iTunes Blues

[mjzee]

23 hours ago, JSngry said:

Representative sampling.

 

 

Thanks for posting this.  However, there are two huge ironies underlying, and undermining, his case:

1) Richard Spencer didn't really write "Amen Brother."  It's obviously an instrumental version of Curtis Mayfield's "Amen."

2) Unless Richard Spencer was the drummer, he didn't "write" "the Amen" drum break - the drummer did, as part of working out the song's arrangement.

If I was the drummer, I'd be pissed at EVERYBODY.

[xybert]

Regarding Apple ditching paid downloads at some point in the future, i read about that somewhere too. Nothing official announced etc, from memory the article i read was speculative, may have cited anonymous insiders etc. I think the gist was that times have changed since the iTunes store first opened: everyone's streaming now. 

Yes, Apple has had it's own lossless audio codec for a long time in ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec rather than Free Lossless Audio Codec or FLAC). Last i checked, which was a long time ago, ALAC wasn't an option for iTunes downloads purchased from the iTunes store. This frustrated me at the time because i use ALAC for ripping CDs and don't want to pay full price for lossy downloads (even if they're good quality and you arguably can't tell the difference etc). There was talk that they might start offering albums/songs in the ALAC format from the store but i don't think it ever happened.

 

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, mjzee said:

Thanks for posting this.  However, there are two huge ironies underlying, and undermining, his case:

1) Richard Spencer didn't  neally write "Amen Brother."  It's obviously an instrumental version of Curtis Mayfield's "Amen."

2) Unless Richard Spencer was the drummer, he didn't "write" "the Amen" drum break - the drummer did, as part of working out the song's arrangement.

If I was the drummer, I'd be pissed at EVERYBODY.

Seriously doubt that Curtus, or anybody , "wrote" "Amen". Curtis might - might - have written an expanded lyric, but the basic refrain, hell, I was a white Lutheran kid, and that "Amen" thing was kicking around long before then. We had It in Vacation Bible School.

And If WE had It...

[rostasi]

Curtis got "Amen" after watching Lilies of the Field.
"Amen" is basically a traditional gospel tune that was
made famous in the late 40's by Wings Over Jordan
which was an a cappella group that had a radio show
on CBS beginning in the late 30's - one of the first to
feature a black choir broadcasting nationally.

The drummer of the "break," BTW, was Gregory Sylvester Coleman
who died 10 years ago. I believe you can find his take on the sudden
rush of interest in the "Amen Break" online. He actually drummed with
The Impressions for a while [and even with Brick (!)] and died as a
homeless man in Atlanta.

Edited September 25, 2016 by rostasi

[Scott Dolan]

6 hours ago, xybert said:

Regarding Apple ditching paid downloads at some point in the future, i read about that somewhere too. Nothing official announced etc, from memory the article i read was speculative, may have cited anonymous insiders etc. I think the gist was that times have changed since the iTunes store first opened: everyone's streaming now. 

Yes, Apple has had it's own lossless audio codec for a long time in ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec rather than Free Lossless Audio Codec or FLAC). Last i checked, which was a long time ago, ALAC wasn't an option for iTunes downloads purchased from the iTunes store. This frustrated me at the time because i use ALAC for ripping CDs and don't want to pay full price for lossy downloads (even if they're good quality and you arguably can't tell the difference etc). There was talk that they might start offering albums/songs in the ALAC format from the store but i don't think it ever happened.

 

If you can't tell the difference, then what does it matter? This is something I've never understood. 

[xybert]

19 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

If you can't tell the difference, then what does it matter? This is something I've never understood. 

Ha ha, to be honest i put that in there to preempt getting in to a discussion on it. Nevertheless... 

It's really just a preference thing. My preference is to purchase a CD and then rip it as ALAC, that way i have a CD quality digital file that i can play to my hearts content on all my devices and i have the CD as a physical back-up. So everything leads on from there: I'm considering purchasing a download, which is already something that is outside my usual preference. Then the file is 256kbps, a good but still lossy file. And they ain't cheap. So ultimately i weigh it up and go ''yeah, all things considered i'd rather just get the CD.'' If they were ALAC it might tip the scale, or might have in the past: at this point i'm fairly stuck on CDs. When CDs stop being an option then i'll look at the digital options more seriously. 

In terms of '256kbps versus ALAC' in general, again i guess it comes down to preference. Just as my CDs are a physical back-up of my digital files, my digital files are back-up for my physical CDs. I like the fact that my digital back-up is CD quality, it would bug me if it wasn't. Space is not as much of a concern anymore external HD wise (i think they are coming out with 1TB SD cards soon) and i can fit more than enough albums in ALAC on my iPod.

No audible difference? Maybe, although anecdotally and without examples i've definitely heard a difference between albums that i've had in 256kbps and re-ripped in ALAC. 256kbps doesn't have the extremely noticeable artifacts of an old mp3, but there is a difference. And maybe this is getting too esoteric, but i'm a firm believer that when it comes to sound waves we physically hear more than we mentally hear, if that makes sense.

Having it in ALAC just gives me peace of mind, i don't have to worry about whether 256kbps is good enough, and ultimately maybe that's what it all comes down to.

[Scott Dolan]

Well, I guess we'll have to disagree. 

I hear no diffference. And that's using a not exactly Best Buy special. Whether I run it through my Dynaudio mains, or through my Emotiva preamp->HeadRoom Micro Amp->PSB M4U-1's. I hear zero difference between CD/ALAC and 256kbps AAC. 

None. 

And I'm highly suspicious of any who claims they can. 

