Bitches Ain't Shit STUDIO RECORDING

Mar 9th (5 years ago)

Posted by: phil521

Yeah, um no. Get a good set of speakers, and anyone can tell the difference. I run a set of paradigms at home (amazing quality for the price, but that's what you get for Canadian government subsidized speakers) and it's a very noticible difference between CD and mp3 quality.

Mar 9th (5 years ago)

Posted by: The Director

I have Sony Studio Monitor headphones here at work and JBL speakers at home, and like I said, I can tell the difference between CD and low-quality (160kbps and below) mp3, but not AAC and CD.

-Sean

"I have a lot of complainers in my fan base."
"All the children sing..."
"They should involve electrical shock in it though somehow."

Mar 9th (5 years ago)

Posted by: LifeOnaPlate

aac and cd=NOONE can tell the difference. Unless they lie because they feel stupid for buying headphones that cost more than a hundred dollars.

Theres an old joke I just made up: How many of me would it take to screw up your life?

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: modularlife

It's so sad that the new music culture involves very few fans of music that can hear the difference between a twee little mp3 and a proper uncompressed audio recording. I promise one could hear the difference if there were more consistent exposure to higher fidelity equipment these days. 95% of the playback equipment used today is trash. I also find it terribly ironic that technology has supposedly progressed while, in fact, audio quality and the listening experience has waned considerably. Plasticky, $.69 chip-based audio equipment does not make for good sound, my friends. ; )

marc

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: esrever

The AAC format is pretty solid. I can only tell which is AAC and which is CD if I have a chance to directly compare them. If you have a decent system and play them one after the other, it is pretty easy to tell which one is which. But how many people are actually going to do that? You'd certainly never know what you were missing otherwise.

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: modularlife

But this isn't the point of the human experience. So you've eaten nothing but McDonalds your entire life and have no idea what subtleties exist in fine cuisine. Should you never know? I say no. It's been the responsibility of those who know to elighten others since the dawn of man. I know this may sound overly philosphical, but from what I've read on the board for the last year or two, you guys need a fucking defibrilator. Or Q-tips.

marc

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +88 Kickin Keys

Whining about audio file quality like a bitch is the point of human experience?

"people know you by your first name and qoute you in their signatures."

- Ali

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: modularlife

That's brilliant. I guess 17,583 posts sharpens one's economy of language.

For what's it's worth, if people like me didn't, um, whine like a bitch about audio quality - you'd eventually have the grainiest facsimilie of sound that the corporate world could sneak past your ears.

As for my defibrilator/Qtip comment ... It's been sad watching this board's decline over the last couple of years. I don't owe you anything, 88; and after your neanderthal reply above, I don't mind also whining like a bitch about how many true Ben fans have been driven away from this forum because of the drop in i.q. points going on around here. I am certainly aware this doesn't include a great number of members on this board .. as a handful of them are what keep the balance.

ps- 88, why so defensive about audio, but not your beloved forum?

marc

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +DrewMG

Not for nothing, but what does that have to do with anything? I won't nessecarily disagree with you, but that completely came out of left field. I feel genuinely sorry for anyone who truly believes that the songs iTunes sells are "really awful quality" because they truly must have the most sensitive ears on the planet. How do you people deal with listening to music in a car? Do you have the walls of your car soundproofed, so that your $1000 speakers can provide you the type of sound quality that you are able to tolerate?

Most of the time, I listen to music at work, or in the car. Very rarely do I listen to music in an environment where I am doing nothing BUT listening to music. The point being, that I don't NEED to listen to "pure uncompressed" music. It all sounds the same to me. Feel sorry for me if you want, but you're the ones who care, not us. And by us, I simply mean me.

-=0=-
"why do you must bump.your post sucks."
~Hound Dog

"Don't you see? You're not making Christianity better. You're making rock and roll worse!"
~Hank Hill

-=0=-
http://www.drewmg.org - You know you want it.

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: modularlife

Drew, I'm referring to the entire spectrum of decline in sound. Your point is totally correct in a sense ... I'm absolutely not suggesting that we all should be full-time audiophiles and should never listen to music on a 2" speaker ... music and songs always come first ... I'm just citing the simultaneous decline of both playback equipment and consumer audio formats (and no, I don't think iTunes songs sound terrible at all .. sincerely) . I love the new technology for it's fun and convenience, but I hate that it eclipses an experience that takes music fans to another level rarely ever seen anymore. And frankly, I do this shit for a living .. I'm a little precious about it, admittedly.

But, I digress .... Ben's and the boys' *Bitches Ain't Shit* is genius. And for what it's worth .. deepthroat told me that Dre's camp loved Ben's version. ; )

marc

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: bonovox

i'm a big stickler for wanting things in cd form as opposed to buying off itunes. i've compared and compared, and i've got a nice stereo, but in the end, cd and records sound better.

and it wouldn't hurt if people would realise that in the end, although itunes sounds great, it is lossy. that means when transferred, it can lose quality, and can detiorate over time.

