[bigshot]

I don't think that any human can tell the difference between AAC and lossless in a line level matched blind test. I think the people who claim they can haven't done line levelling or are gaming the test.

 

[deadlylover]

Quote:

I don't think that any human can tell the difference between AAC and lossless in a line level matched blind test. I think the people who claim they can haven't done line levelling or are gaming the test.

 
How are you doing the line level matching?
 
My replaygain shows a 0.06db difference in one of my converted tracks, that's pretty tiny.

 

[bigshot]

I put a preamp in the line to balance the level.

 

[soundstige]

Between lossless and AAC *what*? I mean, you know it's a variable encoder right? Clearly not all amounts of information will produce the same result.
 
Quote:

I don't think that any human can tell the difference between AAC and lossless in a line level matched blind test. I think the people who claim they can haven't done line levelling or are gaming the test.

 

[bigshot]

AAC 256

 

[Pachikara]

the moment an Audiophile starts to compare the clarity between digital files,
they start to stop enjoying the MUSIC and start worrying..

 

[hogger129]

AAC 256

 
Even that is probably overkill for a lot of music.
 
 

  the moment an Audiophile starts to compare the clarity between digital files,
they start to stop enjoying the MUSIC and start worrying..

 
Exactly.  I keep lossless around for backups.  AAC, Vorbis, MP3 at higher bitrates are good enough and will save you lots of space on a portable.
 
 
EDIT:  A couple suggestions for the OP.  First off, start ripping with a program that employs AccurateRip such as dBpoweramp (Windows & Mac) or XLD if you're on a Mac.  Second, I would take a piece of music you know well, and see how low you can take the bitrate before you start to notice the effects of the compression.