MP3s - they allow us easy access to music via downloads, the effortless sharing of music with our friends and the ability to listen to music on the go. It can honestly be said that they have revolutionised the music experience. The MP3 can take responsibility for the drop in album sales and music shop figures due to downloads but can the recent increase in vinyl record sales also be caused by the MP3? It may sound like backwards reasoning that the modern music medium is behind the reinstated popularity of the old, but it has to be said, MP3s really are not that good.
It is common knowledge that the MP3 has a low quality sound format. In order to make the files portable and easy to send the tracks are greatly compressed, which results in the change of aspects of the sound. Essentially this means that the rising and falling sound waves one would find from a vinyl record have been straightened out to more closely resemble a horizontal line, making everything an equal, and loud, volume. This results in the loss of depth and clarity in the music with no low end frequencies, creating a trebly sounding track. While this sounds fine on the low quality ear buds used by most to listen to their ipods, it gives a very dis-satisfying experience of music through good quality speakers.
