Which Source is Best for My Whole House Music System?

Whether you consider yourself an audiophile or not, taking the time to consider your music source is an integral aspect to setting up a whole house music system in your Fishers, IN home. It’s not just about purchasing high-quality speakers and installing a capable system. Producing incredible sound also depends on the quality of the music source. When you marry those two aspects together, you get to experience a lifelike sound that makes you feel as if you are at a live concert. To learn more about choosing the right music source, keep reading. 

SEE ALSO: Which Speaker System Should I Use for Multi-room Music?

Digital Files – MP3s and Beyond

Many customers purchase their music in the form of MP3s from iTunes or Amazon Music since digital music files are very convenient to own and use. While you get to carry your music around with you and save physical storage space, MP3s are just about the lowest quality music source. They operate at 320 kbps (bitrate). When an original recording is compressed into an MP3 file, a lot of information is lost.  A lower bitrate could translate to a softer bass response or weak-sounding drum cymbals. The good news is you can have your cake and eat it too with high-resolution audio files. That’s because high-resolution audio formats are compressed in such a way that no audio data is lost. So where can you purchase or stream high-resolution files?

Currently, streaming stations like Pandora and Spotify use a bitrate of 160 kbps, which is even lower than a typical MP3 file. Tidal is one of the only streaming services that plays songs in CD quality at 1,411 kbps. High-resolution song files are seven times higher than that! According to Sony, there are several companies that cater to audiophiles and music lovers by selling high-resolution files for download--including, HDtracks, Super HiRez, and Qobuz.

CDs

Unless you’re able to go high-res with your audio source, don’t necessarily throw out those CDs for digital music files. CDs have a much higher quality performance than MP3s.  Besides, why ditch your beloved albums when they’ll still sound great on a pair of quality 2-channel speakers? You’ll also get to collect album cover art and keep the containers for nostalgia’s sake – that is unless you completely distain CD clutter.

Vinyl

There are a number of reasons why the LP has resurfaced and is growing in popularity. One large reason is that people are discovering MP3s are not the best way to listen to music. Actually, even Steve Jobs listened to vinyl at home. Vinyl is the only playback format that is fully analog and fully lossless. With a quality turntable and record, you can enjoy a full-fidelity listening experience. Since the digital conversion process is eliminated, the result is a pure sound that is closer to the original recording. Whether the song was recorded in digital or analog, a vinyl disc will still have more musical information on it than an MP3 file. People also like the deep warm sounds vinyl produces. If you are a devoted record collector, you can still play them with our whole house music systems. Hook up a nice turntable to your audio system and you can play the music throughout your entire house or in a dedicated listening room.

The choice is yours: go fully digital, keep your collection of CDs, or join the vinyl resurgence. Whatever your preference is, The Premier Group can support it with our whole house audio systems and solutions. As long as you have a quality source and a quality speaker system, you’ll be able to enjoy your music like never before.

Contact us to learn more.