • Posted: May 5, 2011

Why should I purchase high-quality audio equipment if the new groups, and even most of the legacy artists, aren't committed to manufacturing/mixing their oeuvre with high quality? What are your sources to purchase current and backstock music?

Dave Butler

Great question! It is true that most modern popular music is recorded with lots of dynamic-range compression and distributed in data-compressed formats like MP3, which is far from high-quality. In fact, many audiophiles would argue that even uncompressed CD specs (16-bit/44.1kHz) don't represent "high quality."

Fortunately, all is not lost. Labels such as AIX, Chesky, MA Recordings, Mobile Fidelity, and Reference Recordings take sound quality very seriously and release exquisite-sounding titles on various physical media, including LP, CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, and Blu-ray. You can also download high-rez, high-quality music files from HDTracks, 2L, and itrax to name a few online sources.

If you have an A/V question, please send it to askscottwilkinson@gmail.com.