FREE/BARGAIN — Science Fiction & Fantasy

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

All actual "Red book" Audio CDs are lossless. But a CD doesn't remember the "reading" position and even a 1963 cassette player is good enough for audio books. Later pocket/walkman players far better. A CD is the best format for music and the worst for audio books! Almost all cassette players were/are better than AM Radio.

Also you can put Braille labels direct on a cassette. Generic Walkmans are still sold as are blank tapes.

You can rip the CD and have a lossless audiobook or a lossy one with a higher bitrate.

[JSWolf]

You can get The Lord of the Rings Illustrated which is illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien from Kobo for $2.99. You can also get it from Amazon, but given that Amazon plays games with the images, get it from Kobo.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...ated-edition-1

I just purchased this.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You can get The Lord of the Rings Illustrated which is illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien from Kobo for $2.99. You can also get it from Amazon, but given that Amazon plays games with the images, get it from Kobo.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...ated-edition-1

I just purchased this.

AND...Tolkien's illustrations are in COLOR.

BUT....the sale is now over.

HOWEVER...I already had it!

(Maniacal, unending, high-pitched laughter as the poster is carted away.)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

AND...Tolkien's illustrations are in COLOR.

BUT....the sale is now over.

HOWEVER...I already had it!

(Maniacal, unending, high-pitched laughter as the poster is carted away.)

At Kobo, it's gone from $2.99 to $25.99.

[salty-horse]

New StoryBundle curated by Lavie Tidhar, featuring some newish releases.
https://storybundle.com/scifi

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

New StoryBundle curated by Lavie Tidhar, featuring some newish releases.
https://storybundle.com/scifi

Whoa!!!

Thirty dollars [$30] to activate the entire sale.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Whoa!!!

Thirty dollars [$30] to activate the entire sale.

Going the way of HumbleBundle, I see. Soon they'll probably start adjusting the sliders, too, so that some minimum amount always goes to StoryBundle.

[maddz]

Urgh. Only 2 books I want, both in the bonus tier. 4 books I already have. $15 I might have got it, but $30 is taking the mick.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If it's a lossless CD, then it's better on CD because it wll sound better.

?? This is not a symphony or movie. There is no need for lossless as there is neither a huge dynamic range or wide frequency . A MP3 is fine.
If you want HiFi, then vinyl as CD have a hard cut-off due to the 22K sample rate.
I have some old CD4 type QUAD records where the decode carrier is 30K

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by theducks

?? This is not a symphony or movie. There is no need for lossless as there is neither a huge dynamic range or wide frequency . A MP3 is fine.
If you want HiFi, then vinyl as CD have a hard cut-off due to the 22K sample rate.
I have some old CD4 type QUAD records where the decode carrier is 30K

I've heard some audiobooks where you can hear that it's lossy. Sure you can use MP3 for most audiobooks, but the bitrate needs to be high enough. I would go with 256K.

When you have an audiobook with music and sound effects, then go for 768K. But lossless would still be better. GraphicAudio has an option for lossless in FLAC. That would sound much better since these books are like listening to radio dramas with multi-cast, music, and sound effects.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by theducks

?? This is not a symphony or movie. There is no need for lossless as there is neither a huge dynamic range or wide frequency . A MP3 is fine.
If you want HiFi, then vinyl as CD have a hard cut-off due to the 22K sample rate.
I have some old CD4 type QUAD records where the decode carrier is 30K

44.1 k sample rate, so can have (in theory) up to 22 kHz.
AM Radio in Europe is about 4.5 kHz.
Phones (analogue & many digital codecs) about 3 to 3.5 kHz
FM Radio about 15 kHz.
Cassettes from about 7 kHz (1963) to 16 kHz (a tiny few do more).

Actual speech only needs 300 Hz to 3 kHz. Really good speech reproduction only needs 100 Hz to 6 kHz. There is almost nothing above 8 kHz in speech, or below 80Hz.
It doesn't need anything like the dynamic range of Classical Music.

This topic should be elsewhere.

However it's ludicrous to suggest more than 128k mp3, 1960s cassette (far worse than current cheap models) or even AM radio isn't good enough for an Audio book. Sure in a controlled HiFi room you can hear the difference, but irrelevant, especially in a vehicle, jogging, cycling, commuting, gardening, swimming etc.

Edit:
One source. https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-u...telligibility/
There are 1000s that backup my claim. I worked as a Communications Engineer in the BBC and in Telecoms R&D. Speech clarity was an important issue. No one denies that CDs are the best common distribution for audio, but it's a terrible format to use for audio books due to no location memory. Musicolet and similar on Android for MP3s solve that, but only one device (no doubt Audible has sync?), but actually cassettes are still viable for audiobooks & better than CD to use (you can copy CD to lossless FLAC, or mp3 or cassette).

Regular vinyl has much more distortion, rumble and noise than CD. The dynamic range is less on LPs than 45s to increase recording time (otherwise 11 minutes a side is possible on 45s) and less than CD. The real frequency response on regular commercial pressings is less than 16 kHz and reduces with each play. The 1970s quad pressings need a different cartridge / arm / stylus to maintain the higher frequency encodings. The format was a failure.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Quoth

44.1 k sample rate, so can have (in theory) up to 22 kHz.
AM Radio in Europe is about 4.5 kHz.
Phones (analogue & many digital codecs) about 3 to 3.5 kHz
FM Radio about 15 kHz.
Cassettes from about 7 kHz (1963) to 16 kHz (a tiny few do more).

Tangentially, this how audio sampling actually works and why 44.1KHz sampling can perfectly reproduce the original audio signal, with practical demonstrations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQ9IXSUzuM

[issybird]

Moderator Notice
Please take the audio discussion to the Lounge; let's get back on topic. Thanks.

[JSWolf]

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean 01) by Rebecca Yarros is on sale for £0.99 at Kobo, eBooks.com and Amazon all in the UK.

FRIENDS. ENEMIES. LOVERS…
EVERYONE HAS AN AGENDA

Violet Sorrengail expected to live a quiet life surrounded by books, until she was forced onto the world's deadliest training ground. Now she must fight to join the army's elite: dragon riders. But dragons don't choose fragile riders, they incinerate them, and when your body breaks as easily as Violet's does - death is only a heartbeat away.

eBooks.com: https://www.ebooks.com/en-gb/book/210721883
Koobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/fourth-wing-1
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BPP58HR2

[JSWolf]

A Second Chance (The Chronicles of St Mary's 03) by Jodi Taylor os on sake for £0.99 in the UK at eBooks.com, Kobo, and Amazon, and in the US for $0.99.

History happens all around you. And, occasionally, to you.

I could have been a bomb-disposal expert, or a volunteer for the Mars mission, or a firefighter, something safe and sensible. But, no, I had to be an historian.

It began well. A successful assignment to 17th century Cambridge to meet Isaac Newton, and another to witness the historic events at The Gates of Grief. So far so good.

But then came the long-awaited jump to the Trojan War that changed everything. And for Max, nothing will ever be the same again.

With the bloody Battle of Agincourt playing out around her, Max risks everything on one last desperate gamble to save a life and learns the true meaning of a second chance.

UK
eBooks.com: https://www.ebooks.com/en-gb/book/209563316
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-second-chance-71
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ML3TZD9

US
eBooks.com:https://www.ebooks.com/en-us/book/210000196
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-second-chance-81
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0873971CS