Although I DID beat the PC people in the speed loading contest, I also came in third overall to two other disc based guys. The PC came in FOURTH.
I generally think of a PC as being faster for searching and cueing songs. Can you describe how the contest was conducted so I can better understand what was being timed?
4) That's just it. If NO ONE says MP3s are better, or even equal, then why keep pushing them? To legitamatize using them? Somebody tell me, in a clear and concise manner.
Because "better" in this case can not be judged in absolute terms.
There is a balance in quality of sound that involves the full PA system - from source, to mixer, to effects, to amps, to speakers, to the room. For mobile PA systems compromises about weight, cost, pack space, durability, and quality are made in selecting the components.
The PA systems that are in use by most mobile DJs need to be more durable, more robust, and more reliable than an "audiophile" style of system. In most cases quality is one of the compromises that is made. And that is a good thing. Since most audiophile systems are far too delicate for repeated load in/out, and tend to be built and tuned for a single room and even for a single listening position within that room!
What finally pushed me over the edge was a set of tests that I did about 5 years ago. I setup and conducted several blind tests with listeners who claimed to be "audiophiles" or at least "very picky about quality." I used "familiar" songs. I played in a room where they had all heard music played many dozens of times. The test went like this:
- Ten songs were played.
- The songs were between 2 and 3 minutes long.
- The songs were adjusted to the same SPL level.
- Four songs were from CD's.
- Four songs were mp3's.
- Two songs were a wildcard (i.e. could be from CD or mp3).
- Each lab rat had a list of the ten songs (with artist and title).
- The lab rats knew that there would be four of each, with two wildcards.
- The lab rats were asked to check a box for each song that had the source - CD, mp3, or "Can not tell"
- An independent person created the "answer sheet" and scored the tests.
At the beginning of the test, every person was "positive" that they could tell the difference between a CD and an mp3. The expectation was that the difference was so obvious that every person should have gotten every song correct.
I have had over 80 people take the test. So far, only four people had better results that simple guessing would have produced (and just barely). Until I added the "Can not tell" option, more than half the people told me they were "guessing."
While this is a long way from saying that mp3's are 'equal' to CD's. I will say that in practice, there is not enough difference to notice....and for the Vast Majority(tm) of PA systems, there is no
perceivable difference at all between the quality of a CD and an mp3 (played through a properly setup computer with an external sound card).
So...with all that background:
I do not advocate mp3's (per say) but I do advocate computers for playback. The benefits of a computer system simply outweight the costs, both in $$$ and in any perception of quality.
In general I find it more convenient to search my collection with a computer. Especially when I am looking for all the songs by a particular artist, or songs in a bpm range, or within a particular genre. Computers can save playlists for all your events. Computers allow one person to carry a very large music collection without needing to haul in crates and boxes and stacks, oh my! Computers allow for some playlists to be automated, allowing the DJ to work the room during some portions of the event. All of that is about having a computer, not about the format of the songs.
I hope that was "clear" even if it was not "concise."
), I thought I should elaborate...
