# SQ Music



## lscamaro (Aug 31, 2012)

Quick question, is a CD the only way to get high quality music?


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## gabf1 (Oct 8, 2012)

A good lp will work very nicely too...


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## n_olympios (Oct 23, 2008)

To get quality music you need to have good musicians and singers (where applicable). To get good sound quality, on top of the aforementioned, you also need good sound engineers and a music label that actually cares. 

Of the formats available, lp is great but retro (and only for home audio), cd has a massive library you can choose from, but high definition downloads are beginning to become more popular. You can get some really cool music from Naim Label or HDTracks in 24/96 flac files that sound awesome.


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## asota (Feb 7, 2011)

n_olympios said:


> To get quality music you need to have good musicians and singers (where applicable). To get good sound quality, on top of the aforementioned, you also need good sound engineers and a music label that actually cares.
> 
> Of the formats available, lp is great but retro (and only for home audio), cd has a massive library you can choose from, but high definition downloads are beginning to become more popular. You can get some really cool music from Naim Label or HDTracks in 24/96 flac files that sound awesome.


Agree 100% IMO the future of spinning shinies is bleak by the 10th or 12th generation loss-less Ipods will far surpass Cd's in sound quality and played through some top-notch dac's will be the equal to or exceed vinyl.


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## lscamaro (Aug 31, 2012)

I think I need to rephrase my question haha. 

I just wanted to know if CDs were the only way to get high quality music or if downloading from a certain place could equal them in quality?


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## n_olympios (Oct 23, 2008)

Equal them? How about better them?  Check out the sites I mentioned in my previous post. 

Having said that, it's not just (or solely) a matter of format used. Mastering has more to do with quality than you'd think, and this is why certain cd's sound awesome and most don't. Same thing would happen regardless of format (be it cd, flac or - sic - dat). If the engineers have done a good job recording the album, then it'll sound good on any lossless format.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

i got **** tons of the 24/96

and even converted back to 16/44 and it's an improvement on the cd release...


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## Catalyx (Oct 13, 2011)

lscamaro said:


> I think I need to rephrase my question haha.
> 
> I just wanted to know if CDs were the only way to get high quality music or if downloading from a certain place could equal them in quality?


The best way to download CD quality or better music is in a lossless format like FLAC or ALAC which have become the most popular though there are many others.

The absolute highest quality digital format would be a 32bit 192kHz transfer direct from the mastering mixdown but anything over 24/96 is overkill for the vast majority of people.


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## huggy54 (Apr 13, 2012)

n_olympios said:


> Having said that, it's not just (or solely) a matter of format used. Mastering has more to do with quality than you'd think, and this is why certain cd's sound awesome and most don't. Same thing would happen regardless of format (be it cd, flac or - sic - dat). If the engineers have done a good job recording the album, then it'll sound good on any lossless format.


That's a very true statement, I can point out a few albums on even CD that just sound awful or at least not very good.


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## dratunes (Nov 29, 2008)

The Tragically Hip!!! Trouble at the Henhouse, top notch recording, and wicked awesome tunes, one of my top 5 favourite bands. Oh and they are Canadian!!!


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