Campaign Ended on Kickstarter

Mark Waldrep’s first book Music and Audio: A User Guide to Better Sound has become the new “gold standard” book on high-end audio.

His second book focuses on recent developments in the world of high-resolution streaming — both hardware and services, downloadable music files, and personal audio listening. The Kickstarter campaign was highly successful, raising over $16,000. If you missed the campaign, you can still pre-order the book on this website. The expected delivery date is summer of 2021.

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[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Sign Up Now For Updates!” main_heading_color=”#ffffff” sub_heading_color=”#4496c3″ alignment=”left”]A comprehensive book on the exciting world of streaming, downloads, and personal audio.[/ultimate_heading]

Foreword by Mark Waldrep, Ph.D.

The advancement of audio technologies over the past 10 years has wrought extensive and irreversible changes to the audiophile hobby.

Despite those clinging to aging analog formats like vinyl LPs and reel to reel analog tape, the future of music listening is undoubtedly digital. And it’s going to be distributed without the need for physical media. Yes, the future of music consumption — even at the highest fidelity levels — will be through wired and wireless networks. Who could possibly complain about having access to any track or album, from any era, in any location, at master quality, and without excessive cost. This book surveys recent developments in high-fidelity streaming, high-resolution music downloads, and the upsurge in personal audio listening — headphones and in ear monitors.

Book Information

  • ISBN: 978-1-7363935-0-5
  • Paperback: 300 pages
  • Digital eBook: 300 pages
  • Expected Publication Date: July 1, 2023
  • Available in: English
  • Edition: First Edition
  • Publisher: AIX Publishing

The Author

Author, Musician, Composer, Audio Engineer, Record Producer, Designer & Computer Scientist“Mark Waldrep Knows What He’s Doing?” Andrew Quint TAS

Mark Waldrep, Ph.D. is the founder, president and chief engineer at AIX Records, a specialty high-end, Los Angeles-based record company founded in 2000. He has been a regular columnist for eMedia magazine, written extensively on audio production and new media, been featured several times in the recording industry’s standard periodical MIX magazine, interviewed by CNN, and given the keynote at the AES (Audio Engineering Society) conference in Bogota, Columbia. Mark has been featured as a speaker or panelist at numerous audiophile shows, been a member of the Audio Board of the CTA/CEA, and is an active member of The Recording Academy (NARAS) and the Audio Engineering Society (AES). Mark has been on the faculty of CSU Dominguez Hills in Southern California for over 20 years where he heads the university’s Audio Recording program. The Absolute Sound magazine, a highly regarded high-end audio magazine, profiled Dr. Waldrep in December of 2012 titled Mark Waldrep Knows What He’s Doing, which praised his work on high-end recording and the contributions he’s made toward improving fidelity.

Music and Audio: A User Guide To Better Sound by Mark Waldrep, Ph.D.

Dr. Waldrep’s previous book on high-end audio has been heralded as the “Bible” of books on the topic.

I decided to write this book because I discovered a lot of the information I read in the usual audio magazines and on their online versions didn’t ring true with what I’ve learned throughout my 40 years as an electronics technician, musician, music lover, audio engineer, record producer, and computer programmer. As a musician, composer, recording engineer and producer of high-resolution audio recordings, I know what great fidelity sounds like and I know what it takes to produce fabulous sounding tracks (the Blu-ray disc that accompanies this book or the high-resolution files represent some of the best sounding tracks on the planet!). And I know what it takes with regards to hardware and software to bring your music listening experiences up a few notches.

Music is the most popular art form in the world. It’s heard in public places, in retail stores while you’re shopping, in performance venues large and small, in your automobile, at home, in the privacy of your own head, and as underscore to films, television shows, and YouTube videos. Music fans, casual listeners, and audiophiles alike enjoy playing their favorite tunes at home, in their cars, and through the latest portable digital music players. Music is the soundtrack of our lives.

