bigpics
Mar 24, 12:57 PM
Dude, I'm sorry to inform you that what you're saying is an outright lie, and there are guys from the Lossless Compression Clan, called "Apple Lossless codec", "FLAC", and "APE", standing with heavy cluebats in their hands, ready to perform a painful reality sync on anyone thinking compression ALWAYS degrades quality.
Because it doesn't, full stop.You're (very probably) right. My comments were aimed at those who were saying the Classic is overkill because who could ever "need" anything more than 128 or even 256 kbps AAC's or mp3's. (Nobody even mentioned 320, at which many of my fave songs are ripped.)
So as for the "lossless" CODECs, my reach exceeds my grasp. When it comes to photo files I pretty much understand the principles of ZFW lossless compression in TIFF files and have thousands of 'em. And in case anyone doesn't know, if you work on JPEG's and do multiple editing sessions on a photo, you do introduce new compression artifacts every time you re-save even at the highest settings. I've done tests for kicks and giggles - repeatedly opening and saving .jpg's and you reach a point where the image looks like a (very) bad xerox copy.
Back to audio, I've plowed through a few articles on formats - years ago - and I've seen slightly differing conclusions about Apple Lossless and FLAC ('tho all felt that these were alternatives worth considering for at least the great majority of people serious about sound), but, frankly, I lack the chops to have an informed opinion of my own, and know nada about APE.
And, no, while I can appreciate friends' systems that are tricked out with vacuum tube amps, "reference" speakers and high-end vinyl pressings, I'm hardly one of the hard-core audiophiles in practice. My files are mostly 256 and 320 kbps, my home speaker placements are wrong and I use preset ambiance settings that totally mess with the sound to produce surround effects from AAC's.
Worse, the great majority of my listening is on the mid-level rig in my car at freeway speeds or in city traffic, meaning I and millions of others are constantly fighting like, what, 20-30 db of non-music noise that totally overwhelms delicate nuances in sound. And worst, some of my earliest pre-iPod rips (back when I had a massive 20 GB HDD) were done in RealPlayer at 96 or even 64 kbps - before I sold or traded those CDs - and yeah, in the car, some of those still sound "pretty good" to me (tho' some clearly don't).
Add the (lack of) quality of most ear buds and headsets used by most people, and there's probably less than 5% of music listeners experiencing "true high-fidelity." To turn around an old ad campaign, no, our music listening today is "not live - it's Memorex."
But my point was and is that there's no reason to champion lossy compression per se other than for the economies of storage space it provides, and for fungible uses like topical podcasts.
As long as we have the space, "data fidelity" is desirable so that the files we produce which will be around for many years - and get spread to many people - don't discard signal for no real gain. No one would put up with "lossy" word processing compression that occasionally turned "i's" into "l's" after all.
And those audio files will still be around in a future of better DAC's, speakers, active systems which routinely monitor and cancel out things like apartment, road and car noise (in quieter electric cars with better road noise supression in the first place), better mainstream headsets and who knows what other improvements.
Compatibility between players (software or hardware) used to be another reason to choose, say, mp3's, but there's really no meaningful competition to Apple's portable sound wonders any more.
So please keep those "cluebats" holstered! No offense intended. ;)
Because it doesn't, full stop.You're (very probably) right. My comments were aimed at those who were saying the Classic is overkill because who could ever "need" anything more than 128 or even 256 kbps AAC's or mp3's. (Nobody even mentioned 320, at which many of my fave songs are ripped.)
So as for the "lossless" CODECs, my reach exceeds my grasp. When it comes to photo files I pretty much understand the principles of ZFW lossless compression in TIFF files and have thousands of 'em. And in case anyone doesn't know, if you work on JPEG's and do multiple editing sessions on a photo, you do introduce new compression artifacts every time you re-save even at the highest settings. I've done tests for kicks and giggles - repeatedly opening and saving .jpg's and you reach a point where the image looks like a (very) bad xerox copy.
Back to audio, I've plowed through a few articles on formats - years ago - and I've seen slightly differing conclusions about Apple Lossless and FLAC ('tho all felt that these were alternatives worth considering for at least the great majority of people serious about sound), but, frankly, I lack the chops to have an informed opinion of my own, and know nada about APE.
And, no, while I can appreciate friends' systems that are tricked out with vacuum tube amps, "reference" speakers and high-end vinyl pressings, I'm hardly one of the hard-core audiophiles in practice. My files are mostly 256 and 320 kbps, my home speaker placements are wrong and I use preset ambiance settings that totally mess with the sound to produce surround effects from AAC's.
