Formats

There aren't that many audio formats that stick around, or at least that's what it seems like to me. What ever happened to Pono and its world changing technology? Or HDCD? Formats reflect technology and, to the extent those formats serve their intended purpose, they remain valuable and in use—until we exchange them for the next miracle. A quick search uncovered over 500 different digital audio format containers, including: FLAC, ALAC, WAV, APE, MP3, AAC, WMA, Vorbis, WMA, Monkey’s Audio, WavPack, MPEG, Musepack, MQA... ad nauseam. Digiphobes roll their eyes when we spew TLAs. How easily they forget. Dolby, dbx Type I and II, High Com, Toshiba's adres, JVC's ANRS, RIAA pre and de emphasis, DNL, DNR...ad nauseam. We become fixated on all forms of audio enhancement, thinking each a miracle that will live on forever, only to discover they fade from view over the years. Technology marches on, and it's good to wallow in its pleasures when available. Let's not lose sight of the fact that few things in life are permanent, including audio formats.