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Feanor
03-14-2009, 05:06 AM
This from NewForm Research (http://www.newformresearch.com/fidelity-potential-index.htm); I got the link in an email from them. It attempts to show "fidelity potential" for many recording media going back to wax cylinders(!)

It is very vague about how they computed the analog equivalents of bit rates but it's got to be based on frequency response and dynamic range. They admit that the resulting analog values are "ballpark". The obviously controversial comparison is LP to CD, respectively a range of 415,000 - 625,000 bps, and 705,000 bps. Wax cylinders, BTW, are at most 30,000 bps.

They mention their reservations about lossy compression rates but nevertheless list MP3, 16,000 bps and 320,000 bps at nominal values. They fail to comment on the fact that these rates are after intelligent compression, thus their "fidelity potential" is certain to be understated based on bit rates.