The problem with dynamic compression sticks deeper than the players and recorders. Hardly any music released today is worth listening to, and the "loudness war" have just made bad releases (and remasters) worse.
An example. I had an old CD, dating back to the early 90's. Sadly it had to endure one too many dorm room party.
I stumbled upon a re-release of that groups music at a nice low price, but I was finding my self unable to enjoy the music. I don't have "enthusiast" ears, but something was wrong with it. I then bought one of the tracks on iTunes. and it was tee same.
I finally managed to rip that track off the old CD, with a not of problems on it, but enough to be able to look at the wave form in an editor.
Comparing the three tracks in question the waveform was dramatically different. The original release was very dynamic throughout the track, most of the track was sitting at -6dB or less, with transients (and errors) spiking now and again.
This is how it should look.
The other two were pretty much a solid block from start to finish, with nearly no segment dropping below the nearly ruler straight top and bottom peaks.
This is why the bass on mist audio these days sound like is it "drowning" out everything else for a short while before and after the bass hit. And that the bass sound more like someone hitting a wet whoopee cushion rather than a bass drum.
It's a general problem for the industry, but iTunes' re-encodes and the poor quality hardware in the iPods are just making things worse.
Most, if not all of the Hi-MD recorders have LPCM as an option, here you get about 90 minutes on a 1GB disc, and the last version of their SonicStage utility you can up- and download any content, even "protected" discs, from their Net-MD units.
I still use my Sony MZ-RH1 on occasion, which is identical to their MZ-M200.
On an ending note, I said it back when the PSP came out, and I'd like to repeat it again; Sony should have used the Hi-MD format in their PSP, and settled on a slightly modified higher density version for game content if necessary. UMD have a 1.4GB capacity if I recall.
The main problem with Sony is that when it comes to Consumer products, they just can't stop "fixing" things that aren't really broken.
I haven't found anything else with comparable audio quality.
I know the ageing ATRAC codec used on Minidiscs are inferior to the latest generation codecs, such as AAC, but the D/A converters and amplifiers were far superior to those in the latest portable units, even iPods which are not just hampered by poor amplifiers, but also shoddy encoding and a high level of dynamic compression in iTunes. And I must say that as a portable recorder they actually seem to be cheaper than comparable solid state recorders.
Agreed, but to me it seems the USPTO just rubber stamps anything they come across these days, and let the parties figure out the gory details in the courts.
Some use gold, others use other means to keep the connector nice ans shiny, though somewhat less conductive.
I once had to grind the end cap of the battery compartment with sandpaper to remove the clear-coat they'd applied to it...DUH!
I was kinda being sarcastic with the Pacemaker analogy:)
Some countries are extremely strict regarding EM emissions from appliances and cables, which is kinda funny considering the barrage of EM we get from just about everything else.
While the $20+ HDMI cables are just a waste of money, the cheapest cables can be problematic. Poor manufacture or shoddy shielding can lead to signal loss, whole or in part. The requirements are a bit higher for 3D using the higher bandwidth HDMI 1.4. It is a high frequency signal, and the cable have to adequately shield that signal from interference, and it goes both ways, your neighbour will probably not like very much if the leaked signal interferes with his pacemaker, having it go wild every time you watch pron. Though that will probably never happen, they tend to be tough little buggers.
I can only assume you are either full of it, or running it on a very old system with an outdated browser.
Considering for comparison that this decoder barely registers more than a few % above idle on my CPU monitor apart an occasional singe spike on one of the cores, and definitely does not stutter. This is on my three year old PC.
Hack a corporation or the US Government, and you get thrown in jail for a short while. Mess with Emo Russian RMT'ers with delusions of grandeur, and they may not settle for just a prison...
Imho, the best Sony could do would be an evolutionary step, rather than a completely new machine. Most of the R&D on the Cell is done, and the years have provided a lot of insight into it's strengths and weaknesses. It should be (relatively) economically viable to make a newer version, which would be about the same to program as the current one, meaning a far lower learning curve. For instance, fixing any glaring bottlenecks, upgrade the General purpose parts and individual SPE's and "just" add more cores after that. I'm certain IBM would love to be able to get a new Cell CPU, as they currently are more or less forced to use the old one, as it is cheaper due to the level of production for the PS3. Between the PS3 and the X360 and their respective choices of GPU's, it did turn out that Microsoft made the better choice.
