[Deathdeisel]

Hello all, i know there has probably been a few of these around, but im not sure where it belongs, and mine is rather specific. 
 
95% of my music listening is done through Pandora on my computer, i am a Pandora One subscriber so i get 192k/bit or whatever. My question is, Am i really missing out a lot on music with the differences between FLAC or lossless and 192? Ive never heard a flac quality recording, so i dont know if id even be able to tell. 
 
Any suggestions or easy and cheap ways to find flac quality? I know there is paying at certain websites, but for a starter to build up any sort of a quality library where should i go? All of my songs that i have, are from (not sure what quality, still not sure how to set what quality when buying them)itunes or CDs that are usually ancient. I just now set my ripping quality on itunes to lossless, but all of my stuff is already on there so its kind of pointless lol. 
 
Anyways, any and all help much appreciated. DD

 

[Willakan]

The only way to know whether you can hear a difference and how large that difference is to you, in your specific listening environment, is to do a blind test. There are people on this forum who cannot distinguish 128kbps MP3s from lossless and there are people who can distinguish 320kbps MP3s from lossless. As I said, a lot depends on where and how you listen: if your computer has a noisy fan you may find distinguishing between lossless and compressed music much more difficult.
 
As for where to get lossless music, you can give HDTracks a shot for starters. There are many others, but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

 

[PanamaRed]

http://mp3ornot.com/
 
Try this to see if you can hear any difference

 

[Deathdeisel]

Haha! Im able to so far get it right 3 out of 3 times in a row. Im quite surprised at how little of a difference it makes really. It seems to just constrict the spectrum only a small amount, 320k sounds fuller, but thats about it. 

 

[rmsanger]

Thx for this!  4 for 4 with correct answers..

 
Quote:

http://mp3ornot.com/
 
Try this to see if you can hear any difference

 

 

[Deathdeisel]

I also have another question, its not worth starting its own thread though. 
 
Im really wanting a equalizer to change the frequency volumes a bit, but id really like it to apply to all sound played on my computer. Again considering most of my music is done through pandora and not a itunes or foobar player. Is there any such device? 

 

[anetode]

http://www.anwida.com/product.asp?pid=6

 

[Deathdeisel]

Cant get that EQ seem to work for some reason, setup just doesnt work. 

 

[Mdraluck23]

 
They need more samples... Great website. It depends on your equipment. With a HE-6 and a great amp and DAC, yes you will notice a difference from 192 to FLAC. Unless you have awful hearing. With some PX100's or something, then maybe not.

 

[ChipnDalebowl]

Sennheiser PX100 first gens. The only one I could regularly identify is the one with the drums and guitar. That electronic track I failed every time....not my type of music. The difference is so minor its not work making a fuss about in most cases because music is often in the background for me. I don't do critical listening like many of you here.

192kbps depending on how hard you're listening and what you're listening with, won't be a remarkable difference.

 

[Mdraluck23]

Irony. I feel like anyone on better equipment can pick 128 apart. I couldn't on my KSC75's. It wasn't very difficult on DT990's though. I don't have a golden ear or anything. Just listened for a few seconds. It sounded a lot less 'dynamic'.

 

[bigshot]

It depends on the music. Some sounds compress better than others. In general, I find that music either artifacts or it doesn't. The distortion caused by over compression isn't subtle or difficult to hear. But if music is phasey or has lots of electronic filters, it can hide artifacting. The most difficult sound to compress that I've found is a particular type of orchestral massed strings.

 

[054k4]

Tested my ears a few days ago with the stock iPod earbuds (it was on hand). I got 3/3, I didn't know my ears were that good given the fact that I was using the iPod stock .

 

[ChipnDalebowl]

For those who are testing their ears, more than 3 or 4 tests are necessary to give a large enough sample. That would tell you whether you not you can consistently do it over and over again. You may find yourself surprised.