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Jus' checkin'

post #1 of 9
11/4/10 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 

Ok, before I dive head long and wallet first into this hobby ...

 

I just got the new Clapton CD (havn't even listened to the whole thing yet.)  I ripped it twice - once at my usual 320kpbs CBR MP3, and again with Apple Lossless.  I then tried to A/B/A several songs.  I'm not sure I can hear a difference (I can absolutely hear the difference between 128 and 320 - I just recently unchecked the box to downgrade to 128 when copying to the iPhone from iTunes - the White Album was amazing on my walk this morning!)  I think I can hear a difference from A to B, but then back to A, ehh, not so much, so I may be imagining that one is better because it's supposed to be better.

 

Audio Chain:  Macbook (iTunes) via optical to Yamaha RX-V565, then to Usher V604 floor standers (on spikes.)

 

Do I just no longer (or never had) golden ears, or are those two audio formats 5.9995 of one, half dozen of the other anyway?  I used to run sound at church, so I thought I did have decent enough ears. If I can't hear the difference anyway, then I'm not gonna waste any more money, I'll just re-rip everything I own and be done with it.

 

I'll try again with headphones, but the best cans I have are a pair of SRH240s.

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post #2 of 9
11/4/10 at 9:55pm

you need a better source to appreciate lossless sound files. For example the gamma 2 dac. then you need an amp. then you need better headphones. I guarantee you will hear the difference then. until then it's pretty trivial IMO

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post #3 of 9
11/4/10 at 10:04pm

Yeah, try it again with a dedicated DAC and better headphones. I'm not sure if your SRH240s will be able to convey the subtle differences. And also keep in mind that the difference will be very subtle. 320kbs vs lossless will not be night and day.

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post #4 of 9
11/4/10 at 10:31pm

If you're hearing a difference between 320kbps and lossless, you're using the wrong programs to encode the rip or placebo effect has kicked in. We had a lovely thread some time ago show in depth mapping of frequencies from files encoded from several different players and showing the difference between the encoding from year to year as the players were updated and eventually WMP and iTunes were making 320kpbs that were 99% of the original CD WAV... As I recall, there was one program and format (possibly WMA) that made a 99% copy at 250kpbs.

 

Now, if you're not hearing a difference between 128kpbs and 320/lossless, something is probably wrong.

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post #5 of 9
11/4/10 at 10:42pm

^Care to share a link, good sir?

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post #6 of 9
11/5/10 at 4:11am

Nobody can tell the difference between lossless and 320k. Those who say they can are lying.

 

Don't worry about it. 

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post #7 of 9
11/5/10 at 5:07am

Withdrawn


Edited by moriez - 11/5/10 at 5:46am
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post #8 of 9
11/5/10 at 5:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingtz View Post

Yeah, try it again with a dedicated DAC and better headphones. I'm not sure if your SRH240s will be able to convey the subtle differences. And also keep in mind that the difference will be very subtle. 320kbs vs lossless will not be night and day.

That's been my experience. With a RWA iMod, Alo lineout cable, Goldpoint headphone amp, and Sennheiser HD 580/w custom cables, it's very difficult to tell 320K from lossless flac. I'm not sure I can reliably tell them apart. My iMod right now has all lossless files, but I'm not sure if the decreased battery life and increased storage requirements is really worth it. I'll probably wind up keeping the lossless files on my hard drive and converting to 320K for portable use.
 

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post #9 of 9
11/5/10 at 7:04am
Thread Starter 

So my biggest barrier is the very minimal difference between 320kbps (ripped with latest version of itunes) and lossless, and the second is probably the DAC in my receiver?  Someone mentioned the SRH240s, but I wasn't using those last nite, I was using my Usher V604 floorstanders.

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