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Bitrate and Customs

post #1 of 8
1/29/12 at 5:18pm
Thread Starter 

I never could tell the difference between 256kbps and lossless with prior IEMs that I have owned, such as the Sennheiser IE7s. Now I have the Shure SE535s and I still cannot tell the difference between 256kbps and 320kpbs bitrates with my Shure SE535s. Will I be able to tell a difference with customs? I am concerned that I will but given my history I do not know. My entire library is nearly all AAC 256kpbs and I am stressing out because I am worried that it will all go to waste when I go to customs.

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post #2 of 8
1/29/12 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjb3 View Post

I never could tell the difference between 256kbps and lossless with prior IEMs that I have owned, such as the Sennheiser IE7s. Now I have the Shure SE535s and I still cannot tell the difference between 256kbps and 320kpbs bitrates with my Shure SE535s. Will I be able to tell a difference with customs? I am concerned that I will but given my history I do not know. My entire library is nearly all AAC 256kpbs and I am stressing out because I am worried that it will all go to waste when I go to customs.



There are lots of factors that can contribute to this:

  • The differences between AAC 256 and MP3 320 may not be audible.
  • Your device may not be able to reproduce the differences
  • Your ears may not be able to hear the differences due to the brains auto-correcting mechanism
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post #3 of 8
1/29/12 at 10:03pm

I've never found a huge audible difference between the two. The improvements I have noticed have only been minor.

 

That being said, I think you're going about this the wrong way.

Bitrate is only part of the equation for audio quality. Depending on the Custom IEM's you switch to, you're going to notice a jump in audio quality regardless of 256kbps vs 320kbps

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post #4 of 8
1/29/12 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjb3 View Post

I never could tell the difference between 256kbps and lossless with prior IEMs that I have owned, such as the Sennheiser IE7s. Now I have the Shure SE535s and I still cannot tell the difference between 256kbps and 320kpbs bitrates with my Shure SE535s. Will I be able to tell a difference with customs? I am concerned that I will but given my history I do not know. My entire library is nearly all AAC 256kpbs and I am stressing out because I am worried that it will all go to waste when I go to customs.



Don't stress out.

 

See? Problem solved!

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post #5 of 8
1/31/12 at 7:33pm
Thread Starter 

I've studied some tracks and notice or have convinced myself that I noticed a difference in the attack and decay in percussive sounds as between 256 and lossless   

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post #6 of 8
1/31/12 at 8:06pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjb3 View Post

I've studied some tracks and notice or have convinced myself that I noticed a difference in the attack and decay in percussive sounds as between 256 and lossless   


That's because AAC uses odd psychoacoustics to encode its music. It's a very different model from MP3. I personally feel MP3 does a better job of rendering sound than AAC, even at high bitrates.

 

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about noticing differences with customs. So what? That just means you don't use lossless files. Compression artifacts, to me, are far less annoying than poorly mixed/mastered tracks.

 

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post #7 of 8
1/31/12 at 9:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomscy2000 View Post

Quote:


That's because AAC uses odd psychoacoustics to encode its music. It's a very different model from MP3. I personally feel MP3 does a better job of rendering sound than AAC, even at high bitrates.

 

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about noticing differences with customs. So what? That just means you don't use lossless files. Compression artifacts, to me, are far less annoying than poorly mixed/mastered tracks.

 



I don't agree and slightly prefer aac to lame and notice a dif between 320 and lossless in any format when using the right kit and files. Perhaps in VBR but in CBR which I prefer overall, I like AAC as the best compressed format at high bit rates. I especially like the Nero AAC encoder at 400 cbr. Very close to lossless for most usage.

 

To jjb3, try 320 CBR instead of vbr if that's what you're using and see what you think.


Edited by goodvibes - 1/31/12 at 9:02pm
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post #8 of 8
1/31/12 at 9:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodvibes View Post

I don't agree and slightly prefer aac to lame and notice a dif between 320 and lossless in any format when using the right kit and files. Perhaps in VBR but in CBR which I prefer overall, I like AAC as the best compressed format at high bit rates. I especially like the Nero AAC encoder at 400 cbr. Very close to lossless for most usage.


It's to each their own I guess. I find that AAC renders cymbals and chimes very thinly and artificially, at any bitrate.

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