recording mediums: which is best?
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Recording Mediums: Which is Best?. Cody Barras Musical Acoustics Fall 2012. Vinyl, CD or MP3. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Recording Mediums:Which is Best?
Cody BarrasMusical Acoustics
Fall 2012
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Vinyl, CD or MP3 There is quite a deal of debate among recording specialists and internet
know-it-alls about the general quality of sound recordings over various mediums. Some say that the compression of an MP3 gives an over processed sound, others say the artifacts on a record make for an unclean recording, and still others say that the CD is not the happy medium it claims to be.
So which do people really prefer?
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The Experiment Three different songs were played over the three different formats for a test
group of 15 individuals in a random order blind experiment.
Each test subject was asked to rank the tracks on a scale of 1-3, 1 being the best, 3 the worst, in order of how they “liked and enjoyed the sound.”
The question was left specifically vague, so as not to lead subjects toward a certain medium.
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What They Didn’t Know Two of the songs were originally recorded on Vinyl records, the third—Dog
Days are Over—was originally recorded digitally.
One of the songs—Like a Rolling Stone—is in Mono format, the other two are in Stereo.
Thus, Here Comes the Sun served as a control.
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So… The largest discernable difference between tastes was in the Bob Dylan
“Like a Rolling Stone” recording, most likely because of its mono sound being most noticeable on the record.
Interestingly, the song orignally recorded for a digital audience was actually preferred on a record (just barely), while the stereo song recorded on analog equipment was preferred on CD.
The Beatles MP3 was the “middle” track, while in the Florence + the Machine test, the CD and MP3 averaged exactly the same.
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Scientific Significance The numbers are too close for the data to statistically have any significant
value. Perhaps with a larger test group and a more controlled test atmosphere, the results may become more clear, but for now, the only safe conclusion to draw is that the average listener prefers the sound of a stereo recording to a mono recording on average.
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The End