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Mastering your music
I read and enjoyed the article on mastering a music collection “Mastering Your Music” in the April issue. It certainly offered lots of clues for those new to the subject. But it was a missed opportunity to really explain what is going on to those of us frustrated by the lack of proper published analysis in this increasingly important area of computer-dependent mixed-media manipulation.
I am cautious about accusing the article of being superficial, when it will clearly serve some readers well. But where is the in-depth comment supported by rigorous testing of the type applied to hardware reviews?
What am I on about? Well, there are lots of codecs out there. All use different alogorithims which result in a different sound. Your codec comparison chart lists only the size of a resulting file using “their respective default settings”. We are not even told what that is. And there is no indication of quality.
Other bland statements, such as WMA at 64Kbits/sec “cannot match the performance of Vorbis and Musepack in other areas” don’t even resolve any obvious meaning.
Meanwhile the now ancient MP3 (MPEG-1, layer 3, to give mp3 its proper name), is given a bad press, with no reference at all to the newer, better MP3-pro, or MPEG-4 audio.
Instead of giving us the projections of experts about which storage medium will last longest, you waste space on a price comparison which readers could easily compile themselves with a pencil or a calculator.
I could go on, but I don’t want to presume to rewrite the article.
Whoever embarks on storing a digital music collection wants to know three things.
1. Which software is the most accurate, reliable means of ripping CD/DVDs.
2. What is the most aurally faithful codec for a given bit rate, to enable an informed decision about the quality / file size trade-off.
3. Which is the most stable, dependable long-term storage solution.
If any of these questions were answered in the article, I need to visit an optician.
Which brings me to the subject of storage raised in the May issue’s editorial. The long-tern reliability of digital media is not a new issue. We are seduced into believing that things are constantly improving. Yet, as DVD speeds increase, dependability does not.
Corporations are used to the need to recycle data continuously in order to ensure that it is still accessible when they need it. They have no choice. Their business depends on secure data.
Consumers, on the other hand, live in a state of blissful ignorance which suppliers are happy to profit from.
There is no discussion about the stability of recorded media. In the press, we read only about ever-increasing burn speeds as the measure of significance. This is short-sighted in the extreme.
Personally, I would prefer a five minute longer burn time which secured five years more of data security, but there is no reliable information on the subject. We work in the dark about the future accessibility of our precious material.
It is the fault of consumers and the media for failing to ask the “write” questions of manufacturers. It is not true to say that the makers are not able find out how long media will remain stable. Testing to destruction has long been part of the R & D process. Variable conditions are not an excuse for providing no guidelines.
In this day and age, we should expect minimum performance figures to be stamped on every piece of recordable media. What are we buying storage for, if not to keep it?
Until we make clear to manufacturers that long-term dependability is more important to us than short-term convenience, we will never find out which storage medium is the safest for our most treasured items. Until then, they will continue to provide throw away products for our throw away society. We can depend on that.
Mike Robinson
May 8, 2007 in Vent your spleen! | Permalink
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Comments
Well said Mike. The focus on speed is just to make the poor consumer think they are behind the latest technology. Personaly, I always slow things down, or carry out a double pass, in the hope that the quality may be better.
Just in case the editor takes you up on this challenge of giving quality information, I would like to add DVD to the list. I have a great number of DVDs and would like to know the best format for storing on hard disc. We were told they would last forever, but I some of the early DVDs I have are deteriorating.
Posted by: Stuart Arden-Rose | 12 May 2007 02:35:58