You are pretty much evil.
-88 kickin keys

greyseal: GOOD LORD DO I HAVE TO HOLD YOUR FUCKING COCK WHEN YOU PEE, TOO?!

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: LifeOnaPlate

eh but for a buck, i dont really care enough.

Theres an old joke I just made up: How many of me would it take to screw up your life?

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +DrewMG

What in life isn't lossy? My clothes are lossy. They get dirty and faded over time. I realize that point makes no sense, but I guess that's why it doesn't bother me.

I personally think that listening to music on a CD or vinyl is more FUN, but it's not any "better."

I'm glad to hear that Dre's camp liked Ben's cover. I was curious about that.

-=0=-
"why do you must bump.your post sucks."
~Hound Dog

"Don't you see? You're not making Christianity better. You're making rock and roll worse!"
~Hank Hill

-=0=-
http://www.drewmg.org - You know you want it.

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: bonovox

in general drew, you replace clothes over time. a digital file you pay for shoudn't be.

also, itunes has the ability to burn songs with a lossless form of its aac codec. i believe thats what the person who started this thread was talking about. if there was the option of downloading the lossless form over the compressed, he would probably be appeased. i'd start buying grateful dead shows off itunes if thats how it worked.

You are pretty much evil.
-88 kickin keys

greyseal: GOOD LORD DO I HAVE TO HOLD YOUR FUCKING COCK WHEN YOU PEE, TOO?!

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +DrewMG

I've always said you were my favorite audiophile, Liam.

-=0=-
"why do you must bump.your post sucks."
~Hound Dog

"Don't you see? You're not making Christianity better. You're making rock and roll worse!"
~Hank Hill

-=0=-
http://www.drewmg.org - You know you want it.

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +88 Kickin Keys

Ah, modular, I'm sorry we suck so now... I bet if you'd graced us with more than 8 of your infinitely insightful posts before yesterday, you might have slowed our decline into the abyss of internet hell in which we now reside. I suppose it's probably my 17,584 Neaderthalic posts that are weighing us down, in addition to our maddening acceptance of music files that, while sounding like music, aren't SUBLIMELY, MOVINGLY, INTENSELY HIGH-QUALITY, as any real fan of pop songs will insist on. Next thing you know won't be able to tell the difference between 3:00 clips of static from iTunes labelled as being by "Ben Folds" and hearing him live at a concert.

To bring this down to a level appropriate to my standard mode of posting, I'll call you a "fucking douche" here.

"people know you by your first name and qoute you in their signatures."

- Ali

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: zinefiend

oh snap!

Ha, and I like how this thread has been hijacked into an iTunes debate.

youre a failure to society on so many levels - brent_krebs

bye bye credibility... - BoulderDave

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: modularlife

Blah Blah Blah ... at what point can you provide an intelligent discussion and not responses that serve to coddle your bruised ego?

My initial post wasn't a personal attack, so much as educated commentary in response to previous posts. I was merely reflecting my impressions of the state of things. Apparently it hit a nerve. Talk about whiny ... A person comes in with an informed opinion and you can't take it? I'm not interested in a pissing contest. It's a pointless waste of time and get's boring really quickly.

wait.

Fucking douche? You must be joking. Do you talk to everyone like that? Or only people who can't either clobber you with words or their fists in person? The funny thing is, I think we've met before. I bet you wouldn't have said that shit to my face. Why say it here? Do you ever wonder if some things aren't about you? Perhaps you don't possess the ability to discern subtlety? So far you've proven this both in your inablity to converse and your inability to hear.

Oh, hell. I don't care about this. Please, I implore you - continue with the much more interesting topic of white guys covering west coast hip-hop tracks with mad skill. word.

marc

Mar 11th (5 years ago)

Posted by: bravingtheday

what a douche.

i went to a doctor and all he did was suck blood from my neck. do not go see dr. acula.

Mar 12th (5 years ago)

Posted by: chrisjonespart3

This is truly excellent. Can anyone supply a link for the lyrics?

Mar 12th (5 years ago)

Posted by: jrkeyboard

Right on Drew...

