The Semi-Official iPhone/iPad/iPodTouch App Thread

[Miss Philicia]

I have a feeling that Apple will be offering a similar service in the near future, and they are rumored to be unveiling iOS 5 very soon.  Amazon's new service is incompatible with iOS devices.  Apple has been building a huge 500,000 sq. ft., $1 billion "server farm" this past year in Maiden, North Carolina. I would suspect that this is for a near-future iTunes web-based service.  Google is also working on a cloud-based music streaming service.

Personally all of the cloud stuff is in flux and will be for the next year and I'd not dive into it until it becomes clear how it may evolve.

[GSOgymrat]

Yes, Apple and Google are developing similar cloud music services. I bought a mp3 album from Amazon to get the free 20 GB to try it out but have not completely committed yet. As you may have read Sony and some of the other music labels are talking lawsuit because Amazon launched this service without their approval. This totally pisses me off. These cloud services are nothing but wireless external hard drives. Amazon is not providing the music files. I paid for my music and should be able to store it where I want. Next the music industry will say you can listen to CDs in your house but not in your car. This is just another attempt by music labels to make a buck. These kinds of litigious tactics just stifle technological innovation.

[Miss Philicia]

Yes, Apple and Google are developing similar cloud music services. I bought a mp3 album from Amazon to get the free 20 GB to try it out but have not completely committed yet. As you may have read Sony and some of the other music labels are talking lawsuit because Amazon launched this service without their approval. This totally pisses me off. These cloud services are nothing but wireless external hard drives. Amazon is not providing the music files. I paid for my music and should be able to store it where I want. Next the music industry will say you can listen to CDs in your house but not in your car. This is just another attempt by music labels to make a buck. These kinds of litigious tactics just stifle technological innovation.

Yes, you paid for your music and should be able to store it where you want -- and as far as I know you can if you pay for it.  But you're not, you're trying to get something for nothing, and in the end you're going to pay for it either with money or with heartache -- take your pick.  This is marketing sweetie, and it's also about locking the consumer into specific operating systems for years.  It's all quite obvious.

Anyway, this concept isn't ready for prime time and if you're going to allow yourself to get sucked in don't blame me.   Many mobile bandwidth caps make it unattractive in the first place, and just wait until IT departments start blocking it.  And what about when you're out of range of "whatever" network?  It all could be a great idea, but currently I don't see it as being anything less than "meh".

[mecch]

What about hi-fidelity in ANY of these services?

Ok maybe it is psychological, or snobbery, but I can hear and "feel" a difference between FLAC on my music player, and MP3.  I don't get listening fatigue with FLAC.  Everything sounds precise and deep and full.

[David_CA]

What about hi-fidelity in ANY of these services?

Ok maybe it is psychological, or snobbery, but I can hear and "feel" a difference between FLAC on my music player, and MP3.  I don't get listening fatigue with FLAC.  Everything sounds precise and deep and full.

I can hear a difference between the different formats.  How great a difference depends on many things - bit rate of mp3's, the original source, what was used to encode the file, etc.  In a moving car, I'd love to see somebody be able to distinguish between even a 256 or 384kbs mp3 using an automotive sound system.  The same goes for listening at a gym on small headphones (or earbuds).  On a quality system, the differences may be pretty impressive.  I will say that I've got some great mp3's and some that sound like crap.  Some were sampled from the analog inputs on a standard pc / notebook and some were ripped from CD.  The sources for the crappy analog-sourced mp3's range from TV broadcast, radio, vinyl, tape, and CD. 

I'll bet that, without pretty elaborate ABX testing on high(er) end systems, most won't be able to tell which is a well encoded high-bitrate mp3 and which is a FLAC file. 

Back to the question at hand, about quality... I don't think any of these services are designed to provide the utmost in high fidelity; they're about convenience.  For fidelity, a media center pc like we use can sure hold a lot of music (and BD rips) on a 2TB drive.

[GSOgymrat]

I can't tell the difference using earbuds when streaming a song of Amazon or playing off my phone's memory card. I am sure if you are streaming through high quality headphones or a good sound system you would be able to tell the difference. I read an article recently (can't locate it at the moment) where audiophiles were lamenting living in the age of "good enough" audio where people settle for lower fidelity.

