[news] Beats by Dre purchased by Apple

[Dos_Box]

Now you've made me want them!

 

Quick! Someone call the audio police!

[abillybob]

Technically you lose half of the remaining music, the first half has already been lost by buying an mp3.

 

Can we please bring back quality audio formats and quality hardware brands? But then that would just show up the complete lack of effort that goes into mastering now - squash it until it sounds ok on a £5 mp3 player at 128kb, then squash it some more for good measure.

The cowon would play FLAC and OGG, it was awesome although every music file I had on there was like 1,000 TB!

[Little-Miss]

Now don't get me wrong, i can be a bit of a bass junkie, but I tried them with my music in HMV....i spent most the time trying to work out how if i could turn the mid range up on my iPhone...

 

(possibly the wrong terminology, i'm not a musician. I just like my music to sound good )

[X-13]

BEATS DON'T EVEN SOUND GOOD! YOU LOSE HALF THE MUSIC!!!

 

People buying Beats for iDevices aren't the sort of people who listen to music with any sort of subtlety.

 

 

Then again... I'm listening to this through my monitor speakers.

Edited May 13, 2014 by X-13

[Arthur]

I think you'll find they are more likely to brand their hardware with the Beats logo a bit like the HTC One did.

I think that's unlikely considering Apple's previous stance on 'Intel Inside' stickers.

 

 

What I would really like to see is a web-based version of iTunes based on Beats Music.

 

Beats Music said to be struggling with subscriber count in 'the low six figures' « The Verge

 

^ If Apple had purchased Spotify and then discontinued the the Android and Windows clients, I think that would definitely annoy a lot of people.

[LosOjos]

Technically you lose half of the remaining music, the first half has already been lost by buying an mp3.

 

Can we please bring back quality audio formats and quality hardware brands? But then that would just show up the complete lack of effort that goes into mastering now - squash it until it sounds ok on a £5 mp3 player at 128kb, then squash it some more for good measure.

 

MP3 itself doesn't have to be awful, it's just that people tend to go "OMG if I set it to 64KBp/s I can fit 100 times more music!" and compress the hell out of it. You also have to consider whether you're ever likely to play them back through anything bigger than a pair of in-ears; even the best in-ears aren't going to produce the range that a nice pair of floor standers can.

 

Production has certainly gone down hill though, seems to be a race to make music as loud as possible, compressing it (in a musical, not file size sense) awfully in the process: The Echo Nest Blog

[tmcd35]

MP3 itself doesn't have to be awful, it's just that people tend to go "OMG if I set it to 64KBp/s I can fit 100 times more music!" and compress the hell out of it.

 

I tend to only ever use 320kbps 48KHz MP3's wherever possible (some old tracks are at lower quality). Everything get's converted to this as I find it gives me the best mix of audio quality and file portability (MP3's play everywhere - period).

[Tesla]

I tend to only ever use 320kbps 48KHz MP3's wherever possible (some old tracks are at lower quality). Everything get's converted to this as I find it gives me the best mix of audio quality and file portability (MP3's play everywhere - period).

 

+1 this.

[Arthur]

I tend to only ever use 320kbps 48KHz MP3's wherever possible

Why not VBR MP3s instead of CBR? There isn't any point in encoding silence at 320kbps.

[Guest Guest]

MP3 itself doesn't have to be awful

 

You're right but unfortunately even store bought 320kb mp3s are very hit and miss. We've got a 320kb google store bought track which is the backing track to our presentations. On anything bigger than desktop speakers it sound appalling, and I mean appalling. Youtube songs sound better. It's as though they've compressed it so that every part of the song is at full volume, so that when a loud instrument triggers, such as a kick, the rest of the audio ducks, but not in a side-chain compression sort of way, more in a clipping kind of way.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Guest

[Arthur]

It is a perfect merger, two companies that make their fortunes by selling over priced junk to people who don't know any better

 

[mac_shinobi]

 

 

Wondering if they will modify the beats headphones to be similar to the apple ear buds and they will include these with the next iphone

[Arthur]

It's official! Apple have acquired Beats Music & Beats Electronics.

 

www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/05/28Apple-to-Acquire-Beats-Music-Beats-Electronics.html

 

CUPERTINO, California—May 28, 2014—Apple today announced it has agreed to acquire the critically acclaimed subscription streaming music service Beats Music, and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple. Apple is acquiring the two companies for a total of $3 billion, consisting of a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time.

 

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”

 

@nephilim. Technically, Apple didn't buy Beats by Dr Dre.