I'm north of 45 as well and I do have my extensive collection of CD's in the iTunes Cloud. I'll admit it's great when I am elsewhere and can just plug my iPhone/iPad MINI/iPad into someones stereo and grab the music out of the cloud. It has it's limits, ain't gonna happen when at MOTD.
Sure..... It'll work down there.... Just park real close to the main check in at Fontana Village Resort.... Maybe two wheels up on the sidewalk.... Get close enough and you'll be able to snag their WIFI signal.... You play your cards right.... You just might be able to pull the Gnatster part way past the front lobby main doors.... Shouldn't be a problem listening to you favorite tunes down there.... Heck.... Roll down your windows and pop the sunroof... Share your tunes with the rest of the group checking in... It'll be a hoot....
The problem with MP3 is the compression algorithm it uses reduces audio quality. I copied my collection of vinyl to WAV files, there is no audio compression with WAV so there is no loss in audio quality. The files are much bigger though. Dave
To keep the MP3 files from sounding like carp when I rip a CD I use Easy CD-DA extractor with Lame as the Encoder set to a variable bit rate not to drop below 256kbps. Seems to do a very good job, however, the file sizes get a bit large. I think iTunes reduces the bit rate more when the files are uploaded.
Actually, as long as we're on the topic, MP3 is an obsolete format too. iTunes uses M4A these days, has for years. You can set it to encode lossless AAC as well, the file sizes are larger but if it matters to you the sound is better. But with all the other noises in the car, it's not really noticeable to most mortals. And at MOTD or other place where coverage may be spotty, just have the songs stored locally on your iPad / iPhone / Cheap iPod knockoff / whatever. You can get a 4 GB player for under $40 that will hold nearly a thousand songs and plug into the auxiliary port. Problem solved.
Heck my hearing is shot to hell. Any one of these compressed, non-compressed, vinyl & live all sound good to my old ears.
That's OK Jim.... I heard the waxed cylinder might make a comeback.... All your old recordings will still work...
Time to learn then, it's the world we live in and it's not changing back. MP3, AAC, M4A, etc are all file formats, like .doc or .txt. They're different ways of converting audio to digital. Each has a strength and a weakness, like how true the file sounds to the original, vs how much space it takes to store. Usually there's a tradeoff; the smaller the file, the less the quality. Usually we just use the generic term MP3 to mean any digital audio file. Most MP3 Players can handle a variety of file types these days, so it's really all behind-the-scenes stuff. The default settings in iTunes or any other similar programs are probably good enough for car stereos. iTunes can convert your CDs to a file that works on your MP3 player, and has been able to do so for nearly 20 years. So, really none of this is new stuff. MP3 players have totally replaced portable CD players over the last 10 years. The most popular is the iPod, but even those have been largely replaced by phones since 2007. If you've bought any kind of smartphone in the last few years, it can play the music you've converted from CD, or have bought in any of the online stores that exist. If you're still using a "feature phone" - aka plain old phone... then you can spend less than $40 for a simple MP3 player and do the same thing.
I have an old Edison wax cylinder phonograph. It's a portable, it looks like a big wooden lunchbox, they couldn't figure out how to make the horn smaller, it is bigger than the player! I'm glad I have it, my MINI won't play wax cylinders Dave
Sure it will! Just hook the mechanism to the s-belt and you're golden! Though the playback may speed up at higher revs....
I honestly thank you for the explanation Zapski, but that is really way more then I want to learn, nor do I have the time to sit down that long to figure it out. My horse hasn't changed with the times and I just sing to myself. :lol: