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Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:38 am
by sean.boyer
I find the biggest tell-tale of 320k mp3s is in the high-hats for me. That's usually where I hear it first. They will have more of a wooshy or flanged sound than I'm used to hearing under "proper" listening circumstances. Otherwise, if you listen back-to-back with a hi-res, the mp3s usually sound a little darker, but more in a smeared and ganky way as opposed to a 'warm' and pleasant way.

That being said, most of the music I listen to is really not even remotely Hi-Fi (old live jazz records, punk, early 90's hip-hop, and noise rock) so 99% of the time, I'm perfectly happy to walk around listening to mp3s of DOA records recorded on a Tascam tape cassette recorded in 1979 without fuming about the lack of fidelity. That other 1% of the time, is sitting quietly at home with nice headphones, listening to my favourite Zappa records, where I know every single tone and texture better than I know myself. Hi-res is night and day away from mp3 for these recordings, for me.

Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:52 am
by sean.boyer
Oh, another semi-interesting observation I've noticed with hi-res vs mp3:
There are many, many bands I've listened to over the years where I have only EVER heard them in mp3 form (and probably most of those are 128K mp3s from years back, that I STILL listen to). These have always sounded 'fine' to me, because that's what I'm used to hearing. Without being able to compare them directly to a high-res version, I don't know what I'm missing.

However, when I listen to mp3s of recordings I've done myself, I always make a bit of a sour face, because I can hear where things have changed, if even slightly. I've always wondered if I was using a bad encoder or something, or missing some kind of interim step that retains more quality or something, but I've come to realize that the quality of the mp3s I produce is just as good as the next guy, and the only reason they sound bad to me is because I'm intimately familiar with the hi-res source by that point.

If any of you guys are Strongbad fans, you might have experienced the same thing as me. I'm used to the sub-par compressed and badly distorted audio presented on their website. This has given a fixed idea of their voices in my brain, because that's all I've ever known. Until I saw some clips from their DVD, where obviously the tonal quality of their voices sounded night and day different. I equate it to only ever talking to someone on the phone, every day, for years, then finally meeting them in person. You've grown so accustom to the low quality version of their voice, and the characteristics inherent (ie distortion and filtering) that the full-res is almost off-putting. At least that's how it is for Strongbad and I.

Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:58 am
by Mathieu Benoit
sean.boyer wrote:If any of you guys are Strongbad fans, you might have experienced the same thing as me. I'm used to the sub-par compressed and badly distorted audio presented on their website. This has given a fixed idea of their voices in my brain, because that's all I've ever known. Until I saw some clips from their DVD, where obviously the tonal quality of their voices sounded night and day different. I equate it to only ever talking to someone on the phone, every day, for years, then finally meeting them in person. You've grown so accustom to the low quality version of their voice, and the characteristics inherent (ie distortion and filtering) that the full-res is almost off-putting. At least that's how it is for Strongbad and I.


That's a reference I can totally get behind and it makes a very clear point to me since I feel exactly the same way.

Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:54 pm
by Malcolm Boyce
Clearly... Unless you heard it a different way, how would you know the hi hats weren't flanged on purpose? I might have recorded it... ;-)

I love the Strong Bad analogy. Perfect.

Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:47 am
by Scott DeVarenne
From our own backyard it's Wet Grow Light . Wiff their album Electric Tiedye Psychedelic Samurai.
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Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:09 pm
by Scott DeVarenne
I saw this band last night at Pepper's. I had never heard them before, but I enjoyed them enough that off to bandcamp I went today to hear their recordings. They are from PEI.

http://northlakesmusic.bandcamp.com/

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Re: Bandcamp

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:20 am
by Scott DeVarenne
Owen
http://cryptowen.bandcamp.com/album/microtrx
Now, dat'sa my kinda poop!
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