[mecch]

I hear the difference on my cheap by great Sansa, with good headphones, and I hear the difference on my squeezebox.  I play flac on my squeezebox and people are stunned by the sound that heavy little sucker makes.

I get the point about the way mp3's are made.  So are Amazon and iTunes hiquality mp3's?

I kinda figure consumers are getting ripped off. Why has the unit price gone up, if you consider a song a unit, and the quality keeps going down down down. VInyl, then bad cds, then better cds, but crap mp3's but now maybe better mp3's.

So many people have broadband, gizmos have big memories, so I would think the option of a lossless copy would appeal to enough of the market.

[David_CA]

Yep, good headphones make all the difference in the world, especially if there not much ambient sound.  I got a pair of Grado headphones years ago for Christmas that sound amazing with a PC, iPod, iPhone, or standard system.  On another note... I'm amazed at the difference between Sirius/XM on a satellite radio (not terrible but fairly compressed), Slacker cached on my iPhone (pretty good, mp3 quality), Sirius/XM over Dish Network (much better than satellite radio), and a higher bit-rate mp3.  Considering the space savings, I'll used loss-less for home and mp3's for my portable devices. 

[mecch]

I have a lot of classic rock and blues that brings tears to my eyes when I listen in Hi-fi.
Its so freaking real.
There's a great disc of Janis Joplin at Woodstock - you hear and feel her rapport with the crowd.
Jimi Hendrix in hi-fi is to die for....  Bowie. 
With the latest electro and pop, you get a great feeling for the talent that goes into it, by the artist and the production.
Case in point Britney's new disc.  Gee everyone is trashing it and her recent live performances - and on the disc, the production is just great. Her singing is just an afterthought.  Intelligently handled in my opinion. Poor Britney. If she had some life left in her, this disc would be a gem.

FLAC allows me to listen many hours to electronic music, if its well made, while on MP3 I just get tired. 

[Miss Philicia]

You listen to Britney? ++

[mecch]

Of course I do. I heard it was some advanced dubstep production and quite electro, and its true.  Some tunes sound like Kylie. One even sounds like She Wolf in my opinion. 
I love me a good train wreck and a good dance ditty.  Toxic was a great pop tune.

I was so saddened by the videos of her SF performance I went to look at B 10 years ago on youtube.  WTF happened here?

Then I went looking at very early Madonna. Saw that clip of Madonna at Danceteria, which I hadn't seen in a few years.  It looks like Weimar Berlin, so old now.  I noticed that Madonna sang at a lower register when she first started.  Not that girly voice that soon came. 

[Miss Philicia]

I can't believe that there exists an Android app about poppers.  Oh, and it costs 96 cents

[mecch]

There are a bunch of apps for evaluating cock size.

[GSOgymrat]

There are a bunch of apps for evaluating cock size.

I don't need an app for that.

[odyssey]

There is an app or two that calculates your sperm count based on factors such as how long its been since you ejaculated and how often you ejaculate and things like that. I think its intended for guys who want to get their female partners pregnant, but us gay guys could create a whole subculture of offering up the most swimmer-packed cum for swallowing! LOL 

[GSOgymrat]

There is an app or two that calculates your sperm count based on factors such as how long its been since you ejaculated and how often you ejaculate and things like that. I think its intended for guys who want to get their female partners pregnant, but us gay guys could create a whole subculture of offering up the most swimmer-packed cum for swallowing! LOL  

Fun fact!:

Sperm only comprise 2-5% of semen, so you would not notice an appreciably larger volume by increasing your sperm count.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen#Composition_of_human_semen

Increasing semen volume
Some dietary supplements have been marketed with claims to increase seminal volume. Like other supplements, including so-called herbal viagra, these are not approved or regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (as licensed medications would be), and none of the claims have been scientifically verified. Similar claims are made about traditional aphrodisiac foods, with an equal lack of verification.
One such set of herbal pills were introduced and have been promoted in the adult entertainment industry with adult porn star Ron Jeremy acting as a spokesman.

[odyssey]

Oh yeah, I know that isn't much sperm volume compared to seminal fluid volume in semen, but I was trying to say guys could advertise more individual little guys in their cum. Who knows, it could become the latest fetish, and their might be xtube videos of "i swallowed 543,762,000 sperm today".

[mecch]

In Arizona, there's app that takes a picture and tells us someone's religion, citizenship, and if they are cut or uncut!