Worse, the great majority of my listening is on the mid-level rig in my car at freeway speeds or in city traffic, meaning I and millions of others are constantly fighting like, what, 20-30 db of non-music noise that totally overwhelms delicate nuances in sound. And worst, some of my earliest pre-iPod rips (back when I had a massive 20 GB HDD) were done in RealPlayer at 96 or even 64 kbps - before I sold or traded those CDs - and yeah, in the car, some of those still sound "pretty good" to me (tho' some clearly don't).
Add the (lack of) quality of most ear buds and headsets used by most people, and there's probably less than 5% of music listeners experiencing "true high-fidelity." To turn around an old ad campaign, no, our music listening today is "not live - it's Memorex."
But my point was and is that there's no reason to champion lossy compression per se other than for the economies of storage space it provides, and for fungible uses like topical podcasts.
As long as we have the space, "data fidelity" is desirable so that the files we produce which will be around for many years - and get spread to many people - don't discard signal for no real gain. No one would put up with "lossy" word processing compression that occasionally turned "i's" into "l's" after all.
And those audio files will still be around in a future of better DAC's, speakers, active systems which routinely monitor and cancel out things like apartment, road and car noise (in quieter electric cars with better road noise supression in the first place), better mainstream headsets and who knows what other improvements.
Compatibility between players (software or hardware) used to be another reason to choose, say, mp3's, but there's really no meaningful competition to Apple's portable sound wonders any more.
So please keep those "cluebats" holstered! No offense intended. ;)
milo
Jul 19, 04:49 PM
No, 75% of Macs sold in the last 3 months were Intels
That's exactly what I meant. I still think that's very impressive.
That's exactly what I meant. I still think that's very impressive.
Tomorrow
Apr 20, 03:46 PM
Were your other cars manual? The Camaro isn't helping your argument any more than the Lotus is helping mine.
;)
What argument? My main point is that I hate driving, and a manual transmission doesn't help me enjoy it any more than an automatic.
;)
What argument? My main point is that I hate driving, and a manual transmission doesn't help me enjoy it any more than an automatic.
Gold89
Mar 26, 07:55 PM
Hugely impressive.
Apple really does sneak into markets, first into the music market, then into phones, then into gaming. Through an initial promising but flawed product and then evolution.
Apple evolves into the market and the market evolves around Apple (iTunes/App store).
Apple really does sneak into markets, first into the music market, then into phones, then into gaming. Through an initial promising but flawed product and then evolution.
Apple evolves into the market and the market evolves around Apple (iTunes/App store).
PowerFullMac
Jan 12, 12:50 PM
Just thinking... Perhaps the MacBook Air IS the tablet Mac!
JDMFSeanP
Jan 2, 05:10 PM
http://i.min.us/idSwVK.png
Hybrid hunting in the 240 on the mountain roads :]
Hybrid hunting in the 240 on the mountain roads :]
Corndog5595
Sep 23, 08:27 PM
Let�s be honest here. It�s all for page views and we all know it.
Primejimbo
Mar 22, 03:55 PM
Do people seriously have that many songs?!!! seriously?!!!
220gb = 50,000 songs?!!!!! That is totally not necessary.
Apple discontinue that dinosaur! It makes you look bad to just have it on your website.
just because you don't want it, other people do. I have the 80GB and it's getting close to full. I have less than 10GB left and I know people who have way more.
220gb = 50,000 songs?!!!!! That is totally not necessary.
Apple discontinue that dinosaur! It makes you look bad to just have it on your website.
just because you don't want it, other people do. I have the 80GB and it's getting close to full. I have less than 10GB left and I know people who have way more.
wmmk
Jul 13, 11:02 PM
Will I be able to get a reasonably priced apple laptop with merom, 802.11n, blueray burner, possibly HD, and leopard (or whatever 10.6 is called) in late 2007 or early 2008?
vvebster
Nov 23, 10:58 PM
ROFL, tell me about it :D
Psht. I can get that up here for free.
Psht. I can get that up here for free.
toddybody
Apr 19, 02:40 PM
They will either skip it altogether or perhaps replace all USB 2 ports with USB 3 ones (thus keeping TB as the "advanced" FW equivalent)...
The logical thing would to mirror the recent MBP refresh. I really dont think they would include USB 3.0 ports until Ivy Bridge.
