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We’re all suffering from qualitynesia now
Borne along on the tide of technology, it is far too easy to forget that some things really were better quality in the past.
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CDs, for instance, have a bit-rate of 1,411 kilobits per second, much better than anything heard on Spotify.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Sarah O’Connor
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On my 13th birthday, my parents gave me a portable CD player and the masterpiece that was Fresh Hits 1997. Like more than 600 million other people, I have long since swopped my box of CDs for the Spotify app on my phone. But I found my old birthday present recently and discovered it still worked. Even using headphones from the 1990s, I was staggered by the richness of the sound.
My ears didn’t deceive me. CDs have a bit-rate of 1,411 kilobits per second (kbps), which is a measure of how much data is used to represent sound. Spotify Premium ranges from 24kbps to 320kbps, while free Spotify listeners are limited to 160kbps at best. I realise this is hardly news to music aficionados. Neil Young, who grudgingly returned his music to Spotify in 2024 after a spat involving Joe Rogan, complained: “There is so much tone missing that you can hardly feel the sensitivity.”
