[adamlau]

One minute clip of Boogie on Reggae Woman off the 2011 Audio Fidelity release of Fulfillingness' First Finale...
 

$ flac -d Boogie.on.Reggae.Woman.flac

flac 1.2.1, Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007 Josh Coalson
flac comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are
welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. Type `flac' for details.

Boogie.on.Reggae.Woman.flac: done

 

$ sox --version
sox: SoX v14.3.2

 

$ sox Boogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav fade 1 trim 0 1:00

 

 
$ lame --preset insane --noreplaygain xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav
LAME 3.99.4 64bits (http://lame.sf.net)
Using polyphase lowpass filter, transition band: 20094 Hz - 20627 Hz
Encoding xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav to xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.mp3
Encoding as 44.1 kHz j-stereo MPEG-1 Layer III (4.4x) 320 kbps qval=3
Frame | CPU time/estim | REAL time/estim | play/CPU | ETA
2298/2298 (100%)| 0:01/ 0:01| 0:01/ 0:01| 40.560x| 0:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
kbps LR MS % long switch short %
320.0 96.4 3.6 71.1 15.2 13.8
Writing LAME Tag...done

 

 
$ lame --decode xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.mp3 yBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav
input: xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.mp3
(44.1 kHz, 2 channels, MPEG-1 Layer III)
output: yBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav (16 bit, Microsoft WAVE)
skipping initial 1105 samples (encoder+decoder delay)
skipping final 191 samples (encoder padding-decoder delay)
Frame# 2298/2298 320 kbps L R

 

$ mv xBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav ?.wav

 

$ mv yBoogie.on.Reggae.Woman.wav ?.wav

 
 
 

 
 
 
Download A.wav (10.09 MB)

Download B.wav (10.09 MB)
 
 
UPDATE: Files fixed. Credit to xnor.
 

 

[deadlylover]

Groovy, I like that track.
 
Replay gain not necessary as it applies the same correction value.
 
Might be something dodgy going on with the files, I can't remember the last time I've heard a compression artifact like that from a 320kbps bitrate encode.
 

Spoiler: ABX

foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.8
2012/02/09 17:31:27

File A: C:\Users\Alice\Desktop\A.wav
File B: C:\Users\Alice\Desktop\B.wav

17:31:27 : Test started.
17:31:32 : 01/01  50.0%
17:31:38 : 02/02  25.0%
17:31:45 : 03/03  12.5%
17:31:50 : 04/04  6.3%
17:31:57 : 05/05  3.1%
17:32:07 : 06/06  1.6%
17:32:12 : 07/07  0.8%
17:32:18 : 08/08  0.4%
17:32:29 : 09/09  0.2%
17:32:35 : 10/10  0.1%
17:32:42 : 11/11  0.0%
17:32:49 : 12/12  0.0%
17:32:57 : Test finished.

 ----------
Total: 12/12 (0.0%)

 

 

[xnor]

I'd remove the poll and count the number of successful abx logs instead and if the logs show success include the posters opinion if A or B is the lossless file.

edit: ugh, my headphones are dying rattling driver..

 

[stv014]

Bad test, there is an easily audible click at the beginning of the MP3 compressed file.
 

 

[Brooko]

Got a bit lazy - and clicked wrong result on #19 

 
 
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.10
2012/02/09 23:47:52
 
File A: E:\A.wav
File B: E:\B.wav
 
23:47:52 : Test started.
23:49:29 : 01/01  50.0%
23:49:39 : 02/02  25.0%
23:49:47 : 03/03  12.5%
23:49:53 : 04/04  6.3%
23:50:00 : 05/05  3.1%
23:50:07 : 06/06  1.6%
23:50:17 : 07/07  0.8%
23:50:22 : 08/08  0.4%
23:50:25 : 09/09  0.2%
23:50:35 : 10/10  0.1%
23:50:47 : 11/11  0.0%
23:50:56 : 12/12  0.0%
23:51:13 : 13/13  0.0%
23:51:17 : 14/14  0.0%
23:51:25 : 15/15  0.0%
23:51:31 : 16/16  0.0%
23:51:38 : 17/17  0.0%
23:51:42 : 18/18  0.0%
23:51:47 : 18/19  0.0%
23:52:10 : 19/20  0.0%
23:52:15 : Test finished.
 
 ---------- 
Total: 19/20 (0.0%)
 
 
stv014 is right - audible artifact at the beginning.

 

[CC Lemon]

Almost immediately, I think I noticed a difference. And that's just on my computer speakers. Maybe I'm wrong and might change my mind once I try it with headphones. I probably should have waited to test with headphones, just in case.

 

[xnor]

stv014 is right - audible artifact at the beginning.

Indeed. So I guess we can close this test.

Here's an overlay of the wave form of the mp3 (red) and wav (blue):

Almost immediately, I think I noticed a difference.

This is a joke, right?

 

[adamlau]

Sooo...Is A, or B the lossless file

 ?

 

[CC Lemon]

Quote:

This is a joke, right?

