Real SQ tracks, do they exist anymore?? Non mp3 files.

[gadgeteer123 21]

I love sound quality and its clarity. But I always end up listening to mp3's and I have heard from many places and I do believe them, that mp3's are to heavily compressed, and I want to know where I can get true audiophile grade sound tracks, of rock and techno type music??

Edited January 6, 2010 by Small Town Audiophile

[KU40 173]

Purchase the actual CD.

[gadgeteer123 21]

some bands are perfectly ok with this method, plus I am looking for just a few excellent uncompressed audio file to show off the quality of my speakers, and I would like it to be in the rock or techno/euro-dance category.

[johnecon2001 82]

Rock maybe... techno/euro-dance.. not really.

SQ is the accurate reproduction of all frequencies. Music that doesn't carry a wide spectrum of frequencies is not going to show what your system can do.

[gadgeteer123 21]

well some rock gets pretty creative in that, I don't care what kind of rock.

[///M5 2,833]

and I would like it to be in the rock or techno/euro-dance category.

You just picked genre's of music that are recorded extremely poorly. Jazz or Classical will buy you WAY more choices.

More to quality than just non-mp3 btw.

These are recorded well:

Sheffield Recordings

And yes I realize they call Rock -> Pop, but so do I. Anything that has been "popular" recently fits into the category at least that is how I sort my music at home.

[gadgeteer123 21]

Well i do understand that, but none of my friends like that music at all.

[///M5 2,833]

Is your system for you or for your friends.

I'll guarantee you one thing, if you build an SQ setup and play it for your friends to show off they won't be impressed and will ask you where the bass is. Most people are idiots with how they like their subs to sound.

Buy music you want to hear and listen to it. If that doesn't impress them, don't worry about it.

[The enD 467]

I have 100GB music, from which 40GB are flac(one of the best audio format).

As an audiophile I always try to find a better quality of a song and even with not so expensive equipment you can feel the difference between a compressed mp3 and the flac version. Flac - better bitrate, almost no lost in quality compared to the original...

Example

Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. - The Way I Are [L0GGiX].flac - 48kHz , 2271kbps , 5.1 surround, size ~58MB

Timbaland ft Keri Hilson Sebastian and D.O.E - The way I are.mp3 (not the best out there but haven't look for better cause I have the flac) - 44kHz , 196kbps , stereo, ~5MB

Normal people don't find much of a difference but to get the maximum of the experience listening to a song you can't listen to some compressed shit

I am enjoying this right now- Metallica - Nothing Else Matters.flac - - AWESOME Guitar .... 96kHz 3108kbps , 144MB for a single song

[gadgeteer123 21]

The system is for me, and I don't really care for that music either. And I have a ssa xcon on its way so there is no lack of bass anyway. when I am just normally listening to music I like it well balanced with accurate sound and rich bass, and when my friends come by i just spin the dial for the sub. I am a SQ lover along with loving loud music to depends what mood i'm in.

[gadgeteer123 21]

ya i ran into flac on my google searches, but the best format my car stereo supports is mp4 so im gonna try and find them

[gadgeteer123 21]

I know you said techno is not a good example, but i compared the same daft punk song from, a 192kb mp3 and a 1016kb mp4 file and the mp4 was incredibly better sounding, I am happy in my finds so far, now i wish basshunter and some of those other bands would do mp4

[The enD 467]

With .flac and some decent equipment you hear a different song. You hear lots of new tones which are lost in the .mp3 compression :/

And I have noticed I can turn it up pretty high without distortion.

[gadgeteer123 21]

ya my equipment is decent, i am using fully powered polk momo speakers, with a kove subwoofer, i turned off all my EQ's for the songs to compare.

[gadgeteer123 21]

is there a way to covnert flac to .m4a file

[The enD 467]

Maybe there are some programs

[gadgeteer123 21]

yay i found basshunter in m4a

[SpeakerBoy 64]

If you have an original iPod*, you can use rockbox to play your FLAC songs through the aux phono cable. Thats what i did, not in a car, but it works nontheless. Just get a car ipod charger and you're set.

*It MUST be the original video, nano, and I think, the mini. Those are the only ones that support rockbox. RockBox

Edited January 6, 2010 by DeepSubBoy

[///M5 2,833]

With .flac and some decent equipment you hear a different song. You hear lots of new tones which are lost in the .mp3 compression :/

And I have noticed I can turn it up pretty high without distortion.

I would disagree to a certain extent.

Normal mp3 compression is crap, but at 320k you won't hear the difference in particular in a car. Hell I'd bet you wouldn't in a pair of headphones. Most people couldn't hear the difference at 192k.

yay i found basshunter in m4a

Don't assume because a song is in a good format it is a good recording. As I stated before that genre of music generally is recorded like shit. Flac, Mp4 or original CD won't save its ass.

[gadgeteer123 21]

well i dont own a ipod and i cant afford one right now, and my kenwood x991 has a usb cable for a ipod.

[gadgeteer123 21]

well i didnt notice a difference with some songs but others i did, my radio supports 16 gigs so I have tons of room left. so I might as well get the better version.

[///M5 2,833]

well i didnt notice a difference with some songs but others i did, my radio supports 16 gigs so I have tons of room left. so I might as well get the better version.

Only way to really tell is to do a blind A/B test, otherwise Pyschoacoustics will dominate.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

First off, trying to "convert" a file that is good uncompresed quality, to a lower quality file type is a big no-no. All you're doing is compressing the S*** out of the file, which is doing you no good for SQ. You might as well go download an MP3. I am a recording engineer and own a recording studio. When I mix down a session, I usually bounce it to a raw WAV or AIFF file. The wav usually turns out around 40-75MB file, and is nearly uncompressed and sounds great quality wise. But as soon as an artist wants the file in MP3 format to upload to MySpace or something, the quality is instantly downgraded. If you can, find the original format of a file that you can support, and keep it at that. Do not try any converting or anything weird like that. Just find the best you can and stick with it. From what I see, your best bet would be to try and find WAV files, not mp4. Mp4 quality really isn't that much better than mp4.. just look at the file size. Pretty skimpy. Usually the bigger the file size, the less that the file has been compressed, thus better quality. But as stated above, no matter the format, if the original recording was s***, then the quality is going to be the same regardless. Just my .2

[vial 0]

is there a way to covnert flac to .m4a file

so is it bad to burn a flac file to a audio CD? will that change the quality ?

[ShagggDiesel 25]

is there a way to covnert flac to .m4a file

so is it bad to burn a flac file to a audio CD? will that change the quality ?

Burning to a CD shouldn't decrease the quality, unless it has to convert it in order to burn. I'm not sure if a standard CDR is compatible with .flac, but I've never tried so I could be wrong. But to answer your question, no it should not change the quality by burning it to a CD.