RTP-area local music and culture

[Chris Rossi <nospam AT spacelabstudio.com>]

Listening to music in my studio control room, I can hear a pretty big 
difference between CDs and their ripped/compressed versions.  It has 
mostly to do with the immediacy and realism of the sound--the full data 
version has a lot more visceral appeal.  I also have a monitoring chain 
in my studio that is a lot better than what most people listen to music 
through.  Even so, I often listen to the compressed version simply 
because it's so easy to call up on demand and, really, it's not that big 
of a degradation.  Noticeable, but not necessarily a deal breaker.

In my car, on my headphones at work, or while travelling, etc. . . the 
difference has yet to detract from my enjoyment of the music.  I'm not 
convinced that I would be able to hear much difference in those less 
than ideal listening environments anyway, and the convenience of having 
100 or so albums in a package smaller than my cell phone is, well, 
compelling, to say the least.  It certainly makes the airport a much 
less horrible place to be and has cut down considerably and the amount 
of swerving I do while trying to manage CDs and drive at the same time.

Ymmv,
Chris