[fasstrack]

Hope I'm not rudely barging in on the conversation, gents. But I thought some of you might want to know this. Also I view it as a continuation of the prior conversation:

For  those preferring a lightweight laptop (mine weighs   CA 1 1/2 lbs.) there is an alternative to mobile devices altogether: Internet phone service.

I researched and found something called Magic Jack. Don't know if it is available in Europe or elsewhere outside the US. But here's how it works:

You purchase the attachment that goes right into either an ethernet or USB port. You do not need a landline or cell phone to connect to, only high-speed Web service. I believe there is an app that appears onscreen looking like a mobile phone you can enter #s into, or else you can import your existing contacts online automatically---not manually. You can transfer your existing cell # once service is activated. Service is $35/year, and a 5-year plan can also be had for a virtual song. 

I just ordered it. For me it's great, because now my entire digital world---Web, files, etc,, etc,. will be on one lightweight device. No more calls breaking up with crappy Metro PCS service. No more exposure to microwaves at close range.

And I will save a pile of money!!

 

 

[Scott Dolan]

Best of luck. I have no personal experience with Magic Jack, but when I worked for Centurylink, we constantly had new customers switching to over and telling us how insanely shitty Magic Jack was. 

[fasstrack]

4 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Best of luck. I have no personal experience with Magic Jack, but when I worked for Centurylink, we constantly had new customers switching to over and telling us how insanely shitty Magic Jack was. 

Jesus. Talk about bursting a MFer's bubble...

[JSngry]

Yeah, it's been around for a while now....."mixed results" is what I've heard, to be generous. But if you get lucky, hey, ride it!

[rostasi]

MagicJack is kinda one of those things that you'd expect to get from an infomercial-styled product.
I remember reading about it 5 or 6 years ago, then looking at the display at Fry's and wondering why
2 or 3 out of every 5 packages had been opened and resealed (Fry's reseals returns and puts them back
on the shelf). When I came home and looked online, it was cRaZy how many bad reviews there were.
Apparently, they tried to improve on it and came out with MagicJack Plus and I think MagicJack Go(?),
but there's something like 800+ reviews to a consumer affairs org that "averages" to a one-star rating(!), 
plus over 2500 complaints to "pissed consumer," a 2.6 star rating from nearly 200 reviews at VOIP-Review
and over 1200 complaints to the BBB - and that's just by doing a cursory search. I wish you luck with it.

[JSngry]

 

[Scott Dolan]

3 hours ago, rostasi said:

MagicJack is kinda one of those things that you'd expect to get from an infomercial-styled product.
I remember reading about it 5 or 6 years ago, then looking at the display at Fry's and wondering why
2 or 3 out of every 5 packages had been opened and resealed (Fry's reseals returns and puts them back
on the shelf). When I came home and looked online, it was cRaZy how many bad reviews there were.
Apparently, they tried to improve on it and came out with MagicJack Plus and I think MagicJack Go(?),
but there's something like 800+ reviews to a consumer affairs org that "averages" to a one-star rating(!), 
plus over 2500 complaints to "pissed consumer," a 2.6 star rating from nearly 200 reviews at VOIP-Review
and over 1200 complaints to the BBB - and that's just by doing a cursory search. I wish you luck with it.

One star average?! 

Wow, that's damn near impossible to accomplish! 

6 hours ago, fasstrack said:

Jesus. Talk about bursting a MFer's bubble...

Why not just get regular internet and buy a wi-fi router? Hell, most internet providers offer you the option of one packaged in their routers. 

[rostasi]

2 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

One star average?! 

Wow, that's damn near impossible to accomplish! 

Yeah. To be exact, it's actually 1.2 stars from 60 reviews and 835 complaints,
so less "reviews" than I had said, but lots o' complaints.
(I suppose complaints can be a special kind of non-rated "review").

Edited September 30, 2016 by rostasi

[JSngry]

 

 

Plas Johnson!?!?!!??

[rostasi]

 

[fasstrack]

14 hours ago, rostasi said:

MagicJack is kinda one of those things that you'd expect to get from an infomercial-styled product.
I remember reading about it 5 or 6 years ago, then looking at the display at Fry's and wondering why
2 or 3 out of every 5 packages had been opened and resealed (Fry's reseals returns and puts them back
on the shelf). When I came home and looked online, it was cRaZy how many bad reviews there were.
Apparently, they tried to improve on it and came out with MagicJack Plus and I think MagicJack Go(?),
but there's something like 800+ reviews to a consumer affairs org that "averages" to a one-star rating(!), 
plus over 2500 complaints to "pissed consumer," a 2.6 star rating from nearly 200 reviews at VOIP-Review
and over 1200 complaints to the BBB - and that's just by doing a cursory search. I wish you luck with it.

Maybe so, but will you guys just gimme a break and let me find out for myself?

Pretty please, with the confection of your choice on top ?

If it sucks i'll come back here and concede that you were right. How's that?

 

[Scott Dolan]

Who's stopping you?! Jesus you can be a really odd fucking cat at times. 

Again, if it doesn't work to your satisfaction just get high speed internet and hook up a wi-fi router.

[Scott Dolan]

Yesterday I opened my email to find a receipt from iTunes and noticed I had been double billed. 

So I started an online chat with someone in customer service, and five minutes later had my refund. 

Excellent customer service. 

[fasstrack]

Well alright. Well OK. Well you win....

Disconcerting as it is to 'cop' to it, Magic Jack is a piece of shit.

They saw me coming.

I shoudda listened to you guys.

 

There. I said it.... 

 

 

 

[Scott Dolan]

Not making it seem as though we were belittling you, or mocking your decision, or trying to prevent you from trying it for yourself actually would have been a good start.