AAC 320kbps vs. Lossless?
Jul 27, 2009 at 5:55 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 45
Mediahound

Mediahound

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I'm wondering if anyone has heard a difference between AAC 320kbps and Lossless files? Because I cannot hear a difference and am thinking about ripping my CDs as AAC 320kbps (still keeping the CDs for backup) because the files are 1/3 of the size as lossless.

Also, is AAC 320kbps better or AAC 256kbps VBR better? In iTunes, there is not a 320kbps VBR option.
 
Jul 27, 2009 at 5:59 PM Post #2 of 45
I have convinced myself that I cannot quite tell the difference between AAC320kbs and lossless so I just convert all my music from FLAC to 400kbs AAC using foobar2000 and the NeroAAC encoder.
 
Jul 27, 2009 at 8:29 PM Post #5 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by goldec /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't belive I hear a difference but I also don't see any reason not to rip as FLAC since hard drive space is dirt cheap.



True but I can fit literally 3 times as many CDs on my iPhone using AAC than lossless.
 
Jul 27, 2009 at 9:58 PM Post #6 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
True but I can fit literally 3 times as many CDs on my iPhone using AAC than lossless.


Oh, the iphone can play lossless? However, it doesnt worth, cause you cannot tell the difference even with the best earbuds money can buy..


Archive files as lossless, and tranfer to portal by converting to lossy, Mediamonkey is pretty good in doing that even with iphone..
 
Jul 28, 2009 at 4:20 AM Post #7 of 45
Jul 28, 2009 at 4:33 AM Post #8 of 45
You should try to use the search function for this topic. There is a hundred threads on this topicthat can answer just about anything you want concerning this topic. ][/url]
 
Jul 28, 2009 at 6:56 AM Post #10 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Oh, the iphone can play lossless? However, it doesnt worth, cause you cannot tell the difference even with the best earbuds money can buy..

Archive files as lossless, and tranfer to portal by converting to lossy, Mediamonkey is pretty good in doing that even with iphone..


Yeah, iPods can play back Apple's Lossless codec. As for not being able to tell the difference, I think the people in this thread would have something to say about "earbuds" not being good enough to tell the difference.
wink_face.gif


Quote:

Originally Posted by KingStyles /img/forum/go_quote.gif
You should try to use the search function for this topic. There is a hundred threads on this topicthat can answer just about anything you want concerning this topic. ][/url]


True. Unfortunately, there really is no yes/no answer, as some people say they can tell and others say they can't, and often the debate detours into topics such as psychoacoustics, and are lossless codecs really lossless.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdfx /img/forum/go_quote.gif
might as well do aac 256 vbr bud, since you can't tell a difference theres no justice in doing it 320cbr.


Well, I don't necessarily agree with this.

Bottom line is that you should listen and determine for yourself (both between lossy and lossless and bitrate of lossy). I would echo the suggestion of ripping in lossless at least. You also might think about keeping your favorite music in lossless and others in lossy on the portable. Sometimes its nice to have that psychological reassurance.

Personally, I used to think I couldn't tell the difference, but I've noticed that with some music I seem to be able to (the lossy just sounds a little bit flat and not quite as cohesive). I haven't double blind tested, so I can't chalk it up purely to the codecs, but it was something I noticed.
 
Jul 28, 2009 at 2:36 PM Post #12 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
This is fun:

Do 320kbps mp3 files really sound better? Take the test! | NoiseAddicts music and audio blog

Although it's for mp3 and not AAC, I absolutely got it right and could tell which music clip was the 320kbps one. And this wasn't even using headphones, just a good speaker setup connected to my computer.

Can you tell a difference?

I can see how a lot of people may not be able to tell a difference though I certainly can.


the difference between the clips was neither huge nor subtle, still audible in percussions. I got it right but it wasn't really difficult, however I have to say that between some 300/400kbps lossy and flac it's very difficult to discern.
Also, on portable players, it's pointless to use lossless due to the quality of the outputs.

Marco
 
Jul 28, 2009 at 2:57 PM Post #13 of 45
neouser; consider that most lossless codecs reduce files to a level near to 500kbps said:
This I'm really curious about. Most of my FLAC rips come out to at least 900+.

Lastly, it depends largely on a given track. Was it brickwalled in the studio? How well did you rip it? Was it verified? How good are your ears? There are a myriad of variables at hand beyond what's had here.

I got it right, but I really dislike just that one example that goes up on that site.
Click to expand...
 
Jul 28, 2009 at 3:02 PM Post #14 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by crossmd /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Rip the parent files into Lossless, keep those for backup..and just convert down for iPhone.


But then I'd have to store the iPhone/iPod converted files in addition to the lossless, taking up even more space on my hard drive.
 
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