Hmv To Close 60 Stores As Sales And Shares Slump

[Dave Hedgehog]

My £80 kettle cable results in a much better cup of tea.

[wrighty]

why?

 

As to the earlier question of why anyone would buy a CD...

 

Can't answer for the others, but for me I like to be able to read the sleeve notes, and I prefer having something that I 'own'. I've downloaded stuff from iTunes, and I'm not sure it's as user friendly as they make out. For example, when I change computer and want to transfer my iTunes library, you start getting little messages about only having 3 more computers to play this music on etc.

 

I've had some of my CDs for 20 years or so. Will I still have the same iPod in 20 years? Will I still be able to access the digital files on whichever computer I'm using then? Doubtful. You may reasonably argue that CDs will be obsolete in 20 years, as they probably will be, but you'll still be able to get a CD player if you need one, just like you can still get a turntable and play vinyl today, and transfer the CD onto whatever digital medium is in use then.

[pongo]

are you sure that all of your old cds even still play properly? CDs are not an archival format.

 

You're right about copy protection and authorization being idiotic. That was the record labels. It's becoming a thing of the past.

 

Ideally I wouldn't own any media. I would just have a subscription to a service which would include everything. People could send me a playlist.

 

And I would want my music to sound contextually appropriate - how the sound was created to sound and sounded at the time. So early jazz recordings would sound like shallac played on a gramophone. 60s bubble gum pop would sound like it was being played from a radio ship in the North Sea via a car radio on AM. Pink Floyd would sound like vinyl played on early 70s Japanese equipment in a London basement. Punk would sound like your granny's Binatone music centre. Classical music would sound like a European opera house.

[GD4ELI]

are you sure that all of your old cds even still play properly? CDs are not an archival format.

The first CD I bought was Gracelands in 1986 (I think), still plays fine.

[Slim]

I've had some of my CDs for 20 years or so. Will I still have the same iPod in 20 years? Will I still be able to access the digital files on whichever computer I'm using then? Doubtful. You may reasonably argue that CDs will be obsolete in 20 years, as they probably will be, but you'll still be able to get a CD player if you need one, just like you can still get a turntable and play vinyl today, and transfer the CD onto whatever digital medium is in use then.

 

DRM is naughty, and I don't like that. Thankfully it's going away. DRM free stuff you can back up your whole music collection in one go to protect it, something thats hard to do with CD's.

 

 

(provided the jitter or corrosion doesn't wobble your sata cable making your copies sound iffy!)

[wrighty]

are you sure that all of your old cds even still play properly? CDs are not an archival format.

 

You're right about copy protection and authorization being idiotic. That was the record labels. It's becoming a thing of the past.

 

Ideally I wouldn't own any media. I would just have a subscription to a service which would include everything. People could send me a playlist.

 

And I would want my music to sound contextually appropriate - how the sound was created to sound and sounded at the time. So early jazz recordings would sound like shallac played on a gramophone. 60s bubble gum pop would sound like it was being played from a radio ship in the North Sea via a car radio on AM. Pink Floyd would sound like vinyl played on early 70s Japanese equipment in a London basement. Punk would sound like your granny's Binatone music centre. Classical music would sound like a European opera house.

 

...and heavy rock sounding like led zep from the early days in a small club.

 

CDs play fine, generally - some of the older, scratchier ones won't read in cheap players, but it's not a major issue.

 

The 'cloud collection' idea is pretty cool. If there was an online store of all recorded music, with instant access (either free if you've bought the track already, or pay-to-listen if you haven't), with enough bandwidth to deliver, with access to download chunks at a time into an iPod to have in the car, then I'd sign up and sell my discs on eBay.

[somewhatdamaged]

I suppose that's digital musics biggest advantage

 

It will never ever degrade over time. CDs do get scratched unfortunately and some refuse to play (especially if you've loaned it to a friend!), but the album ripped to a lossless format will remain perfect for ever (make sure you have them backed up though!!!)

[Slim]

It was Slim

 

I can't sit idly by while eejits talk shit!

 

Timely test from the video gods at digital foundry, who basically dumped 24 bit colour 1080p to a truecapture card using various cables starting at £1.50. They hashed the results to check that the digital images were identical.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-hdmi

 

"The results in the table below are a victory for the concepts of common sense and frugality. The output is 100 per cent identical, whether you are spending £1.50 or £100 on a lead. "

"Gold-plated cables didn't really do much on the older analogue leads, and do nothing at all in the digital world"

"To conclude then, it's fair to say that the advent of HDMI has effectively made the era of stupendously expensive AV cables with dubious-quality claims somewhat obsolete."

If you think otherwise, you really don't understand how HDMI works.

[mudcheck]

I can't sit idly by while eejits talk shit!

 

 

You are going to have to stop making these comedy posts Slim, I nearly dropped my walkman when I read that.

[Cambon]

 

"Gold-plated cables didn't really do much on the older analogue leads, and do nothing at all in the digital world"

"To conclude then, it's fair to say that the advent of HDMI has effectively made the era of stupendously expensive AV cables with dubious-quality claims somewhat obsolete."

If you think otherwise, you really don't understand how HDMI works.