Book Information

  • ISBN: 978-0-9973566-0-1
  • Paperback: 880 pages
  • Digital eBook: 880 pages with color illustrations
  • Expected Publication Date: January 21, 2018
  • Available in: English
  • Edition: First Edition
  • Publisher: AIX Publishing

Excerpt by Mark Waldrep

HD music streaming is a myth! The services claiming to deliver hi-res audio are digitizing standard-res audio in larger bit buckets.

cover

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Is Booker good enough?
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Is Booker good enough?
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Is Booker good enough?
Aenean lacinia bibendum nulla sed consectetur. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in.

Is Booker good enough?
Aenean lacinia bibendum nulla sed consectetur. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in.

Is Booker good enough?
Aenean lacinia bibendum nulla sed consectetur. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in.

Is Booker good enough?
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The Book

Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 2 – The Future of Audio
Chapter 3 – Hi-Res Audio: Defined
Chapter 4 – Audio Distribution: A Backgrounder
Chapter 5 – Audio Production Basics
Chapter 6 – Format Challenges
Chapter 7 – High Fidelity in a New Era
Chapter 8 – Downloading Digital Audio
Chapter 9 – Streaming: Low-Fi to HD
Chapter 10 – Personal Audio Basics

cover

The music industry is undergoing tremendous changes as the first quarter of the 21st century continues to unfold. Physical media and music ownership are declining as streaming and subscription services increase in quality and popularity. It is now possible and easy for streaming services to equal or eclipse the fidelity of physical media or high-fidelity downloads in most circumstances.

The shift from disc based media —analog or digital — is transforming the way we produce, process, and consume music. The biggest winner at the 2020 Grammy® awards was new artist Billie Eilish. She took home five awards including Grammys for Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album with songs that were recorded and produced in her home studio with her brother/producer. No longer is it necessary or required to book time in an expensive recording studio, employee top engineers, and have the support of major labels to break into the big time. Billie’s road to success was launched in 2016 when she uploaded the song “Ocean Eyes” to the online streaming service SoundCloud!

The Book (continued)

Chapter 11 – Audio Networking Basics
Chapter 12 – Wired vs. Wireless: A Reality Check
Chapter 13 – Sources: Integrated vs. Components?
Chapter 14 – Speakers and Headphones
Chapter 15 – Content Services
Chapter 16 – Cables
Chapter 17 – System Alternatives and Suggestions
Chapter 18 – Recommendations
Chapter 19 – What’s Next?
Chapter 20 – Meet The Experts

There have been tremendous changes in the way we consume high-fidelity music and this book explores the availability of high-resolution streaming and downloads through traditional speaker based systems AND personal audio rigs — through headphones and in ear monitors.

[just_icon icon=”Defaults-cloud-download” icon_size=”48″ icon_color=”#6ba4cf” icon_align=”left”][ultimate_heading main_heading=”Streaming” main_heading_color=”#ffffff” heading_tag=”h4″ sub_heading_color=”#ffffff” alignment=”left” sub_heading_margin=”margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:40px;” main_heading_margin=”margin-top:5px;”]TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music HD and other claim to stream hi-res audio, what are the facts?[/ultimate_heading]

[just_icon icon=”Defaults-download” icon_size=”48″ icon_color=”#6ba4cf” icon_align=”left”][ultimate_heading main_heading=”Downloads” main_heading_color=”#ffffff” heading_tag=”h4″ sub_heading_color=”#ffffff” alignment=”left” sub_heading_margin=”margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:40px;” main_heading_margin=”margin-top:5px;”]High-resolution downloads have been available since 2007. Physical media is on the decline.[/ultimate_heading]

[just_icon icon=”Defaults-headphones” icon_size=”48″ icon_color=”#6ba4cf” icon_align=”left”][ultimate_heading main_heading=”Personal Audio” main_heading_color=”#ffffff” heading_tag=”h4″ sub_heading_color=”#ffffff” alignment=”left” sub_heading_margin=”margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:40px;” main_heading_margin=”margin-top:5px;”]High quality headphones provide a number of advantages: cost, clarity, crosstalk elimination, and privacy.[/ultimate_heading]