PS4 can still be a very powerful machine without the massive investments that went into the PS3. The biggest question is: will they sell in sufficient numbers? Sony's reputation (flawed as it already were at the PS3 launch) have really taken some hits over the past few years. Some customers may decide they don't trust Sony any longer, and put their money elsewhere.
I have noticed that after having applied 3.61, the PS3 is running it's fan at a noticeable higher level than with the previous firmwares, regardless of the task.
Let me qualify my statement. In no normal operating environment where the hardware is otherwise healthy and operating nominally, should software not be able to cause the console to overheat.
And I'd say it should be up to the firmware to maintain the consoles thermal environment, even going so far as to throttle the CPU/GPU should the cooling be compromised.
This brings me to my other complaint about consoles, they are just not easy to clean properly. And certainly not without rendering the warranty void.
To be honest, the logic should be that NO game should ever be able to overheat a console, if the console had been build correctly and is able to handle 100% load on all resources.
The problem with THAT many large screens is that the boss can easily tell when you accidentally *ehrm* hit a porn site when searching the man pages...or other "technical" articles.
Why do I feel ashamed for actually raising my hand here.
Well, probably because my browser is usually on the second screen, with my IDE and other editing apps are on the larger primary. I love the added real estate afforded to me by having two screens.
Haggard's Law: "The likelihood of a person harboring secret desires to engage in sexual and/or romantic activities with members of the same sex is directly proportional to the frequency and volume of said person's vocalized objections to homosexuality."
Basically, it is often the case that the more religious people rant about a vice, the more likely it is that they are really harbouring a strong desire for it, and probably hate themselves for doing so.
That is not to say that everybody fighting for a cause or against something fall into this category.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem with dynamic compression sticks deeper than the players and recorders. Hardly any music released today is worth listening to, and the "loudness war" have just made bad releases (and remasters) worse. An example. I had an old CD, dating back to the early 90's. Sadly it had to endure one too many dorm room party. I stumbled upon a re-release of that groups music at a nice low price, but I was finding my self unable to enjoy the music. I don't have "enthusiast" ears, but something was wrong with it. I then bought one of the tracks on iTunes. and it was tee same. I finally managed to rip that track off the old CD, with a not of problems on it, but enough to be able to look at the wave form in an editor. Comparing the three tracks in question the waveform was dramatically different. The original release was very dynamic throughout the track, most of the track was sitting at -6dB or less, with transients (and errors) spiking now and again. This is how it should look. The other two were pretty much a solid block from start to finish, with nearly no segment dropping below the nearly ruler straight top and bottom peaks. This is why the bass on mist audio these days sound like is it "drowning" out everything else for a short while before and after the bass hit. And that the bass sound more like someone hitting a wet whoopee cushion rather than a bass drum. It's a general problem for the industry, but iTunes' re-encodes and the poor quality hardware in the iPods are just making things worse.
The TASCAM DP-008 hardly fits in a (normal) pocket...
Most, if not all of the Hi-MD recorders have LPCM as an option, here you get about 90 minutes on a 1GB disc, and the last version of their SonicStage utility you can up- and download any content, even "protected" discs, from their Net-MD units. I still use my Sony MZ-RH1 on occasion, which is identical to their MZ-M200. On an ending note, I said it back when the PSP came out, and I'd like to repeat it again; Sony should have used the Hi-MD format in their PSP, and settled on a slightly modified higher density version for game content if necessary. UMD have a 1.4GB capacity if I recall. The main problem with Sony is that when it comes to Consumer products, they just can't stop "fixing" things that aren't really broken.
I haven't found anything else with comparable audio quality. I know the ageing ATRAC codec used on Minidiscs are inferior to the latest generation codecs, such as AAC, but the D/A converters and amplifiers were far superior to those in the latest portable units, even iPods which are not just hampered by poor amplifiers, but also shoddy encoding and a high level of dynamic compression in iTunes. And I must say that as a portable recorder they actually seem to be cheaper than comparable solid state recorders.
Agreed, but to me it seems the USPTO just rubber stamps anything they come across these days, and let the parties figure out the gory details in the courts.
It certainly makes more sense than a $25k regular Scart.
