On 29/Nov/19 15:13, Keith Medcalf wrote:
There are quite a lot of places where you can buy DRM free lossless audio files ranging in quality from CD (44.1 kHz/16-bit/2 channel) all the way up to 192 kHz/32-bit/5.1 channel and beyond. These are basically CDs (or better) without the physical CD media and packaging. There are also streaming services that stream in "CD" quality (lossless 44.1kHz/16-bit) or better, if you prefer that model (and can live with the fleeting availability of the content). There are even a few record companies (as long as you do not want an American one) that will sell you their entire collection of digital studio masters in lossless DRM free format.
This is true. On Beatport and Traxsource, you can buy WAV files, which are basically lossless formats encoded at a 1.411Mbps bit-rate. They are just marginally more expensive than MP3's (which are of high-quality also, encoded at 320Kbps). I normally play WAV files at large sound stages (15,000+ people), otherwise, 320Kbps MP3 or 256Kbps AAC is just fine.
There is not, however, and equivalent for Video -- it is presently stuck at the "compressed all to ratshit" video and audio level -- unless you buy physical media and extract the data yourself.
Which is the reason I had a huge BD budget 2014 - 2016. I don't subscribe to Netflix's UHD plan, as my 4K TV does all the heavy-lifting of upscaling 1080p streams, but it's good enough that I haven't had the urge to buy a BD in 3 years. Mark.