 

Gold plated cables

 

Ok, Gold plated PLUGS are about reliability of connection. Analogue or digital, that is important. The quality of the connection between the wires and the plugs is also important, especially in the case of HDMI, where the cables are particularly small and easily broken if bent (HDMI cables should not be easily flexible). The quality of the individual conductors is unimportant as the signals (most of them) are digital. So to have an HDMI cable that is not flexible and with good plugs will be more reliable and therefore better than a cheap one. If your chump friends at eurogames want to believe that a five minute test is all that is required then that is up to them. Try connecting up the £1.50 cable and leave it for 3 years and see if it is even working. Or try see how long it lasts if you are connecting it and disconnecting it every night.

 

As I said originally, it is worth spending a bit more to get an HDMI with good, well connected plugs.

 

If you think otherwise, you really don't understand how basic connections work.

[Slim]

Ok, Gold plated PLUGS are about reliability of connection. Analogue or digital, that is important. The quality of the connection between the wires and the plugs is also important, especially in the case of HDMI, where the cables are particularly small and easily broken if bent (HDMI cables should not be easily flexible). The quality of the individual conductors is unimportant as the signals (most of them) are digital. So to have an HDMI cable that is not flexible and with good plugs will be more reliable and therefore better than a cheap one. If your chump friends at eurogames want to believe that a five minute test is all that is required then that is up to them. Try connecting up the £1.50 cable and leave it for 3 years and see if it is even working. Or try see how long it lasts if you are connecting it and disconnecting it every night.

 

As I said originally, it is worth spending a bit more to get an HDMI with good, well connected plugs.

 

If you think otherwise, you really don't understand how basic connections work.

 

Lol, I understand just fine how connections work thanks. The report was published on Eurogamer, but it was completed by a company called Digtal Foundry, who specialise in lossless video capture products. They're not chumps, they know their stuff. That aside, it backs up the earlier report I linked from a completely different source.

 

If these expensive cables gave better results, why doesn't it show up in tests?

 

 

 

I've tried hundreds of £1.50 cables, I've set up networks full of them. Why is it you think that gigabit data networks work just fine on that kind of cable, but the second you move to a hdtv in someones living room you suddenly need an expensive premium product with stacks of buzzwords and hype? It's almost like religion, people are happier believing their cable gives a better picture. It doesn't.

[Cambon]

I've tried hundreds of £1.50 cables, I've set up networks full of them. Why is it you think that gigabit data networks work just fine on that kind of cable, but the second you move to a hdtv in someones living room you suddenly need an expensive premium product with stacks of buzzwords and hype? It's almost like religion, people are happier believing their cable gives a better picture. It doesn't.

 

If one of our engineers was found setting up networks for customers using cheap, substandards cabling, they would probably be sacked.

 

This is nothing to do with expensive or premium products or stacks of buzzwords or hype. It is simply about guaranteed reliability. You either want it or you don't. You obviously dont care. So fair enough.

[Slim]

If one of our engineers was found setting up networks for customers using cheap, substandards cabling, they would probably be sacked.

 

That's the point Cambon, cheap isn't substandard. This is certified stuff, either HDMI or Cat5 for data cables. It's certified, it's guaranteed to work at a minimum rate. If you buy a cat5 cable for 2 quid, it won't be substandard, and you'll see 2 quid cat 5 cables in mission critical environments. You won't see monster style 150 quid cables, those cables only exist in the domestic a/v market because plonkers fall for the marketing. SATA cables are another example, extremely cheap, but certified to very high speeds. Cheap (like under a quid) SATA cables are inside servers in datacentres and will work for years without issue transferring fast amounts of data reliably. Nobody can see them, so you wont see people paying a fortune for them.

 

 

This is nothing to do with expensive or premium products or stacks of buzzwords or hype. It is simply about guaranteed reliability. You either want it or you don't. You obviously dont care. So fair enough.

 

 

Guaranteed reliability for a digital cable comes from it's certification. If a cable is certified to perform, it'll do that. It's digital, and all your nonsense above about 'it might work but it'll be a bit crap' is just uninformed nonsense. The jitter stuff just doesn't make sense in a digital discussion, it's utter rubbish.

[Cambon]

That's the point Cambon, cheap isn't substandard. This is certified stuff, either HDMI or Cat5 for data cables. It's certified, it's guaranteed to work at a minimum rate. If you buy a cat5 cable for 2 quid, it won't be substandard, and you'll see 2 quid cat 5 cables in mission critical environments. You won't see monster style 150 quid cables, those cables only exist in the domestic a/v market because plonkers fall for the marketing. SATA cables are another example, extremely cheap, but certified to very high speeds. Cheap (like under a quid) SATA cables are inside servers in datacentres and will work for years without issue transferring fast amounts of data reliably. Nobody can see them, so you wont see people paying a fortune for them.

Everything inside a server is about reliability these days. Redundant power supplies, redundant memory, disks, processors. When one goes wrong, what it the first thing you check? The wiring / connectors!!!

 

 

Guaranteed reliability for a digital cable comes from it's certification. If a cable is certified to perform, it'll do that. It's digital, and all your nonsense above about 'it might work but it'll be a bit crap' is just uninformed nonsense. The jitter stuff just doesn't make sense in a digital discussion, it's utter rubbish.

 

A bit crap, jitter, etc. was nothing to do with me.

[Slim]

Everything inside a server is about reliability these days. Redundant power supplies, redundant memory, disks, processors. When one goes wrong, what it the first thing you check? The wiring / connectors!!!

 

 

Exactly, so why isn't there a market for expensive SATA cables with daft claims? It's because the Home Cinema/Audiophile market drives demand for that stuff.