lossless means lossless...just like a zip file unzips to give you all the info to run your program..so does lossless. This seems to be a hard concept for everyone to grasp. Just google it. Something does not have to go, not if you know what the missing parts are, and can fill them in when expanded. That's what the compression codec does. example: all CAA cards in south central ontario start with 620 282 xxxxxxxxxx, if I wanted to store a million card numbers in a file and reduce the space it takes up, but still have all the information when expanded. I can just add the xxx numbers, and when expanded, the program will just add 620 282 in front of all of them. That's how a lossless codec works. That's why it can pass a bit checker for accuracy and be mathematically identical to the original (obviously it's much more complicated than that, but that's the general idea).

 

thanks very much for the info. so what can explain the difference in sq that some people are claiming? (my equipment is pre mp3) I do know when I plug in the kids ipod into our receiver at home it lacks the punch of the original cd.

thanks again

randy

 

well lots of things...what is their mp3's origin, did they get it after it was recorded of the radio and then digitized..very common, or recorded using analog means. where did it come from...my space, you tube, napster, etc...many of those mp3s are impossible to know the source. I can tell you that a properly ripped mp3, aac, etc.. at a reasonable bit rate, say 128 kbps and above, is very good, and all but a few with really transparent equipment would have a tough time telling the origianl from the mp3. Another factor is the ipod levels. I've found that ipod output levels are significantly lower than the cd's level in my deck and most others as well. This causes you to think that the louder one is better quality (common psychoacoustic effect which is probably the number 1 reason most people can tell th difference between 2 sources...when the sources are level matched..it becomes much harder). Yet another factor is just plain prejudice, we all have been influenced over the years by all the audiophile claims that this can't sound as good as that, and that you need 1000.00 cables to have great sound, and mass produced electronics can't sound as good as 10,000.00 esoteric audio components, etc...The idea that a pocket sized device tht can hold thousands of tracks can actually sound good is blasphemy!