Lou Reed Whines About MP3

Rocker Lou Reed takes aim at new technology – Yahoo! News

In typically glib and dry-witted form throughout the wide-ranging 55-minute conversation, the bespectacled Reed bemoaned the current state of audio and other digital technologies, noting that “it’s like the technology is taking us backwards. It’s making it easier to make things worse. “Here’s our song reduced to a pin drop — what, what, what?!” Reed explained. “It’s like if no one knows any better or doesn’t care, it’s gonna stay on a really, really low level and people who like good sound are gonna be thought of as some kind of strange zoo animal.” Reed did express some hope that “you hear they’ve got a newer version (of MP3) that sounds better, and you suddenly hear the other instruments that are on the song. They’ve got to bring up the standard. You have the world open to you now; you can get almost any song in the world as an MP3, and I suppose if you like it you can go out and try to find a version you can actually listen to — if you like good sound. If you don’t like good sound, none of this matters for a second.”

Jesus. I’m so fucking sick of hearing this bullshit. You put a 320kbps 24-bit MP3 encoded with LAME up against CDs or vinyl, and the only thing you’ll hear is that one snaps, crackles and pops and one doesn’t.

I respect Lou Reed, but he’s not really paying attention anymore, is he?

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