Mastering the Audiophile Experience for iTunes
Apple recently debuted a Mastered for iTunes section in the iTunes Store, where audiophiles can discover releases that have been optimized for playback within its 256 kbps AAC format. Chris Foresman at Ars Technica delves into what goes into the mastering process for compressed digital audio files, including a discussion with Masterdisk Chief Engineer Andy VanDette (who recently completed a remastering project for Rush’s back catalogue).
Ugh, so now "audiophile" has come to mean the same as "mid-fi". I guess we audiophiles now have to invent a new term that means fidelity in musical reproduction.
Contrary to what the referenced article says, audiophile reproduction does not require expensive or exotic equipment. You can get pretty far up the audiophile scale for less money than a lot of mass-produced hi-fi gear. My advice for audiophile shopping: Trust your ears and watch your wallet. Keep that in mind and you can do well.
Mid-fi is better than low-fi. At least it's a step in the right direction!