Does Youtube really destroy audio quality?

[Kwesi]

Across all sorts of forums, blogs, and even the site itself I keep hearing (seeing) people moan about how Youtube mangles the audio of uploaded videos. I am of the strong opinion that the degree to which Youtube messes with audio is minimal but people seem so convinced that it does. The only thing I've noticed is some slight compression of the sound. I figure if someone does a quality job of recording the audio or has high quality audio to begin with it'll still be similarly high quality once uploaded. I'm not saying youtube does nothing but I believe that it's effect is minimal and that too many people are making to big a fuss about it. What do you guys think?

[DerHoggz]

I knida agree with you. Whenever I watch effects demos or such, I can really sense the subtleties of the individual effect compared to others.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by DerHoggz

I knida agree with you. Whenever I watch effects demos or such, I can really sense the subtleties of the individual effect compared to others.

Exactly! Any other thoughts?

[rarisgod]

Yeah I've never noticed much, but I know some people are really specific about noticing that sort of thing.

[ugly_bassplayer]

You probably don't notice a difference because you are used to low quality MP3s. (I may be wrong here)

If you can't tell the difference between a youtube & a cd quality recording, go get your ears checked. No really , go see an ear specialist.

I think high quality MP3s are quite ok (320kps minimum), anything below that you loose alot.

IMO.

[Honk'n_down-low]

If you record direct versus condenser mics I would say not and real degradation you would notice.

I run direct into my Digital Camcorder and it sounds fine to me.

I was listening to Jeff Beck on youtube - one of the Live Performances with Tal and it sounded really good. I am running Klipsch Promedia 500Watts for my PC Speakers - Dual Subs.

What may be going on - is people might hear how lousy their playing is or flaws they overlooked - so easy to say Youtube ruined it - sounded killer in the shower with no one listening

[bigblondeafro87]

I use &fmt=18 to help with the quality, but yeah youtube videos have worse quality. AB test some songs and you should notice a difference

[Thunderscreech]

This poll is irrelevant because it does not contain Carrots.

and &fmt=18 is your friend. try other numbers, like =22 and =24 for more quality.

[scorpionldr]

i believe that youtube tries to normalize the sound of videos to make it more presentable. In some cases this can be bad for video sound.

[iamlowsound]

Yeah, they compress the audio. I can understand why some people don't hear it, mainly because they don't listen to good quality sound in the first place. I can hear a difference, quite a bit of a difference, in fact, when compared to a good audio recording.

lowsound