The fact that I don't want to spent multi thousands of dollars on speakers that will let me hear the imperfections in an mp3 or aac file doesn't at all mean I'm succumbing to the shit that the corporate world is trying to "sneak past my ears"... it means that a) I've got better things to spend my money on, and b) I enjoy music for the MUSIC, not the fact that it is 100% pure and untouched and funneled directly into my inner ear through methods that are so sophisticated it doesn't even touch the air for fear of being tainted and losing some of it's perfect qualities. I'm not saying it's bad if that's your biggest concern, more power to you. But for the rest of us... we'll just continue to listen to our *shudder* compressed music through our *whimper* plasticky, $.69 chip-based audio equipment and just be contented with having some music to listen to so we're not surrounded by silence

And Liam... what do you mean by "transferred"? If you mean copying from one computer to another... then no, it does not lose quality over time. A digital file doesn't just "wear out" over time. However, if you mean burnt onto a cd, then ripped into mp3 format, then burnt onto another cd, ripped again, etc... then yes, it will lose quality... but under the same conditions, so will a super-high-quality-original-striaght-from-the-shelf-of-
a-real-store cd

______________________
"Somebody get that bitch offstage, he showed me up!"
-Ben Folds

www.benfoldstribute.com
Is it down? Try clicking the Google ads when it comes back up and maybe I can afford to keep it up more often.

Mar 12th (5 years ago)

Posted by: modularlife

missing the point .... bah bah-bah bah ...

marc

Mar 12th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +DrewMG

No man, YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT!

...

that's all, I got nothing. This argument hsa been boring me for three years, and BAM! GUESS WHAT? It still bores me.

-=0=-
"why do you must bump.your post sucks."
~Hound Dog

"Don't you see? You're not making Christianity better. You're making rock and roll worse!"
~Hank Hill

-=0=-
http://www.drewmg.org - You know you want it.

Mar 12th (5 years ago)

Posted by: jrkeyboard

missing the point

Then please enlighten me... what exactly is the point?

______________________
"Somebody get that bitch offstage, he showed me up!"
-Ben Folds

www.benfoldstribute.com
Is it down? Try clicking the Google ads when it comes back up and maybe I can afford to keep it up more often.

Mar 12th (5 years ago)

Posted by: darkvulkan

YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT MISSING THE POINT.

~j.

Mar 13th (5 years ago)

Posted by: +88 Kickin Keys

Blah Blah Blah ... at what point can you provide an intelligent discussion and not responses that serve to coddle your bruised ego?

It's not a question of ability, it's a question of desire.

I bet you wouldn't have said that shit to my face. Why say it here?

Um, duh? Cause there are no consequences, and sometimes doing shit like that creates interesting responses. I think you pretty well answered your own question elsewhere in that post, actually.

Interesting how willing you are to partake in a pissing contest, seeing as how you're not interested in them.

When might we have met, by the way?

"people know you by your first name and qoute you in their signatures."

- Ali

Mar 13th (5 years ago)

Posted by: Lupin3

All you need to hear the difference is something that outputs any significant amount of treble. The vast majority [80%] of the bandwidth in a recording is used for sounds between 5khz and 22khz. When you compress a song, a lot of the higher end data is tossed, as it is harder to compress because typically the patterns are the equivalent of mathematical nonsense, with lots of tiny little waves coming and going far more frequently. When this data is approximated, you can hear very profound distortions when comparing to the original raw format.

Some people don't notice it because they don't really listen to it. Others have developed their listening abilities to the point where they can't ignore it.

If you have hearing loss, you're less likely to notice this, as the detection capabilities for higher pitches declines first. Some people couldn't even tell you the difference between a 96kCBR mp3 and the original. In this case, tho, the undertones of the compressed treble are present, so it's fairly easy to detect the distortions having not heard the original.

Going from 192kbps to 256kbps, you reach a point where enough of the data is intact that less people, myself included, can easily tell the difference. VBR is the logical solution used in AAC and mp3, etc, to use more bandwidth in the areas where one is more likely to notice the inferior quality of the recording.

For songs that are busy throughout (no significant periods of silence, or just a beat, just a bass, etc..) a VBR with an avg br of around 160-180kbps is good. Apple seems to run around 130. As far as I'm aware, AAC is based off of mpeg4, so they should be pretty equivalent bit per bit. I wish they'd gone a little higher, basically.

Mar 15th (5 years ago)

Posted by: Emaline Jones

what the hell are you talking abouT!?!?!?!?!!??!

"the hell you are not of my broom says i says."-gooseman

i can't beat myself
i can't beat myself, and i don't want to talk
i'm taking the cure
so i can be quiet, whenever i want
so leave me alone
you oughtta be proud that i'm getting good markss

Mar 15th (5 years ago)

Posted by: Rapunzel

I've an interesting story to share. Bought "Bitches Ain't Shit," off of iTunes and burned it to CD. When my Windows Media Player read the CD, the track came up as Linda Ronstadt's "Dedicated to the One I Love." Anyone else give this a try? *chuckle* That Folds.

"When we're in bed and you're screaming my name, be sure to do it in B flat..that really turns me on"

Mar 18th (5 years ago)

Posted by: pianoman

I had a track that I wrote that registered in media player as a panflute version of a Beatles song.

Chronicles of Riddick Quote of the Week:
It's been a long time since I've seen my own blood.

http://www.d-composed.com
music at:
http://music.d-composed.com
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