usb flash drive vs. cd's
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,044
Likes: 5
From: Canton MI
Any song you can think of plus commercial free radio stations based off a song or band you like. Find a lot of hidden gems here.
No need for USB or CD's, access everything with your phone.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 16,025
Likes: 1,656
From: Toronto, Canada
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
the sound quality will be comparable if you are listening to mp3's in both - some of my pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 3,716
Likes: 15
From: Tri Cities TN
the sound quality will be comparable if you are listening to mp3's in both is only true IF the MP3s are cut at the same bit rate. A song cut at 128kbps will sound substantially worse than one cut at 256 or especially 320 kbps.
You may know this. But there is so much bad information concerning MP3's that I thought it wise to make this point. I've heard many people who say that 128kbps is cd quality which it is far from cd quality. Its actually near the lowest bit rate for stereo reproduction.
I would also disagree with your last statement some of my pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed I would say that ALL the pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed. The reason being that compression throws away parts of the music so as to make the file smaller which in turn, reduces sound quality. However, can we hear those differences while riding in our Corvettes? Again, it depends on the compression. 128kbps, probably so. 320 kbps, I seriously doubt it.
but then, Corvettes were not meant to have good musical acoustics. Even so, I really do enjoy riding top down with the XM radio (or CD) playing, even though XM probably uses 256 kbps MP3's. it is what it is.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 16,025
Likes: 1,656
From: Toronto, Canada
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
I don't mean to be unduly argumentative. But your statement is only partially true.
the sound quality will be comparable if you are listening to mp3's in both is only true IF the MP3s are cut at the same bit rate. A song cut at 128kbps will sound substantially worse than one cut at 256 or especially 320 kbps.
You may know this. But there is so much bad information concerning MP3's that I thought it wise to make this point. I've heard many people who say that 128kbps is cd quality which it is far from cd quality. Its actually near the lowest bit rate for stereo reproduction.
I would also disagree with your last statement some of my pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed I would say that ALL the pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed. The reason being that compression throws away parts of the music so as to make the file smaller which in turn, reduces sound quality. However, can we hear those differences while riding in our Corvettes? Again, it depends on the compression. 128kbps, probably so. 320 kbps, I seriously doubt it.
but then, Corvettes were not meant to have good musical acoustics. Even so, I really do enjoy riding top down with the XM radio (or CD) playing, even though XM probably uses 256 kbps MP3's. it is what it is.
the sound quality will be comparable if you are listening to mp3's in both is only true IF the MP3s are cut at the same bit rate. A song cut at 128kbps will sound substantially worse than one cut at 256 or especially 320 kbps.
You may know this. But there is so much bad information concerning MP3's that I thought it wise to make this point. I've heard many people who say that 128kbps is cd quality which it is far from cd quality. Its actually near the lowest bit rate for stereo reproduction.
I would also disagree with your last statement some of my pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed I would say that ALL the pre-recorded CDs have sound quality that will not be matched when compressed. The reason being that compression throws away parts of the music so as to make the file smaller which in turn, reduces sound quality. However, can we hear those differences while riding in our Corvettes? Again, it depends on the compression. 128kbps, probably so. 320 kbps, I seriously doubt it.
but then, Corvettes were not meant to have good musical acoustics. Even so, I really do enjoy riding top down with the XM radio (or CD) playing, even though XM probably uses 256 kbps MP3's. it is what it is.
However, I can tell you that when I listen to my ADD or DDD format pre-recorded CDs it does bring the stereo alive and I can notice the clarity and less distortion (I tend to listen to everything as loud as possible).
One last point on satellite radio (and I'll include FM as well although you didn't bring it up), you have overlooked the frequency response limitations - for FM it is limited to 15 kHz and even though I couldn't find the number for satellite radio going by what I hear it sounds comparable. A CD will, however, go up to the 20 kHz (and beyond but we don't hear it) to give a really good sound.
I do agree that the stereos in these cars could have been better and the differences would be more noticeable.
