[mike570]

I think the music biz hasn't gone all-in like 4K because moves like that seem belligerent against the consumer - a consumer that now expects everything for free. Remember Lars Ulric railing against Napster? He was right, but ultimately vilified as some rich guy trying to squeeze blood from the people listening to his music. And unlike movies I think the general public sees diminishing returns. There's only an audio portion. Images are easy to impress. Some people will look at a 4K movie and go WOW! Personally, I'm not a fan, at least not with the motion smoothing. Yuck!
Personally, I'm not big on vinyl either. I can see the appeal on some stuff, but I remember the same audiophile zeal in the 80's for compact discs.
Of course, I think the audio system and speakers are the biggest factors in great audio. Kind of an axiom but the high-end audiophiles have it right there.
But at the same time you're not going to go back in time and get rid of the quite noticeable tape hiss on this awesome tune.

 

[mike570]

My apologies, I misunderstood. The rant below is entirely my 2 cents on the matter and should not be considered a factual analysis.

I think it all has to do with convenience. That is the #1 reason why audio- and video-streaming services are just so popular. DVD-Audio did not offer any new sort of convenience and required quite the investment, when people were already knee-deep in Audio-CD's and their required hardware.

Video-DVD took off because it was yep, more convenient. No more rewinding your goddamn tapes, a lot more bonus content and clearer picture. Major win.
Audio-CD's took off because it was yep, more convenient. No more rewinding your goddamn tapes, no more flipping your tape to side B for the next batch of songs and an audible increase in quality. Major win.

Audio-DVD's had a slight increase in audio quality and was not more convenient than an Audio-CD. It also required expensive hardware (back in those days) and this during a time when people were getting stingy because that diabolical fiend of a Napster came crashing in through the doors.

Hold up... Free music with an inaudible difference in quality?!

Every kids dad was looking into how to download music. And the graph speaks for itself.

And talk about convenience. Double-clicking a file to listen to 1 specific song as opposed to getting the CD, taking it out of the jewel case, praying to God that the disc doesn't have scratches or isn't dirty, skipping through all the tracks to get to the song you wanted. Goodbye back-breaking labour! And a standard family only had one pc standing in the living room anyway so it was there for all to enjoy.

It was also around 2000 that video-DVD's were becoming a mainstream thing. I recall saving up for a PS2 around that time and being one of the first people in class being able to play a DVD. But by the end of the academic year, everyone had a DVD player. Sure, you could download movies on your PC back then, but it was a whole hassle getting it to play on your TV. For the people who watched movies on their PC monitor, it worked just fine. But when you got a family that wants to collectively enjoy movies, DVD's was still the best movie-watching option. I'm starting to feel like Randy Marsh after buying that Blockbuster video store.

Audio-DVD's were a very niche market and offered no new form of convenience. Kind of like why 4K Blu-Rays aren't taking off (and probably never will), despite the fact that the picture quality is better (in theory) as opposed to streaming (4K) video content. The average person just digs the whole comfort of Netflix, Amazon Prime etc, even though they are compromising on quality when compared to the best physical media out there.

Man I used the word "convenience" a lot.

Great post!
Yep, I like CD's and miss those days, but another measure of convenience - actual physical storage space! Ten years ago I had walls of CD's and DVD's. Now? I have two kids and less space for "stuff." I dumped about 2/3rds of all physical content, keeping the things I really wanted. And really streaming has made even movies easier. I'm not going to get up from the couch to get the Empire Strikes Back blu ray when I can just hit play on Disney+. Granted, Diseny+'s quality and buffering is shockingly bad for a "premium Disney brand."
Now with streaming you can scratch any itch almost instantaneously by going online and pressing "play" as well. I'm on Amazon music, mostly because I had already bought a ton of MP3s from them and you can play them on Music Unlimited even if they're not available on the standard streaming menu. And right now I'm listening to Big Game by White Lion. Much better quality than when I bought this back in the day on tape. LOL! CD - obviously better. But really, measuring audio quality versus convenience how much MORE am I really getting with more high definition? Even on new albums recorded on modern gear, how much better is it?
And like people who prefer vinyl / analog to digital - is it really preferable to have THAT MUCH more clarity? Again, like image smoothing. I think it's cool, but on a movie I like a little haze to help me believe the mountains in the background are actually far away.

Also, a bit of irony. My wife works in the biz dealing with physical media.

 

[mike570]

People listen to music out of a hockey puck these days. 'Nuff said.