14 reasons why HI-RES AUDIO is DEAD (for the mainstream)

Camera: Olaf von Voss | Editor: John Darko | Motion GFX: John Darko | Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

0:00 Intro
1:30 #1 Hi-res supply
1:53 #2 CD-quality is good enough (see #14)
2:26 #3 Bluetooth isn't hi-res-capable
3:10 #4 Android OS resampling
3:33 #5 Sonos is capped at 48kHz
4:21 #6 The difference isn't that large...
4:59 #7 ...and requires a decent hi-fi system
5:20 #8 Mastering quality matters far more
5:40 #9 Tidal and Qobuz are niche services
5:59 #10 Amazon HD's impact has been small
6:12 #11 Lossy audio isn't the devil (see #8)
6:53 #12 Apple Music #1
7:46 #13 Apple Music #2
8:26 #14 Spotify Hi-Fi will be CD-quality only (see #2)

Further reading / viewing:

Apple's Eddy Cue Believes the Future of Music Isn't Lossless — It’s Spatial Audio:

No, Bluetooth can not do hi-res audio:

The ultimate guide to Bluetooth headphones: LDAC isn’t Hi-res:

Worth the wait: Qobuz US launch bumped to ‘early 2019’:

Apple Music’s hi-res streaming is a bit of a mess:

Apple Music & hi-res audio (again):

Spotify to launch ‘HiFi’ tier in 2021:

Thinking more about Spotify HiFi:

#hires #lossless #audiophile

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[professorcalculus]

To me this shows what a great job the engineers at Sony and Philips did developing the CD standard 40 years ago. Chapeau.

[wooster]

There are 3 types of audiophiles : 1/ those who are more passionate about their gear than about music (that’s the most common ones : and I understand them, because I tend to be like that) 2/ those who are just rich enough to buy high end stuff and 3/ the real music lovers with great ears. Let’s be honest : those in the third category are not so many.

[RoyaltyInTraining.]

I wish mastering engineers in extreme genres would start to care about quality. It's exceedingly rare to find metal albums that don't have brick wall limiting and clipping on the master bus.

[Dikkker]

Thank you for the clear statement. I used to be an audiophile for decades, but it lost me 10 years ago, when I realised, that I was mainly listening to my equipment, rather than to the music. Being an audiophile is certainly a nice hobby and lots of fun, but the reality for 99% of the ordinary people is exactly what you say: They just don't care, because there's barely an audible difference. Convenience wins …

[artkulak]

The Recording Engineer is KING. And that's why an analog recording from 1959 can sound just as good (or bad) as any digital recording (hi-res or not) or analog recording made today. What the recording engineer does or doesn't do at the very beginning of this sound reproduction chain affects everything we hear at the end of the line regardless of the equipment (or "synergy") in between. Room acoustics is next.

[hookem]

Great summary. All valid points!... And to me, these 2 are the biggest takeaways:
- CD quality is good enough (if you crunch the numbers, it really is!)
- Mastering matters most

[swimmad]

Thanks for reminding us audiophiles that we are a distinct minority of the population who listen to music. Indeed, I have a strong suspicion that it is non-audiophiles who get the greatest pleasure at whatever bit they listen.

[jamesfarrow]

I totally agree that it’s all about the mastering. Hi-res cannot save poorly recorded music or mastering. Then there’s MQA, which is currently causing a stir in the audiophile community.

[engelschmidl]

I'm pretty sure hi-res became a moot point for me and my hearing after seeing Motorhead back in 1991!

[willx]

The “mainstream” has never been overly interested in hifi (let alone CD quality) - and this has been the case forever, not just now. After all, most people used to do most of their music listening to vinyl records on cheap equipment in their bedrooms! I suspect that most pop records in the sixties and seventies were actually engineered with this set up in mind and this is apparent even in the latest “remastered” versions. In other words, “HI Fi” has always been a niche market.

[Djenghiz]

I really liked the format and the aesthetic of this video! There is something peaceful about you just sitting behind the desk and talking about the broader discussions/news in the world of audio. Thanks for your content and effort!

[immovableobjectify]

As mentioned, the delivery format is not the limiting factor in most cases. Let's lobby to raise the quality for recording, mixing, and mastering before focusing on demanding hi-res formats. Too many records still do not even exploit CD capability to its maximum potential.

[cheewanng]

It's sad that people are so obsess with the numbers and forget to enjoy the music itself...

[PDCRed]

Of course non-audiophiles don't care about audio quality. Neither do they care about picture quality on their TVs - 99% of viewers have hugely saturated screens that are in no way representative of real-life calibration. That's fine - they worry about other things that we don't take in interest in.

[chutgowdingo-loon]

Absolutely spot on Johnno.
I still do CDs and I can't tell the difference - so no Hi-Res for me. In fact, none of my audiophile friends can spot the difference either. I actually burnt some very well mastered 256kbps files to CD and no one could tell lossy from lossless - and I used a headphone set up for the test. So

[aakar]

"Good enough" is not known in the audiophile, quality way of life.

[frankverschoof]

Agree on all points. How dare you being practical...

[gavinhall]

For me a big reason to do lossless rips of CD's instead of lossy, is that music produced during the loudness wars does not always survive the lossy process as well as music with more headroom in it.

[xdil]

CD is not going away anytime soon, and because of the rush to streaming there’s never been a better time to collect music on the format. I’m convinced many will regret the decision to get rid of there collections. But as they say there loss is someone else’s gain . What I would say in streamings defence is if you only desire the latest releases then yes compared to a new CD, that would make economic sense regardless of the persevered difference in sound quality. Best wishes and kind regards to all

[roccobruno]

I have always found that the recording and mastering engineers are the most important part of the eventual sound we hear. Regrettably you have only mentioned streaming services as opposed to download services, but I still agree with you in the end.