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Compressed vs. Full , a test.
- Thread starter fokof
- Start date
I don't even need to try (but I will), I know I enjoy the music and patterns at lower sample rates, even on lower quality gear, like car audio.
This video is a great explanation about all the woo around sample rates. It clears up quite a few misconceptions
Xiph.Org Video Presentations: Digital Show & Tell
This video is a great explanation about all the woo around sample rates. It clears up quite a few misconceptions
Xiph.Org Video Presentations: Digital Show & Tell
I got 5 out of 6 for the higher quality Wav files. The one I found difficult to interpret was the female vox track by itself as it had no lows or highs in the track. To my ear, I mainly hear the big difference on the lower and higher frequencies. On the MP3/128kb examples, the cymbals sound shrill, thin and the decay of the higher frequencies will have a sizzle artifact behind it sounding like a drum machine from the 1980's. Also listen for weird sounding reverb effects. The mp3 compression adds some funky artifacts to a normally good sounding reverb effect in the WAV mix. Got to say that good playback equipment makes these differences more distinguishable. Thanks for posting the link. Fun test.
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Thanks for posting, very interesting. Through crappy headphones I picked the 320 kbps 4 times and twice the 128 kbps
From double-blind tests done on audiophiles 320kpbs mp3s are statistically indistinguishable from CDs so don't feel too bad. I picked either of those, apart from the classical piece which I got wrong, but that piece sounded fairly muddy to me anyway (old recording?).
On sampling rates, the tests also done on audiophiles (although not a huge sample) suggested 44.1khz, 16 bits, is sufficient for well mastered playback, although I've found, as suggested in a article, 24 bits is a great help for level setting, especially in a live context. "Are you sure you'll play this loud?" "Yes"
p.s. I also listened back on $3 earbuds (although admittedly they were a great deal, so maybe they are worth $8) ear buds on a mobile device and then it's tough to distinguish 128kpbs many times. The ear buds do voice too, and I actually got them to do hands-free stage to mixing desk voice comms to a stage hand, not for music listening.