Like I said, this is just through my computer speakers at a low to medium volume. I've tried to hear the click from the mp3 but I can't hear it. They aren't terrible speakers, but they aren't amazing either. I doubt it's something I would notice on this set up, honestly. I was being lazy and didn't feel like getting my headphones out to test, so I figured I'd just give it a listen with the speakers and one seemed better. 

 

[xnor]

adamlau fixed the files, so please try again now. The click artifact should be gone. Post abx logs if possible.

edit: Turns out the mp3 files were fine but lame --decode seems to be buggy. Decoding the file with fb2k doesn't add this artifact in the beginning. More info over at HA (mp3 general forum).

 

[zhenya]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks for the new files!  Obviously much harder.  Not sure what to make of my own results.  Thankfully this track was much easier on the ears to listen to.
 

 
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.10
2012/02/09 11:59:29

File A: D:\Downloads\320k vs lossless A.wav
File B: D:\Downloads\320k vs lossless B.wav

11:59:29 : Test started.
12:01:56 : 01/01  50.0%
12:02:33 : 01/02  75.0%
12:03:27 : 02/03  50.0%
12:03:45 : 02/04  68.8%
12:04:19 : 03/05  50.0%
12:04:41 : 04/06  34.4%
12:05:07 : 05/07  22.7%
12:05:27 : 05/08  36.3%
12:06:05 : 05/09  50.0%
12:06:41 : 06/10  37.7%
12:07:30 : 07/11  27.4%
12:08:30 : 07/12  38.7%
12:09:26 : 07/13  50.0%
12:10:10 : 07/14  60.5%
12:11:58 : 07/15  69.6%
12:14:34 : 07/16  77.3%
12:15:34 : 08/17  68.5%
12:15:55 : 09/18  59.3%
12:16:26 : 09/19  67.6%
12:17:28 : 10/20  58.8%
12:18:39 : 10/21  66.8%
12:19:45 : 11/22  58.4%
12:20:52 : 12/23  50.0%
12:22:11 : 12/24  58.1%
12:23:18 : 13/25  50.0%
12:23:51 : 14/26  42.3%
12:24:26 : 14/27  50.0%
12:26:06 : 15/28  42.5%
12:27:09 : 16/29  35.6%
12:28:23 : 17/30  29.2%
12:29:29 : 18/31  23.7%
12:30:44 : 19/32  18.9%
12:31:23 : 20/33  14.8%
12:32:25 : 20/34  19.6%
12:34:35 : 21/35  15.5%
12:35:18 : Test finished.

 ----------
Total: 21/35 (15.5%)

 

[Devarika Woulf]

Listened with both the EQ on and off. Again, A is Lossy and B is Lossless for the same reasons. The bass and kickdrum is heavier on B at the beginning.
 
After that, I admit they are very similar and can't really tell them apart. As I've seen with some personal comparison, I think compression hurts the bass.
 
PS: Listened again and while I think the bass is heavier on B, the left-ear cymbals seem louder on A. 

 
They are very similar and both enjoyable to listen to.

 

[zhenya]

Quote:

Listened with both the EQ on and off. Again, A is Lossy and B is Lossless for the same reasons. The bass and kickdrum is heavier on B at the beginning.
 
After that, I admit they are very similar and can't really tell them apart. As I've seen with some personal comparison, I think compression hurts the bass.
 
PS: Listened again and while I think the bass is heavier on B, the left-ear cymbals seem louder on A. 

 
They are very similar and both enjoyable to listen to.

ABX logs?
 

 

[Devarika Woulf]

No, Winamp. I should try that ABX thingamajig. 

 

[kn19h7]

...argh, bad exercise before sleep ==
 

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.11
2012/02/10 04:56:52

File A: D:\A.wav
File B: D:\B.wav

04:56:52 : Test started.
04:57:06 : 00/01  100.0%
04:57:17 : 01/02  75.0%
04:57:28 : 01/03  87.5%
04:57:44 : 02/04  68.8%
04:57:54 : 03/05  50.0%
04:58:05 : 04/06  34.4%
04:58:17 : 04/07  50.0%
04:58:29 : 04/08  63.7%
04:58:41 : 04/09  74.6%
04:58:54 : 04/10  82.8%
04:59:06 : 04/11  88.7%
04:59:11 : Trial reset.
04:59:21 : 00/01  100.0%
04:59:30 : 01/02  75.0%
04:59:37 : 02/03  50.0%
04:59:43 : 03/04  31.3%
04:59:50 : 04/05  18.8%
05:00:13 : 04/06  34.4%
05:00:19 : 04/07  50.0%
05:00:31 : 05/08  36.3%
05:00:48 : 05/09  50.0%
05:01:00 : Trial reset.
05:01:07 : 01/01  50.0%
05:01:13 : 02/02  25.0%
05:01:19 : 03/03  12.5%
05:01:26 : 04/04  6.3%
05:01:42 : 05/05  3.1%
05:02:08 : 06/06  1.6%
05:02:27 : 07/07  0.8%
05:02:50 : 08/08  0.4%
05:03:14 : 09/09  0.2%
05:04:05 : 10/10  0.1%
05:04:16 : Test finished.

 ----------
Total: 19/30 (10.0%)