So does this bitrate/format stuff matter. If it does, then can you tell ?

Which are the direct WAV file

  • I think A is the WAV

    Votes: 11 52.4%

  • I think B is the WAV

    Votes: 7 33.3%

  • I think X is the WAV

    Votes: 5 23.8%

  • I think Y is the WAV

    Votes: 14 66.7%

  • In all honesty, I can't really decide.

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .
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Mooly

Mooly

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Joined 2007
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#1
Talk of bit rates, MP3 vs WAV come up a lot on these forums. Quick and dirty listen... can you tell which of these files is which ?

A and B are one piece of music. X and Y another. One file in each group is a direct WAV. The other is an MP3. One of the MP3's is at 256kbs and the other at 192kbs.

Now the easy bit 😱 Which is which ?

A
B

X
Y
 
#2
I have not listened.

I'd first need a playback method that does not impart its own c**p and masking effects. Don't have any way to do that.

But, the recording that is selected would need to be such that it *can* reveal these differences. That's a non-trivial task.

Some years back a "world famous ABX advocate" sent me a disc with files to compare. The program material was beyond worthless for the alleged purpose. So, in effect the "test" showed that you could not hear any differences. Which was the idea!

Just saying...

_-_-
 
#4
bear said:
I have not listened.

I'd first need a playback method that does not impart its own c**p and masking effects. Don't have any way to do that.

But, the recording that is selected would need to be such that it *can* reveal these differences. That's a non-trivial task.

Some years back a "world famous ABX advocate" sent me a disc with files to compare. The program material was beyond worthless for the alleged purpose. So, in effect the "test" showed that you could not hear any differences. Which was the idea!

Just saying...

_-_-
Click to expand...

Ditto
 
#6
^ What astouffer said. :up:

Endless talk about SQ on this forum but when the rubber hits the road - out come the excuses.The most frequent being on a theme of "I don't have anything decent to listen to this on."

Where are we guys? Build something!! 😀
 
#10
Still at work so just my aune ebay DAC and ety 4P in ears and with that setup I cannot tell. I do want to listen at home as there are some interesting sounds on both that I want to understand what they are.

Where do I order my official 'cloth ears' badge from?
 
#12
I got mixed up while trying to play them which didn't help but no huge differences as expected. If i could instantly switch between them it might be a bit more obvious....

I thought X could be the WAV but thats relying purely on my bad memory :drink:
 
#13
Differences seemed pretty significant to me. Even with my budget back-up DAC and low budget speakers in the system at the moment.

Listening to the MP3s i wondered at the quality of recordings Karl chose, switching to the full rez files it became obvious that the source recordings were OK.

dave
 
#14
Had another go, I moved the files from the laptop to my music server which has Windows mixer bypassed and runs Foobar. tried again, I'm no classical fan but A sounded the worst. Still not that much difference between the rest but then i got that look from herself. I cut it short.....

Interesting test, i tried doing this before using a fairly recent live recording by Dead Can Dance - not exactly cheerful but dynamic and well recorded, it was quite easy to tell which was the MP3.
 
#15
Karl, this will be interesting for me - I'm only using the inbuilt speakers of this backup laptop, which has really crappy sound - the bass in particular is stuffed, sounds like a pile of pebbles bouncing around every time a low note comes along; and hopeless volume levels ... anyway, it appears to be showing me differences, so I voted - I'm curious whether the right auditory clues still came through or not ...
 
#17
I have some MP3 stuff and the rest is FLAC, i can usually tell the difference, things like cymbal strikes often seem poor in MP3 but how much is down to the higher bit rate & file size of my FLAC files I'm not certain.

I do think it helps when I'm familiar with the music and enjoy listening to it though.
 
#19
haha, yeah wouldn't have been my first choice of recordings, but interesting none the less - been a while since we've done something like this. And of course love all the excuses!

I thought the difference, if any, was a little more clear on x y than a b, but with my current set up it was very hard to find anything:

listened with dragonfly DAC => Denon PMA 250 MKII => Home made 2-way monitors that were ******* the S**T out of me yesterday

and dragonfly DAC => SONY MDR 1A headphones (would never have been my first choice but they came free with a mobile phone so who can argue!)

Will be interesting to see the results 😉
 
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