Good question.
Very long answer, but I won't go there.
CD = digital music = music broken down into binary code or zeros and ones. You can store those same zeros and ones on any kind of hard-drive or medium that is capable of digital storage.
Greater resolution of a passage of time/music = more zeros and ones and more space required to store them.
Less resolution = less space required = more distortion = not so great sound for the discriminating person.
MP3 or various forms of low-resolution music = less space = less resolution = more distortion = not so great sound.
WAV file or Apple Lossless file (other, much larger digital files) = CD quality sound = verbatim resolution to the original CD.
iPod = a miniature hard drive with an audio interface to attach headphones or a line output. iPods have a built-in DAC to convert the zeros and ones to an analog signal that sounds kind of like music. It is mostly used for headphone listening and occasionally hooked up to stereo systems or various boom-box-like iPod playback systems. The sound is OK, but because you are limited to amplifying the analog signal produced by the less than desirable DAC in the iPod, it is certainly not high-end audio. It really depends on how discriminating you are, and what you enjoy. It is an impressive piece of technology.
I don't think the 5-year prediction is going to be so, but it is certainly not a long stretch.
Downloaded music is low-resolution (compressed) music and does not sound good IMO. Digital music can sound pretty darn good, and you can load high-resolution WAV files onto an iPod and have an enjoyable experience if you like headphones to get you through a workout, or some tedious work, for privacy, etc. For now, an iPod does not sound as good as it gets through a stereo. Far from it.
I like going to record shops too. I own an iPod and listen to it on average about 3-5 days a week while working if no other music is available. I never hook it to my system. I have tried it and it doesn't sound very good compared to other means at hand.
OK, that was pretty long, but one could go on in greater depth. Hope that helps. See you at the record stores, as long as they're around.
Marco
Very long answer, but I won't go there.
CD = digital music = music broken down into binary code or zeros and ones. You can store those same zeros and ones on any kind of hard-drive or medium that is capable of digital storage.
Greater resolution of a passage of time/music = more zeros and ones and more space required to store them.
Less resolution = less space required = more distortion = not so great sound for the discriminating person.
MP3 or various forms of low-resolution music = less space = less resolution = more distortion = not so great sound.
WAV file or Apple Lossless file (other, much larger digital files) = CD quality sound = verbatim resolution to the original CD.
iPod = a miniature hard drive with an audio interface to attach headphones or a line output. iPods have a built-in DAC to convert the zeros and ones to an analog signal that sounds kind of like music. It is mostly used for headphone listening and occasionally hooked up to stereo systems or various boom-box-like iPod playback systems. The sound is OK, but because you are limited to amplifying the analog signal produced by the less than desirable DAC in the iPod, it is certainly not high-end audio. It really depends on how discriminating you are, and what you enjoy. It is an impressive piece of technology.
I don't think the 5-year prediction is going to be so, but it is certainly not a long stretch.
Downloaded music is low-resolution (compressed) music and does not sound good IMO. Digital music can sound pretty darn good, and you can load high-resolution WAV files onto an iPod and have an enjoyable experience if you like headphones to get you through a workout, or some tedious work, for privacy, etc. For now, an iPod does not sound as good as it gets through a stereo. Far from it.
I like going to record shops too. I own an iPod and listen to it on average about 3-5 days a week while working if no other music is available. I never hook it to my system. I have tried it and it doesn't sound very good compared to other means at hand.
OK, that was pretty long, but one could go on in greater depth. Hope that helps. See you at the record stores, as long as they're around.
Marco