Sony music, Apple got lucky.
well, today I went to McDonalds and had a tasty bigmac meal, thus I got a code for Sony music so I figured I would let the Apple users know what it is like and how it stacks up to itms in real life, so here goes:
1: I downloaded the software, this was the first and the last normal part of the experience.
2: After running the worst and most hideous installer I have ever seen, sans aol, it made me reboot, not at MY CONVENIANCS, but, in the words of a bratty 6 year old, "RIGHT NOW".
3: so I rebooted right then and there (as if I had a say)
4: after reboot, I launched the software, with it's hard-to-navigate, poorly designed, napsteresk interface and proceeded to set up my account and enter the code from the wrapper.
5: I searched and listen to the previews which were in one case so poorly encoded that it sounded as if my speakers would blow due to the frequency shifts.
6: now it is time for the showdown: iTunes verses Sony connect:
the song: So Far so Good
the artist: Thornley
the big surprise here was how good the Sony track sounded, a little less than 128k aac but very close.
If Sony would have had a better interface and used their codec at 128k, it could have blown itunes out of the water, but they didn't so they, like napster, music match, wall*mart and all of the rest will be second class citizens in the digital music revolution, Sony, very uncharacteristically, has failed to stand out from the riff-raff and thus doomed its self to mediocrity
1: I downloaded the software, this was the first and the last normal part of the experience.
2: After running the worst and most hideous installer I have ever seen, sans aol, it made me reboot, not at MY CONVENIANCS, but, in the words of a bratty 6 year old, "RIGHT NOW".
3: so I rebooted right then and there (as if I had a say)
4: after reboot, I launched the software, with it's hard-to-navigate, poorly designed, napsteresk interface and proceeded to set up my account and enter the code from the wrapper.
5: I searched and listen to the previews which were in one case so poorly encoded that it sounded as if my speakers would blow due to the frequency shifts.
6: now it is time for the showdown: iTunes verses Sony connect:
the song: So Far so Good
the artist: Thornley
the big surprise here was how good the Sony track sounded, a little less than 128k aac but very close.
If Sony would have had a better interface and used their codec at 128k, it could have blown itunes out of the water, but they didn't so they, like napster, music match, wall*mart and all of the rest will be second class citizens in the digital music revolution, Sony, very uncharacteristically, has failed to stand out from the riff-raff and thus doomed its self to mediocrity
Comments
you may answer at your conveniancs.
Sony is a company out of control and it's costing them big. They seem to have these factions of the company that do what they want rather than what's best for the company. There is no unification.
Game over. The kids buying iPods were in diapers when the Walkman meant something. I knew Sony was screwing up when they botched minidisc and DAT. Then they came out with lame stuff like Digital8 and MicroMV and I knew they were finished as a CE power. Blu Ray is looking hot but I'm sure Sony will find a way to totally botch that as well. Sadly.
Apple can't lose unless they just stupid. The perception is iTunes is the best store and the iPod is the best player. Apple has to walk the fine line between great features and bloat. They have to push the iPod everywhere and make partnerships that make sense.
ATRAC? LOL most people when they hear that think you just said "8 track." Yeah. Their new Walkman plays 8 tracks! hah. I never even liked the PS2 but at least it was decent and standards based. Their Handycams use nonstandard Digital8. Their music devices use nonstandard MiniDiscs with Nonstandard ATRAC. Their cameras use NONSTANDARD Memory Stick of which there are now a bunch of different variations, that is annoying to sell at Sears and have to explain to customers. BluRay is nonstandard, sure I like it better than HD-DVD but it's a Betamax. They really haven't made anything good besides the Walkman, and didn't they invent flat screen CRTs? Nintendo actually invented the Playstation but unfortunately gave the design to Sony. Actually their new T1 and W1 cameras are real nice. But it's not like they pioneered digital cameras. Our favorite company did! Their TVs and audio equipment aren't bad either but overpriced. Their stock is going to go way down then maybe up if they get a clue and use industry standards. Hey at least they like FireWire!
Originally posted by Aquatic
...Nintendo actually invented the Playstation but unfortunately gave the design to Sony...
Just one correction. The Playstation was originally a add-on CD-ROM device for the Super Nintendo. It was mostly designed by Sony in cooperation with Nintendo. It wasn't until last minute when Nintendo canned the project and made Sony waste its billions of dollars of R&D. Determined not to make the project a complete waste, Sony licensed a CPU (from Hitachi, I believe) and developed a new graphics engine. The result was the Playstation that we now know.
Originally posted by tonton
Now you're going to tell us that you can clearly hear that 4 kbps difference, aren't you?
Actually I think he was just telling that the bitrate was not lower on Sony Connect than on iTMS...
Originally posted by chych
So essentially you're saying that if Sony didn't suck, they'd be good.
http://www.retropod.com/
This may just save Sony's pathetic attempt at portable music.
Originally posted by Eugene
Are you implying that Sony Connect tunes sound worse because the bitrate is lower? The Sony Connect downloads are encoded at 132 kbps...a higher bitrate than iTMS uses.
No they sound worse because ATRAC3 does a crap job of encoding
Originally posted by The One to Rescue
Actually I think he was just telling that the bitrate was not lower on Sony Connect than on iTMS...
Clearly I was implying the difference in bitrate meant Sony Connect downloads sound either better or worse. I don't know which it is, but I can definitely tell the difference. tonton and his damned Vulcan logic.
He's right, AND he has sex every night.
Originally posted by superkarate monkeydeathcar
how did apple get lucky?
you may answer at your conveniancs.
Apple got lucky because if Sony would have went with the standard bitrate of 128, the quality woulda blown itunes out of the water, imho, but they sisnt, and like apple their trax work only with their player. and the gui is crappy at best.
basicly, if this would have lived up to the quality that sony is knownfor, well, it woulda been bad for apple, but sony didnt care about quality on this one, thus apple got lucky.
Originally posted by Eugene
Are you implying that Sony Connect tunes sound worse because the bitrate is lower? The Sony Connect downloads are encoded at 132 kbps...a higher bitrate than iTMS uses.
if it is 132, then sony really sux, ignore the whole apple lucky part.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1600460,00.asp