New JMJ album

So I had it on pre-order on iTunes and his morning at 05:30 I logged onto iTunes to have it grab the new Jean Michel Jarre album Tea & Tao. It had some making of video's included with the rest of the audio tracks. But this is my second purchase from iTunes that is actual DRM'd music.

Now my question is how does the 128kbps AAC format purchased music compare in quality. I am normally ripping CD's at a minimum of 192kbps in an MP3 format.

All this stuff bothers me, because should I just buy the CD and rip that as the CD is the best quality format thus I in theory can make a better rip.

This of course is ignoring the fact that it is apparently illegal for us to rip our own purchased CD's and put them onto our iPod's. The only legal way is to buy the tracks from places such as iTunes as they have negotiated with the music companies a license that allows the transport of those tracks onto 5 machines and ipods.

You may ask why bother, but I seem to be one of those people that can hear the high frequencies (the mosquito devices bolted onto Spar convenience stores) even at the age of 34. Does this mean that ripping at a higher rate means that I can hear the higher frequencies potentially not included at lower bit rates due to the compression.



Errr anyway. back to the album. It sounds good, very Euro, very Jarre but with a new modern slant. Great to see him still pushing out the work. For fans its probably worth a peek.

New Earphones (Etymotic 6i)

So 2nd post. Thought I would say that my first week with the new Etymotic 6i earphones has been great. I have been using for years a pair of £25 Sony earbuds with the rubber flange which have been my die hard pair of earphones. They have survived through thick and thin, on my PSP, PC, laptop, and recently the ipod. But after doing a little research on www.ilounge.com and a few other websites I managed to pick up a pair of the 6i's for approx £40.

1 week in and I am blown away, I can suddenly hear the music. I was starting to think that the ipod was not cutting the mustard but these new earphones have suddenly added a new dimension to the music experience. As with everything read the friggin manual. You need to push these babies right into the ear canal and it appears to work that you moisten the flanges too. This creates the seal in your ear canal and gives you the base and also cancels out the noise from around you. And this is the thing you notice when you plug them in. Suddenly you cannot hear the outside world. No really. They are that good.

Anyway take a look at them at http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6i.aspx well worth it.

R