The logical thing would to mirror the recent MBP refresh. I really dont think they would include USB 3.0 ports until Ivy Bridge.
twoodcc
Aug 24, 11:51 PM
bring it on! i sure hope they release something
wolfie37
Apr 21, 03:42 PM
And the non-story with the non-privacy issues goes on and on and on. Sometimes a little knowledge really is a bad thing. So some info is stored on your phone, and your computer and this results in a public outcry. Yet every mobile phone company has logs of where and when every text and call you made through them and data on which masts you were connected to at the time, regardless of wether you have a smart phone or a plain old dumb one. Credit card companies know what you spent, what you bought and where you bought it. Shops have data on when and where you purchased from them using your card. Airports/airlines know where you have been and when. I could go on.
All of these miss one key point, they are of no use except to someone with malicious intent, yet do we hear anything about addressing that which is the real issue. The biggest fear I have read about, in terms of numbers, is someone getting caught cheating on their partner. Think about it, no complaints about the cheating but about being caught!!! Just where is the sense of proportion and focus on the real issues???
All of these miss one key point, they are of no use except to someone with malicious intent, yet do we hear anything about addressing that which is the real issue. The biggest fear I have read about, in terms of numbers, is someone getting caught cheating on their partner. Think about it, no complaints about the cheating but about being caught!!! Just where is the sense of proportion and focus on the real issues???
cube
Mar 24, 05:00 PM
OpenGL is much more like Direct3D. A part of DirectX. DirectX is just a collection of multiple API's. DirectSound is like OpenAL for example.
You seem to think that DirectX 10.1 cards can't support OpenCL. Well newsflash, they can. DirectX is irrelevant in this conversation not only because it has nothing to do with Mac OS X but because it also has nothing to do with what you're associating it with. The equivalent to OpenCL is DirectCompute.
I am talking about graphics capabilities now.
You seem to think that DirectX 10.1 cards can't support OpenCL. Well newsflash, they can. DirectX is irrelevant in this conversation not only because it has nothing to do with Mac OS X but because it also has nothing to do with what you're associating it with. The equivalent to OpenCL is DirectCompute.
I am talking about graphics capabilities now.
rikbrown
Apr 19, 12:47 PM
I didn't have the money, but I bought it anyways.
Spoken like a true American.
Spoken like a true American.
Kingsly
Aug 7, 12:32 AM
Kingsly: I'll keep an eye out for you before the Keynote tomorrow. EDIT: Sorry -- just saw your other thread. Have fun visiting Cupertino!
Dang. I am sooo totally completely insanely disappointed that I wont be there tomorrow...
I even went to the info booth and tried to sweet talk my way into some comp tickets to the keynote... oh well. There's always MWSF 2007.
Dang. I am sooo totally completely insanely disappointed that I wont be there tomorrow...
I even went to the info booth and tried to sweet talk my way into some comp tickets to the keynote... oh well. There's always MWSF 2007.
NickNoVA
Feb 23, 06:28 AM
Nice office Agaetis Byrjun, and you weren't lying about the wire thing, very well hidden!
Hey Agaetis Byrjun love the office/music studio!
Do you think you could post a few pics that show the cable management you're utilizing here? I have a rat's nest and would love some pointers to get that "clean" look that you have.
Thanks!
Hey Agaetis Byrjun love the office/music studio!
Do you think you could post a few pics that show the cable management you're utilizing here? I have a rat's nest and would love some pointers to get that "clean" look that you have.
Thanks!
bushido
Apr 2, 10:34 AM
command + forward slash ;)
THANK YOU!
---
safari got some fixes to it seems, scrolling works smoother and doesn't get stuck on pages with lots of pics or vids and the error with not being able to type anything unless u close safari seems to be fixed as well.
THANK YOU!
---
safari got some fixes to it seems, scrolling works smoother and doesn't get stuck on pages with lots of pics or vids and the error with not being able to type anything unless u close safari seems to be fixed as well.
twoodcc
Sep 6, 06:37 PM
i just hope the quality is good
Multimedia
Nov 23, 10:32 AM
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I thought the Mac mini would be Core 2 Duo by now for sure. I guess they still have quite a backlog of Core Duo units not yet sold. Maybe they're getting killer discounts from Intel on those old slow Core Duo processors.
Seems like the supply of the faster Clovertowns is probably weak enough for Apple to wait until January at least. My own thought now is that if we have to wait for January, might as well wait a little longer for the Stoakley-Seaburg (SS) chips (http://techreport.com/etc/2006q4/clovertown/index.x?pg=1) to ship so the first 8-core Mac Pro can be a really killer machine. Then there's also the issue of Leopard shipping about the same time the full on 8-core with SS setup will be really ready in quantity so Apple can keep up with demand.
