A New Audiophile

Hello everyone,
I hope for this to be the technological, and perhaps less formal, side of Sonare Coeli. Recently I've become aware of some interesting properties of digital audio. In this blog I'll discuss the nature of MP3s, why they should be avoided, and what should be sought when dealing with digital audio files.

Before I end this first post, I believe the term, "Audiophile," needs some explanation. Literally, a "Lover of Sound," this term refers to a person who strives at all measures to achieve the best possible quality of sound in whatever situation they may be involved in. These are the people that constantly adjust their home theatre surround sound system to get things just how they want them, and also the people who listen to raw .wav or .aiff files on their computer, for fear of losing quality in sound. I would consider myself only a second class audiophile, or maybe even third. I own good speakers, but not ridiculously-expensive Bose- engineered-to-perfection sound-of-the-gods speakers that some true audiophiles own. Once again, I have good speakers that are of excellent quality (and excellent price), and I think they sound wonderful. Now, for the real nuts and bolts.