Music How-To
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The Aging Anatomy of MP3 (why size matters)
Music How-To
Michael Lavorgna • Feb 01, 2012 • 28 comments
[Since there was so much interest and thought-provoking comments on the Neil Young/MP3 post, I thought it made sense to flesh this out a bit more]

The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) was put together by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to figure out how to best compress audio and video for transmission. Since our focus is on music, we’ll skip over video compression and just stick to a) what’s an MP3, b) why its OK to pay to stream MP3s and finally, c) why you should not pay good money to purchase tracks or albums in any of the MP3 formats.

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Music Download Sites (16/44 a list)
Music Downloads, Music How-To
Michael Lavorgna • Dec 21, 2011 • 8 comments
Here's a list of sites that offer CD-quality downloads (16/44) mostly in FLAC format, some in WAV. This list does not include sites that only offer MP3s (they're free, right?) or High Definition Downloads since those are listed on the big HD Download Sites list. If you find some are missing, and my guess is there are, please leave a comment or shoot me an email and I'll add 'em. Enjoy!
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HD Music Download Sites (a list)
HD Music Downloads, Music How-To
Michael Lavorgna • Dec 06, 2011 • Published: Oct 01, 2011 • 21 comments
High Definition music downloads are part of the next big wave in the evolution/revolution that is computer audio. As with most things computer audio, there’s some confusion, disagreement and dissension regarding exactly what a High Definition audio file is.
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Computer Audio How-To
Hardware How-To, Music How-To, Software How-To
Michael Lavorgna • Oct 10, 2011 • 25 comments
In the coming weeks and months (and years), we'll be looking at various aspects of the How To's of computer audio. Today, if you look at any computer setup and optimization guide whose focus is music playback, the word you're likely to see as much if not more than any other is "disable". My point brings us back to something Charles Hanson of Ayre Acoustics said in our The Future of Computer Audio article, "The biggest problem with computer audio is the computer."
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MP3 vs AAC vs FLAC vs CD
Music How-To
John Atkinson • Mar 08, 2008 • 4 comments
As Wes Phillips recently reported on this website, CD sales are down and legal downloads of audio files are up. Stereophile has been criticized more than once for not paying enough attention to the subjects of MP3 and other compressed file formats, such as AAC, and for offering no guidance at all to readers about how to get the best sound quality from compressed downloads.
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