[BC] Turning lemons into cherry cola

[Rich Wood]

------ At 09:03 PM 7/28/2006, Steve Newman wrote: -------

>Then I guess the iTunes and Media Players will die and CD's will 
>return? I see you said this was "unscientific". That aside, how did 
>present the "codec" question. The common person understands the term 
>CD but doesn't understand a codec from a pineapple. That's why I'm 
>asking how you posed the question. Just curious.

I didn't use the term. I asked about MP3 players and iPods. You're 
right. Most probably wouldn't know what codec meant. The answers are 
what I expect. It goes back to Jim Schulke's research on processing, 
especially as it affects women. He found their high end hearing was 
more sensitive and they were less tolerant of distortion. Even the 
best codecs, drawing on his findings, would cause listener fatigue 
much sooner than audio that's uncompressed and gently processed.

Jim was always secretive so I don't believe the research was ever 
released, though I seem to recall someone like Rob Balon doing some 
research on similar things over the years.

I don't think any of the compressed devices will die. They just seem 
to require occasional breaks in listening. According to an article in 
Sound and Vision, CDs are still the primary source of non-radio audio 
in the world.

Interestingly in non wearisome way, none of the people I talked to 
had given it any thought until I asked. IBUZ wasn't mentioned as a 
source because none of them had ever heard of it. Including many of 
the salespeople. I guess they missed all the elaborate displays. 
While I prefer the term sarcasm (it's a much more contemporary form), 
I guess that last comment would qualify as facetiously wearisome.

Rich