does the music format really matter??????

I do hear an improvement of Flac over Mp3. You need to try plugging your headphones to another source (better amp) Imo. 

There are some interesting threads here:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/457310/comparison-flac-vs-mp3-320kbps

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/448995/flac-vs-mp3

Just to mention some..do a search. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by blkmegaman 

whats up everyone. ive been into headphones for about five years now. i wouldn't consider myself an audiophile. i just apreciate good sound. 99% of my music is from napster to go. most head-fiers would cry out "blasphemy". ive heard lossless through my pmp (sony x series walkman) and through all of my portable headphones.(shure e500, shure se315, ue super-fi 5, grado sr60, koss portapro, sennheiser px100, meelectronics m6, and koss ksc75) ive also listened with my home headphones.(sennheiser hd 280 and ultrasone hfi 700) the only amp that i have is a headroom total bithead and ive used it with all the phones mentiones above. i also own a pair of sennheiser hd 650's but i haven't purchased a proper amp to power them yet. (i don't think the bithead does a proper job for the 650's) personally i think that standard mp3's sound just as good as lossless. i can't really hear a difference. most people on this website swear by lossless or flac. are my ears fooling me or what??????

I've never heard that one before...

But seriously, yes there's a difference, but it's either impossible or really hard to notice until you get to the better cans and get an amp/dac. I could hear no difference between 320 kbps CBR MP3 and FLAC with my unamped D2000, but any amped higher end headphone EASILY brings out the difference, to the point where I redownloaded/reripped/retagged my entire music library a while back, a very very long process that was ultimately worth it. The differences between 320kbps and FLAC for my music have been most noticeable in bass, midrange, and soundstage. With FLAC the bass is tighter, more punchy, and better defined, the midrange more prominent and clear, and the soundstage noticeably more coherent.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, just get the best you can get and call it a day.

Maybe my hearing is just crap though, since I had heaps of trouble telling the difference in an ABX using a LCD-2/b22 and my O2 rig.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadlylover 

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, just get the best you can get and call it a day.

 

Maybe my hearing is just crap though, since I had heaps of trouble telling the difference in an ABX using a LCD-2/b22 and my O2 rig.

Wow, even with an O2? I think I noticed it way back in the D2000/DT880/DT990 range once I got my first amp/dac. However, the type of music does have a lot to do with it too. It's far easier to notice the difference with fast-paced Metal than with Country or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alghazanth 

Wow, even with an O2? I think I noticed it way back in the D2000/DT880/DT990 range once I got my first amp/dac. However, the type of music does have a lot to do with it too. It's far easier to notice the difference with fast-paced Metal than with Country or something.

 

Yeah bloody hell it was difficult blind

You may be onto something with the music choice though, maybe the stuff I listen to (crappy recorded stuff) is light work for the psychoacoustic compression.

I really can't tell the difference between FLAC and 320k MP3 either and I don't really believe anyone can. For portable usage I rip to 192k since I'm not going to be analytically listening to the music to the point that I won't be able to tolerate 192k. 

I do draw the line at 128k though. 128k just sounds awful. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy 

I really can't tell the difference between FLAC and 320k MP3 either and I don't really believe anyone can. For portable usage I rip to 192k since I'm not going to be analytically listening to the music to the point that I won't be able to tolerate 192k. 

 

I do draw the line at 128k though. 128k just sounds awful. 

Agree - I can't tell the difference between 320 and flac.  When you DBT (foobar has a nice setting), I really doubt many can - despite their claims.  If you want a really interesting exercise - try this test:

Try to do at least 20 and see what your % is.  I spent quite a bit of time at it - and generally ended up around 65-70%.  It's an eye opener - especially as everything is already level matched, and is completely blind.  Worth trying anyway.  Post your results.

BTW - How's CHCH frasey?  Hope it's stopped rocking up there.  Was my old home town.  Was shocked at how much had changed when I got back for a visit last month :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brooko 

Agree - I can't tell the difference between 320 and flac.  When you DBT (foobar has a nice setting), I really doubt many can - despite their claims.  If you want a really interesting exercise - try this test:

 

Try to do at least 20 and see what your % is.  I spent quite a bit of time at it - and generally ended up around 65-70%.  It's an eye opener - especially as everything is already level matched, and is completely blind.  Worth trying anyway.  Post your results.

 

 

BTW - How's CHCH frasey?  Hope it's stopped rocking up there.  Was my old home town.  Was shocked at how much had changed when I got back for a visit last month :(

Not so bad. Still getting a decent 4.x every week or so but they seem to be subsiding somewhat. I haven't really been anywhere since the February quake so it will be pretty crazy to see what the city is like... Worst thing for me is the loss of Real Groovy :( 

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy 

Not so bad. Still getting a decent 4.x every week or so but they seem to be subsiding somewhat. I haven't really been anywhere since the February quake so it will be pretty crazy to see what the city is like... Worst thing for me is the loss of Real Groovy :( 

 

Hearing you.  Hard to find a decent place to just hang out and try music.  The good CD stores are slowly disappearing :(

If you're listening from an MP3 player straight to your earphones without an amp, then MP3 V0 (variable bitrate, the highest possible) will do nicely. However, if you're listening through your computer and an AMP + DAC or iPod and portable Amp, then there will be a noticeable difference with lossless files if the earphones are good enough. I usually hear a bit more clarity and punchier bass with lossless files over lossy files on my computer, however on my Zune HD (which isn't amped), I don't noticed the difference between a lossless file and MP3 320. Anything below 256KBPS isn't worth it and is noticeable even without an amp. 128KBPS for an MP3 file is just blasphemy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy 

I really can't tell the difference between FLAC and 320k MP3 either and I don't really believe anyone can. For portable usage I rip to 192k since I'm not going to be analytically listening to the music to the point that I won't be able to tolerate 192k. 

 

I do draw the line at 128k though. 128k just sounds awful. 

Just because you can't doesn't mean others can't. With your current equipment it would be very hard if not impossible for me to hear too, but I assure you there is most definitely an obvious difference once you have good enough equipment to expose it. Listen to some busy tracks with a properly amped HD800, T1, or the like and then tell me there's no difference.

To be honest I don't really like 320 kbps CBR MP3... I like having 192 kbps MP3 or lower for the sake of it's small size (convinient), and then another large collection in pure lossless flac etc.

Oh, btw the most revealing headphone I've used for Flac vs MP3 was the Stax SR-404 Signature, in that instance it was really quite noticable, but with forgiving IEM's I'm perfectly fine with 192 kbps MP3.

Why use CBR rates when you can get VBR rates that sound better than the low 192KBPS? V0 is identical to 320KBPS yet takes up a lot let space. Variable Bit Rates are most certainly more convenient than CBR.