Let's go back to 1997 - not that far back is it? Yep ... Radiohead thought floppydisc was going to be how we were going to listen to future recordings when they released OK Computer in 97. that was only TWENTY YEARS Ago! Other progressing roads were faced at that time too - for example, I bought a few commercial mini discs as I thought they were going to catch on - really great sound, but alas not enough popularity outside of musicians interested in recording themselves .... So, if we sum up the progress of recorded music from the old LP 78 and the music cassette in the 70s and the 80s, are you astounded - like me - at the so rapid progress of late? And where will this lead us in another twenty years? Please share your thoughts!!
That floppy disc was a promo give away containing screen-savers. I believe Radiohead released OK Computer using the compact disc format https://twitter.com/scott_kerr/status/846841078829334530
An interesting topic. I'm of a generation that bought albums on 12" Vinyl and recorded on to cassette for portability. I switched to CDs for superior sound quality and then on to SACD & DVD audio. I'm very particular about the quality of sound. I hate iTunes with a passion it makes the music sound thin and I can hear the aliasing like a little buzz around sounds. I buy CDs (must be about the only person on amazon doing this as they're often cheaper than the download) and rip them myself to the highest quality, for portable music (although I still own a discman) but still spin the discs up on for HiFi for proper listening. I think the sensitivity to quality is a side effect of the tinnitus I've developed in the last year or so. With hindsight it might well have been something I've had for longer. For me vinyl is sound quality king, but only for the first couple of plays. The act of playing vinyl wears away quality and in my opinion the only format to choose is uncompressed digital at 44kHz or higher (CD). Of all the formats in recent years DAT was the one that I really wanted to be a success. Technically, apart from only having liner access it is the highest quality affordable recording mechanism. And if we're talking about headphones, bluetooth and noise cancelling ones are junk. Spend £100 quid or so on some decent chorded over the ear ones and you'll get a far richer sound.