Some use gold, others use other means to keep the connector nice ans shiny, though somewhat less conductive. I once had to grind the end cap of the battery compartment with sandpaper to remove the clear-coat they'd applied to it...DUH!
I was kinda being sarcastic with the Pacemaker analogy :)
Some countries are extremely strict regarding EM emissions from appliances and cables, which is kinda funny considering the barrage of EM we get from just about everything else.
WTF??
A $24,999.99 SCART cable??
Who uses SCART these days?
Only $999? Puh-leeze!
Anything less than $2,594.75 is crap.
http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Digital-Audio-Ethernet-Connection/dp/B003CT2A6I/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_6
While the $20+ HDMI cables are just a waste of money, the cheapest cables can be problematic. Poor manufacture or shoddy shielding can lead to signal loss, whole or in part. The requirements are a bit higher for 3D using the higher bandwidth HDMI 1.4.
It is a high frequency signal, and the cable have to adequately shield that signal from interference, and it goes both ways, your neighbour will probably not like very much if the leaked signal interferes with his pacemaker, having it go wild every time you watch pron. Though that will probably never happen, they tend to be tough little buggers.
The pacemakers that is.
I can only assume you are either full of it, or running it on a very old system with an outdated browser.
Considering for comparison that this decoder barely registers more than a few % above idle on my CPU monitor apart an occasional singe spike on one of the cores, and definitely does not stutter. This is on my three year old PC.
Well, someone have been reading too many bad "cyber" novels, with a bit of Karl Marx in the mix, while on crack.
Spoken like a true 360 fanboy.
Where is the "Like" button when you need it ? :)
Hack a corporation or the US Government, and you get thrown in jail for a short while. Mess with Emo Russian RMT'ers with delusions of grandeur, and they may not settle for just a prison...
LulzSec is a bunch of DDoS'ing script-kiddies in serious need of some hot and heavy man love in a Super Max...
None that I could see. I was sure Fred would be on it...
Imho, the best Sony could do would be an evolutionary step, rather than a completely new machine.
Most of the R&D on the Cell is done, and the years have provided a lot of insight into it's strengths and weaknesses. It should be (relatively) economically viable to make a newer version, which would be about the same to program as the current one, meaning a far lower learning curve. For instance, fixing any glaring bottlenecks, upgrade the General purpose parts and individual SPE's and "just" add more cores after that.
I'm certain IBM would love to be able to get a new Cell CPU, as they currently are more or less forced to use the old one, as it is cheaper due to the level of production for the PS3.
Between the PS3 and the X360 and their respective choices of GPU's, it did turn out that Microsoft made the better choice.
PS4 can still be a very powerful machine without the massive investments that went into the PS3. The biggest question is: will they sell in sufficient numbers?
Sony's reputation (flawed as it already were at the PS3 launch) have really taken some hits over the past few years. Some customers may decide they don't trust Sony any longer, and put their money elsewhere.
I have noticed that after having applied 3.61, the PS3 is running it's fan at a noticeable higher level than with the previous firmwares, regardless of the task.
Let me qualify my statement. In no normal operating environment where the hardware is otherwise healthy and operating nominally, should software not be able to cause the console to overheat. And I'd say it should be up to the firmware to maintain the consoles thermal environment, even going so far as to throttle the CPU/GPU should the cooling be compromised. This brings me to my other complaint about consoles, they are just not easy to clean properly. And certainly not without rendering the warranty void.
To be honest, the logic should be that NO game should ever be able to overheat a console, if the console had been build correctly and is able to handle 100% load on all resources.
The problem with THAT many large screens is that the boss can easily tell when you accidentally *ehrm* hit a porn site when searching the man pages...or other "technical" articles.
Why do I feel ashamed for actually raising my hand here. Well, probably because my browser is usually on the second screen, with my IDE and other editing apps are on the larger primary. I love the added real estate afforded to me by having two screens.
Haggard's Law: "The likelihood of a person harboring secret desires to engage in sexual and/or romantic activities with members of the same sex is directly proportional to the frequency and volume of said person's vocalized objections to homosexuality." Basically, it is often the case that the more religious people rant about a vice, the more likely it is that they are really harbouring a strong desire for it, and probably hate themselves for doing so. That is not to say that everybody fighting for a cause or against something fall into this category.