muzicman82.net

All Linkin Park songs look the same

It’s kind of sad… but he’s got a point.

Go listen to The Honorary Title’s new album, Scream and Light Up The Sky. It’s real good.

Regarding my post “To FLAC or NOT: A lossless vs. MP3 comparison”, I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on some forums questioning the intent, methods, and conclusions of this little experiment. There are some things that should be very clear:

• This was for me only. I’m not trying to persuade you to ditch MP3s and go lossless with everything.
• It wasn’t meant to be scientific, just a quick mathematical calculation. It’s interesting. It originally took all of 3 minutes. Doing it a 2nd time took much longer. I didn’t even use a phase scope.
• I wasn’t trying to prove that FLAC is better than MP3s. We all know that. All I wanted to do is listen to the differences between the two formats.
• I am not trying to replace a true double blind test. I’m not even saying everyone can hear the difference between MP3s and FLAC. I will say that I can distinguish a 192 kbps MP3 from a lossless file.

UPDATE (9.9.07): Corrections have been made… I did this again paying closer attention to detail. I found that the “Delete Silence” feature doesn’t really work. At least, it’s not always consistent. I ran it twice on the same file and it got different readings. It turns out that my original result files were affected by this.

With the new Apple iPod Classic available (almost) in 160GB, I’ve decided to freshen up my data with new CD rips. Yes, I still buy CDs. I like the idea of pure 16-bit/44.1 kHz audio when I want it. I began ripping CDs in 1998-1999, when Iomega offered me the opportunity to beta test their new HipZip MP3 player, which used 40MB Clik storage. I have to admit, those disks were cool, and the player was the best thing around. I ripped MP3s at 192 kbps, which back then was pretty high. Napster was just getting started and everything was usually 128 kbps. Even then, I thought those were mediocre. Since then, I’ve stuck with the 192 kbps bitrate simply for consistency. I’ve maintained all of the MP3s since then, never once losing any data. Now, I’ve been trying to decide whether to do 256 kbps AAC (which is what Apple iTunes Plus is) or to do a lossless codec. No, I wouldn’t do Apple Lossless.. I don’t want Apple owning the format of my music. I’ve been reading about FLAC. Read on for a simple, quick comparison.

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If you’re not a friend of mewithoutYou on MySpace, check this bulletin.

peace be with you all, endless peace!

I’m writing because recently I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable with handling our band like a business, making people pay to see us, selling things, marketing, publicity, press photos, you can certainly imagine the conflict here…

in many many ways we have been conformed to the patterns of the music business, patterns that are so powerful I don’t expect for us to overcome them overnight, but after talking a while with the guys a couple of us got the idea to try to step a while outside of these patterns.

over the past few years a number of folks have asked some of us in the band to come and play at a church group or school or house show, and I’m wondering if any of those offers still stand. some friends and I are putting together some songs and hoping to take them on the road for a short trip around the PA, NY, NJ, VA, MD area this fall. we won’t be “mewithoutYou” just some goofballs travelling together, no setlists or lightshows, no smoke & mirrors. we’re not hoping to “play shows,” more like host a rambling get together, cook some food, cover old songs we like,dance, pray, listen,and-see-what-happens time.

if you know a place where we can have one of these gatherings where we wouldn’t need to pay to rent it or charge money for folks to get in, where we’d be free to do what seems best, go on and write us at:

GodsLightParty@gmail.com

let us know what dates would work, your address, contact info, what you’d have in mind for our time together, how much notice you’d need to arrange it, any other concerns or ideas…the time we’re thinking is a short run, maybe 7-10 days sometime between mid september and mid-october, trying to stay within about a 200 mile radius of Philadelphia (if you live outside that area, you can still write so we can keep you in mind for possible future trips).

nothing’s set, it’ll depend upon a lot of people coming together to pull it off, but we figured it’s worth a try: let’s see what happens!

(aaron)

So, that’s pretty cool huh? Well, I’d setup and run a show like the old days if I had the time.. but I just don’t.. I curious to see how this goes.

Relient K’s Bus Lights on Fire

This is why you back up your data! That really sucks though.

This will be my first ever video / YouTube post. Paramore may not be your type of music, but they are darn good, especially live. See, I have this thing… (nearly) anyone can make an album. Producers and engineers can transform mediocre talent into ear candy (Panic! at the Disco). Pulling off your album live consistently is hard… It may not seem this way, but it’s even harder to make a live recording sound good. Recordings capture every flaw of a performance that club audio, bad sound techs, and annoying teenagers seem to mask. Those things being said, watch the video. You can see more of the show (and in better quality) by going to FBR+.