So I've set my brain on March '07 now so I won't have another prematurely earger anticipation attack before then. That way if it happens sooner I'll be pleasantly surprised but still may wait for it to ship with Leopard. I will also feel a lot better spending $4k+ on an 8-core with SS inside as well. I'm thinking that may be Apple's plan too. Seems like they would not want to release their first 8-core MP crippled with bottlenecks they know will be opened up in only a few more months. It's also gonna be the most expensive Mac ever sold and I'm sure they want to give their customers their money's worth while at the same time giving their competition headaches. ;) The fact that it is in HD? I suppose so. The concert itself groundbreaking? Well, hopefully that's not what you meant or else you've obviously never seen a show across the pond... :p ;) :cool:Yeah I was referring to the fact that it's in HD and some of the best music concert editing I have ever seen. Just amazing Emmy Award worthy editing.
The last concert I saw across the pond was a YES concert in Genoa Italy in summer of 1972. :D
Seems like the supply of the faster Clovertowns is probably weak enough for Apple to wait until January at least. My own thought now is that if we have to wait for January, might as well wait a little longer for the Stoakley-Seaburg (SS) chips (http://techreport.com/etc/2006q4/clovertown/index.x?pg=1) to ship so the first 8-core Mac Pro can be a really killer machine. Then there's also the issue of Leopard shipping about the same time the full on 8-core with SS setup will be really ready in quantity so Apple can keep up with demand.
So I've set my brain on March '07 now so I won't have another prematurely earger anticipation attack before then. That way if it happens sooner I'll be pleasantly surprised but still may wait for it to ship with Leopard. I will also feel a lot better spending $4k+ on an 8-core with SS inside as well. I'm thinking that may be Apple's plan too. Seems like they would not want to release their first 8-core MP crippled with bottlenecks they know will be opened up in only a few more months. It's also gonna be the most expensive Mac ever sold and I'm sure they want to give their customers their money's worth while at the same time giving their competition headaches. ;) The fact that it is in HD? I suppose so. The concert itself groundbreaking? Well, hopefully that's not what you meant or else you've obviously never seen a show across the pond... :p ;) :cool:Yeah I was referring to the fact that it's in HD and some of the best music concert editing I have ever seen. Just amazing Emmy Award worthy editing.
The last concert I saw across the pond was a YES concert in Genoa Italy in summer of 1972. :D
rxse7en
Oct 23, 11:33 AM
New MacBook Pro's and video iPods for some, abortions and miniature American flags for others
Sacrilicious!
Sacrilicious!
Popeye206
Sep 14, 12:02 PM
Isn't the iPhone 4 still their top rated phone overall? Seems silly that they won't recommend their top rated smart phone? Makes you wonder why?
BTW... I got my iPhone4 the first day out. Love it.. love it more that iOS4.1 is out and the proximity sensor issue is a non-issue now. That was the source of all my issues.
BTW... I got my iPhone4 the first day out. Love it.. love it more that iOS4.1 is out and the proximity sensor issue is a non-issue now. That was the source of all my issues.
Anonymous Freak
Nov 28, 12:01 AM
Apple previously had sold a 17" 4:3 ratio LCD until June 2004
Correction: the 17" Apple Cinema Display was the oddball 5:4 ratio. 1280x1024 is *NOT* 4:3. 1280x960 is. CRTs are usually 4:3, and Apple's CRTs that support 1280 or higher use 1280x960 (such as the eMac.) LCDs that use 1280 use the the non-standard ratio of 1280x1024. Why? No clue. Some oddball decision a little over half a decade ago. But 1280x1024 became the standard for LCDs.
Correction: the 17" Apple Cinema Display was the oddball 5:4 ratio. 1280x1024 is *NOT* 4:3. 1280x960 is. CRTs are usually 4:3, and Apple's CRTs that support 1280 or higher use 1280x960 (such as the eMac.) LCDs that use 1280 use the the non-standard ratio of 1280x1024. Why? No clue. Some oddball decision a little over half a decade ago. But 1280x1024 became the standard for LCDs.
KirkL
Apr 3, 07:26 AM
Stickies contents are now scrollable. I think this was the case in DP1 as well.
This will be a lifesaver for me! I hate how I have to manually resize the stickies if there's more info in them. Nice to see Apple looked at nearly everything for refinement :D
This will be a lifesaver for me! I hate how I have to manually resize the stickies if there's more info in them. Nice to see Apple looked at nearly everything for refinement :D