I grew up in the age of the 45/33 rpm record. I can remember saving my money for a ninety-nine cent 45 of the Dave Clark Five. Well, then there were reel to reel tapes, then tapes with Dolby NR to remove tape hiss, four-tracks, eight-tracks, cassettes and then CDs and DVDs. Of course I must not forget the IPOD and the MP3 file. I love my IPOD and the associated ITunes Library. I have found some real jewels there that I could have never have located through any other conduit. My question is how the MP3 file stacks up against a CD, Vinyl or tape for that matter. I use Minidiscs in my car and have several small players including a hi-def minidisc player. They sound incredible. My IPOD is my chief source of music on my Home Theatre-Entertainment System. Is there something I'm missing or are they as good as they sound?

MP3 files and any AAC files bought through the iTunes Store are lossy compression. At high bitrates, it is possible to minimize the negative efects of lossy compression, but to really equal a CD you must go to a lossless format - AAC lossless, FLAC, WMA lossless, or of course raw WAV files.

I don't have any first-hand experience with MiniDisc, but the format is based on WAV files if I remember some research I did for a co-worker some months ago. That should allow it to match CD. MP3 can try, and in some cases get close, but you need to go to lossless to really match it.

Demonstrative of what I know, I thought, at first that you misspelled lousy. So are you saying that as the files un(de)-compress that you lose some of the data, or more exactly, some of the "body" of the music(data)? Minidiscs behave in the same manner as CD's and hold about 75 minutes of sound. I have a Sony minidisc player in my car and it sounds fantastic. Minidiscs are easier to keep in the glovebox and are not as attractive to thieves looking for some extra income. So what is the best sound(data) format, the DVD? CD? or are these just differentiated by the amount of data they can store? I'm still battling over my choice of the 990 or one of the Emotiva pre/pro(s). Outlaw seems to have the more loyal following and is the least expensive of the three. I wish I knew which was the best way to go. I read your 990 review again but I don't understand enough of it to matter. I can not find a good photo of the unit and that would help. I like the Emotiva's larger display as my sight is not as good as it once was. Have a great Saturday night.
Craig

The compression used by MP3, AAC, and WMA to take WAV files (which take roughly 10MB per minute) and squeeze them down is based on intelligently discarding data forever. Hence the name "lossy" compression - it discards some of that original data before compressing what's left. The loss happens at the moment that the compressed file is created.

The 990's display is actually pretty large - I'm about 15 feet away from it right now (sitting at the desk in teh corner of our den) and can read "CABLE COA2" quite easily.

I have been doing a wee bit more research and ... correct me if I'm wrong, the Emotiva is based on a Sunfire GT IV and that was designed by Bob Carver ... right? Isn't this the guy that budding audiophiles face Washington state twice a day and thank? I seem to remember that Mr. Carver developed some kind of obscenely powerful amp that put out no heat?

I can't speak to the Emotiva, but the 990 is just awesome for music. You can use the DACs in the 990 fed by an optical or coax digital connection from a moderately priced CD player (OPPO for example) and blow away any mp3 music on an iPod played through the 990. Too much information is lost when the mp3 is created (as Gonk pointed out)to maintain high quality sound. I did this comparison just recently and could not believe how poorly my iPod sounded in comparison to a CD. mp3s are fine for the iPod alone but I don't recommend them for playback through a home system.

Also, I believe the 990 DACs and CD player as a transport would compare favorably to CD players costing around $1000. Just my $.02.

I'm sure your right, it is just so handy to download that old favorite from the eighth grade and hear it with somewhat better fidelity than the AM radio in your dad's chevy. I'm exploring the new DTS releases like the Doors "Preception." I can only wonder what kinds of new things I will be able to hear. I know those albums so well its going to be fun. One problem, they want $149 for the DTS version. Well I hope you get what you pay for.

The best sound format, Dog_lover? There are probably lots here who'd disagree, but I'd say, assuming the BEST playback equipment (i.e., stuff that starts out costing more than twenty 990s), it would be vinyl analogue (yep, and still being made) and SACD at the top, with maybe DVD-A there too, then the best-engineered CDs, then everything elst way below. Minidiscs - someone else will have to answer that.

I'm not sure what you are eluding to professor. I'm way too green to use absolutes on this forum and if I did it was an error. My original question was which format was the best for music and I mentioned why I was so fond of my IPOD. I'll leave the declarations to the experts. Have a great evening.
Dog_Lover

The DMC-1 is based on the Grand Theater IV, designed by Sunfire (Carver's company) - I came across an older review for the Theater III that suggested that Carver's design role was more secondary, so I don't know how much of the nitty-gritty he did on it. The Grand IV/DMC-1 is a very nice piece of gear, although the 990 actually compares very well to it. I've heard folks who preferred the DMC-1 (although typically by only a narrow margin) and other folks who preferred the 990 for its greater neutrality. As psyprof points out, the 990 is consistently praised for its music performance. Music performance is an excellent litmus test for overall performance.

As psyprof indicates, compressed audio formats like MP3 are about the bottom of the ladder for fidelity among digital audio formats - below the CD and MiniDisc and well below SACD and DVD-Audio. Does that mean they are to be disregarded? No, they can and do have their place. But it's worth pointing out that if MP3 sounds good, those other formats can and will sound even better.