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Rhamnetin
172
Aug 21, 2018
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Ever since I acquired my Stax system (Chord Hugo 2, Mjolnir Audio KGSSHV Carbon, Stax SR-009), slight changes in the audio chain now makes huge differences (but we're talking hardware here). Now for this test:
1) Neil Young - There's A World: All three files are presented in low quality. I cannot reliably discern a difference. Picked at random and ended up with 128kbps.
2) Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner: The 128kbps one sounded slightly more compressed to me, the other two sounded identical. Ended up choosing the 320kbps.
3) Jay Z - Tom Ford: Ouch my head. My headphones were shaking like crazy, good bass test lol. All 3 sound the same, picked at random and got the 128kbps.
4) Coldplay - Speed of Sound: All 3 sound the same, chose randomly and got the uncompressed WAV.
5) Katy Perry - Dark Horse: I think it was probably placebo + I'm tired, but maybe not. The uncompressed WAV sounded a tiny bit clearer than the 320kbps, which sounded a tiny bit clearer than the 128kbps, so I chose the WAV.
6) Mozart: No disrespect just don't feel like typing all that out. For some reason when I first hit play, Katy Perry was back by the way. Weird. Anyway this is a surprisingly low quality classical recording. The 128kbps sounded lower fidelity to me, obscuring some transparency. There is some sound of someone moving something at the end of the track that is more audible in the uncompressed WAV (and inaudible to me in the 128kbps) so I got this one right.
I am not surprised by the results. Some of the most impressive recordings I've ever heard are 320kbps MP3. I don't pay too much mind to the file type, I just go with what is the best for what I listen to. Also DSD is such snake oil and a huge waste of space.
Aug 21, 2018
rdodev
632
Aug 21, 2018
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Rhamnetin" I am not surprised by the results. Some of the most impressive recordings I've ever heard are 320kbps MP3. I don't pay too much mind to the file type, I just go with what is the best for what I listen to. Also DSD is such snake oil and a huge waste of space. "
This is why I love this test. It shows mixing and mastering of a song matter so much more than the file format they're captured in. I would bet if they were to throw Apple AAC 256VBR in there results would be even more dramatic. I fully agree on DSD and anyone who says they can hear the difference between DSD and FLAC or other more efficient file formats are either 1) lying to themselves or 2) heavily under the effect of expectation bias syndrome.
Aug 21, 2018
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