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For some weird reason I think CDs no longer have a lossless quality sound but a MP3 quality sound do printed cds have MP3 or lossless songs?
Essentially, I am a cynical person a lot of the time, and with the rise of places like itunes and other online stores, and the talk of phasing out CDs in place of SD cards that have the music and other stuff on them, I think for some reason that CDs are no longer lossless quality. Or to put it another way, pressed CDs are a compressed format. I have no factual foundation for this, its just something that has been bugging me. I think that it would be cheaper to record in MP3 so to cut costs, and since "no one would notice anyway on an ipod" the studios decided just to make all CDs more or less MP3 CDs instead of the old time high quality, uncompressed audio files... not to say that they are literally MP3s, but that they only, end the end, have MP3 quality sound. Thanks for any answers!
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I don't think it's so much that CDs are being recorded in a low quality format, because as @dcanswerer pointed out, there's no advantage for the studios to do so, but that the CD audio is being compressed more and more.
Take the Metallica album "Death Magnetic" as an example. It's been well documented that the CD version sounds terrible due to the compression on it, whereas the Guitar Hero version (and presumably the version released to radio stations) sound rather good. It's due to the way the CD was mixed and mastered, *not* to how the tracks were recorded.
So, I would bet this is a similar situation to the one that you have.
-Adam
Take the Metallica album "Death Magnetic" as an example. It's been well documented that the CD version sounds terrible due to the compression on it, whereas the Guitar Hero version (and presumably the version released to radio stations) sound rather good. It's due to the way the CD was mixed and mastered, *not* to how the tracks were recorded.
So, I would bet this is a similar situation to the one that you have.
-Adam
source(s):
Information on the problems with the Metallica album: http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/does-metallicas.html
Information on the problems with the Metallica album: http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/does-metallicas.html
CDs are not exactly lossless, but they are very good quality. To get true lossless music, you need to get DVD audio or a super audio CD (SACD). MP3 is definitely a lossy format.
If you have MP3s and you burn them onto a CD, the sound of the CD will be no better than that of MP3s. Because in creating the MP3s, the audio file will have lost a fair amount of the information in the original recording.
Update:
In reading your question further, I think I understand a little more about your question and I don't think I answered it.
I have been in sound studios before, and I have seen the equipment they use to record music. They have no interest in recording in a low quality. Quite the opposite, actually. They are constantly coming out with new equipment to record the sound in a better and better quality, taking up more and more storage space. They do understand that a lot of it will be listened to on an iPod, but a lot of it will also be listened to on multi-thousand dollar stereo systems that audiophiles have in their house.
It is a sound engineer's job to get the best quality sound they possibly can, and studios would never record in an MP3 format that is such (comparatively) low quality.
If you have MP3s and you burn them onto a CD, the sound of the CD will be no better than that of MP3s. Because in creating the MP3s, the audio file will have lost a fair amount of the information in the original recording.
Update:
In reading your question further, I think I understand a little more about your question and I don't think I answered it.
I have been in sound studios before, and I have seen the equipment they use to record music. They have no interest in recording in a low quality. Quite the opposite, actually. They are constantly coming out with new equipment to record the sound in a better and better quality, taking up more and more storage space. They do understand that a lot of it will be listened to on an iPod, but a lot of it will also be listened to on multi-thousand dollar stereo systems that audiophiles have in their house.
It is a sound engineer's job to get the best quality sound they possibly can, and studios would never record in an MP3 format that is such (comparatively) low quality.
Your main argument seems to be that you believe that they would make these CD's in a lower quality format because
"it would be cheaper to record in MP3 so to cut costs, and since no one would notice anyway on an ipod"
The argument here needs some work.
1) Even if the studios release lesser recordings, I'm sure they still record the initial tracks in a lossless format so the initial recording cost is the same.
2) Once the track is recorded, the CD's are pressed, a CD is a physical media that has a set manufacturing cost, the cost doesn't go up or down depending on what is printed on it. Or at least not much.
"it would be cheaper to record in MP3 so to cut costs, and since no one would notice anyway on an ipod"
The argument here needs some work.
1) Even if the studios release lesser recordings, I'm sure they still record the initial tracks in a lossless format so the initial recording cost is the same.
2) Once the track is recorded, the CD's are pressed, a CD is a physical media that has a set manufacturing cost, the cost doesn't go up or down depending on what is printed on it. Or at least not much.
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I couldn't believe it, for instance, when I heard this new Al Green CD, specifically the title track, Lay It Down. It sounds so incredible and pleasing to my ears because it is so dynamic. When Al is farther away from what sounds like a vintage tube mic, he sounds farther away... when he is closer, he sounds like he is right next to you. When the drums are soft, they are soft, and when they are loud, and the strings and choir come in, they are LOUD. It has captivated a lot of critics for this reason, as well, and everyone says, "It sounds like it was recorded in the 60s and plucked from some shelf." I can honestly and legitimately say, "They don't make them like they used to."