MP3 Ain't MP3....
Both MP3's are sonically very acceptable, but there is a readily audible difference between them and the original wav file.
There is also an audible difference between the two MP3 encoders.
To my ear, the Fraunhofer is the better (calmer) sounding one.
Dan.
I have converted from wav to 320k MP3 using Fraunhofer and Lame encoders.
Both MP3's are sonically very acceptable, but there is a readily audible difference between them and the original wav file.
There is also an audible difference between the two MP3 encoders.
To my ear, the Fraunhofer is the better (calmer) sounding one.
Dan.
To revert to the farmed salmon fiasco, Norway has closed down some of her farms due to environmental concerns.
For those interested in what is actually in farmed salmon (virtually any Atlantic salmon you may buy) and the damage the farms cause, this link gives much factual information:
The Salmon Farm Monitor
It makes grim reading and is adequate for most people to refuse to eat the cocktail that presents itself as "Atlantic Salmon".
For those interested in what is actually in farmed salmon (virtually any Atlantic salmon you may buy) and the damage the farms cause, this link gives much factual information:
The Salmon Farm Monitor
It makes grim reading and is adequate for most people to refuse to eat the cocktail that presents itself as "Atlantic Salmon".
Interesting point Dan!
The original CD to MP3 rips I made a few years ago have all been binned now and those CD's have re-ripped using EAC to FLAC, much better IMO. The differences are more obvious with good quality recordings. I never bothered comparing MP3 encoders, I just moved on to FLAC. Once the damage by MP3 compression is done it cant be undone later so I don't bother with it nowadays.
I'm now checking out 24/96 for quality, not noticed much improvement so far which makes me think that 24/192 files are a waste of time. Besides that my DAC only handles up to 24/96 and I've not seen any reason to upgrade it yet, although the addition of a MF V-LINK between it and the netbook I use as a player has been worthwhile.
The original CD to MP3 rips I made a few years ago have all been binned now and those CD's have re-ripped using EAC to FLAC, much better IMO. The differences are more obvious with good quality recordings. I never bothered comparing MP3 encoders, I just moved on to FLAC. Once the damage by MP3 compression is done it cant be undone later so I don't bother with it nowadays.
I'm now checking out 24/96 for quality, not noticed much improvement so far which makes me think that 24/192 files are a waste of time. Besides that my DAC only handles up to 24/96 and I've not seen any reason to upgrade it yet, although the addition of a MF V-LINK between it and the netbook I use as a player has been worthwhile.
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I hate reading these articles 😱 It doesn't help that my brother has been involved in the breeding process of these monsters for many years now and is reliant on the income from it.
Nordic farms had an ecological disaster on their hands, infection rates through the roof etc. This is the reason behind them investing so heavily in Scottish sites. We have so few industry's left here on the west coast that people are to quick to turn a blind eye to what's really going on in that industry. You cant eat scenery but you shouldn't farm salmon or eat farmed salmon.
Agreed, very close. What high rate MP3 does for me is warm up the sound a bit and move things closer. I suppose that's the loss of ambient detail in the recording, but don't know for sure.
Some of what makes MP3 sound bad is prejudice. Don't tell 'em it's an MP3 and they think it sounds great. Tell 'em it's MP3 and immediately it's unlistenable. 😉
Because it is no different, of course! Bit per bit exactly the same. I also use JRiver (the full version) and rip to FLAC or APE. No need for a CD player. I do own a lot of MP3s, tho. Old rips, or those super bargain downloads that Amazon.com keeps tempting me with. The more I buy, the more they tempt me. All very enjoyable, to be sure.
That's a really dumb way of "proving" something. Any recording you make using any mic is going to change the frequency and phase of said recording so playing it back will of course sound different through the same system.
Case in point: A perfectly sounding system recorded with a flawed mic with lets say a dip in the midrange will playback with said dip in the midrange. That isn't a flaw in the playback system but the mic itself.
Also note that most of the recordings made on Youtube of a set of speakers are either using a mobile phone (ugh) or an unknown mic with who knows what frequency response. The mic isn't at the same position as the the person's ears doing the recording.
