Top expert concludes that CD-grade digital is as good as we need

Mark Waldrep, PhD, a.k.a. Dr. AIX, is one of the top experts on high-res audio, if not THE top expert, as a look at his website, Real-HD Audio, should convince anyone. After decades of believing that high-res consumer recordings sound better than CDs, he has concluded that the reason that they have a reputation for superior sound quality is due to a variety of reasons, but not due to their higher resolution (see The Truth About High-Resolution Audio: Facts, Fiction and Findings). This is also the conclusion of other experts, such as Sean Olive, PhD, former president of the AES and now a director of Harman International's research division, and Goldmund Labs, where cost is no object and they would love an excuse to sell even more expensive digital gear than they already do. Dr. Waldrep conducted a survey, which might be ongoing, by releasing some of the high-res recordings which he made, and knows to be truly high-res, in both high-res and CD-grade, and having participants identify which is which by just listening to them, and fill out an on-line questionnaire. The aforementioned article contains a link to this survey.

However, the fact is that some high-res recordings, such as those available via lossless streaming, do sound better than the corresponding CD-grade recordings, although not necessarily because of the resolution. I surmise that these better-sounding recordings are streamed in high-res so that the music industry can attribute the higher quality to the higher resolution (to avoid having to explain why they're not released on CD), while preventing them from being copied digitally. The LP-version might sound better yet, because the record companies can put their best recordings on LPs without having to worry much about anyone being able to make an exact copy, because so few people can afford laser turntables, and those who do have laser TTs can be watched for indications of piracy.

I've devised a piracy-proof pay-per-play system (described in a previous post) which would allow us to download and store encrypted music files which could be decrypted only by the player with the corresponding decryption key, to avoid having to download lots of data every time the music is played (which might not be possible under all circumstances in which you would want to hear the music), while generating long-term income for the industry. The player would erase the key if any tampering were detected or if the internal batteries were allowed to drain excessively. If the key were erased, it could be replaced by a newly-generated decryption key at the factory under tight security (to avoid the risk of having to store the decryption keys anywhere besides the players), but all of the music files would have to be re-downloaded, which would act as a deterrent to tampering or letting the batteries discharge excessively. But if CD-grade files are sufficient, at least the downloads wouldn't be huge. Some people object to pay-per-play, but they could continue to use the existing inferior systems. I see it as a cost-effective alternative, because I'd be able to obtain the best recordings in digital form and avoid the expenses associated with the existing systems.