That "real" piano you are listening to in the Youtube video is a recording by the way.🙄
How many videos have you seen on there that also have a recording of the same piano? Where was the mic set up for the recording? Did the mic have a different position than the "real" piano? Most I have seen have the mic moving around with the person doing the recording on there. Too many variables, plus you are listening to a lossy audio clip through what, your own speakers so yet another variable.
I'm done responding to your endless posts since you never seem able to comprehend the simplest things.
Yup. MP3 @ 320Kbps is very listenable. I did some back to back comparisons with FLAC using good quality recordings and FLAC did sound better but not by a huge margin, not as big a difference as some folk like to make out 😉
Some folk say that using EAC gives a bigger improvement, it reads the disc several times before encoding the result. This apparently gets around one of CD's biggest drawback's, read errors. I'm that not bothered about comparing any differences it might make, I prefer to just enjoy to the music 😀
You Tube clips may not sound that good but some aint too bad and they can be entertaining, here's one I quite like - Jarrod Radnich - Incredible Piano Solo - Pirates of the Caribbean - YouTube
He has a few more on there if you like this one.
He has a few more on there if you like this one.
This kid shows signs of talent eh - Tsung Tsung Amazing Piano Prodigy Grade5 Piano (5Age) - Flood Time - Air ????? - YouTube
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The original concept was OKish.....a limited industry to support W.Coast employment. BUT it has grown enormously and the majority of jobs are taken up by itinerant workers.
Wages go home to families not in the area, profits go to international concerns and - other than for the few remaining locals employed, all that is left for the locality is a noxious seabed. And in these days of taxation efficiency it is possible that the profits are 'leanly' taxed.
I have a notifiable interest of course in that I am a very keen fly fisherman.
Wages go home to families not in the area, profits go to international concerns and - other than for the few remaining locals employed, all that is left for the locality is a noxious seabed. And in these days of taxation efficiency it is possible that the profits are 'leanly' taxed.
I have a notifiable interest of course in that I am a very keen fly fisherman.
Now your just confusing matters 😀
I'm still trying to grips with this PC thingy
Nope, I'm still not very PC
I used to salmon fish on the fly, someone told me it could be considered poaching though 😱 I thought about it for a bit then said I don't like poached fish, I prefer it grilled in butter 😉
I think the whole salmon farming industry has a short shelf life at this intensity, the s**t will hit the fan just shortly IMO
if 320k mp3 is quite good, ogg is even betterNow your just confusing matters 😀
I'm still trying to grips with this PC thingy
Nope, I'm still not very PC
not to forget it is freeware, and has option up to 500k (not lossless, but close quality)
Vorbis.com: Setup
http://www.rarewares.org/files/ogg/oggdropXPdV1.9.0-1.3.3-P4.zip
Hmm, need to look into this ogg format.
I'm set up for FLAC now, in fact virtually all of my digital music is now in this format but if ogg has any benefits and my player has no issues with it, I might give it a go.
I'm set up for FLAC now, in fact virtually all of my digital music is now in this format but if ogg has any benefits and my player has no issues with it, I might give it a go.
Your post is just pointing out that people listen to audio systems in different ways, for different things - and that's fine! I listen, 'analyse', for non-linear distortion, many here are sensitive to linear distortion, and that's all perfectly OK - personally, I find non-linear distortion is the key factor that separates convincing, 'realistic' playback from just hifi sound - and the former is what interests me ...
What I'm listening for is that which immediately identifies what is being played back as being a live instrument in front of a microphone vs. just a speaker working ... if a person walks into the room, can't see what's on my PC screen, and I ask them, "Is that a recording of a piano, or some person's taping of their system playing?" - to me, 95% of the time it's obvious ...
And that's fair enough too ...
It's trivial to make a mic with basic flat response. I have a bag full that I paid $2 a piece for. No biggy. It's rarely the mic that's the problem.
Ogg is cool. The author used to post here on diyAudio. I started to use it back around the turn of the century when it was available for the Be operating system. Like a lot of people, I gave up on it because of lack of support in players. 🙁 Radio France streamed Ogg Vorbis for awhile. It's certainly better than MP3 at low bit rates, but like almost all lossy codecs, once you get to high bit rates they all sound the same. Just my 2 cents.
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