[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OICWUTUDIDTHAR /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yah but this takes a lot of time, also a waste of hardrive space especially when you have 5000+songs and your getting new ones everyday

Space is cheap now. 1 TB external USB hard drives are $80. Get two 1 TB drives (one to keep a backup of your music) and you'll have all the space you need for even 20000+ lossless files.

The more difficult part is managing two libraries of files, one lossless for home listening and one lossy for portable use. Most current media player software don't address that scenario or make it easy to do.

I use J River Media Center and it is able to manage a library that is FLAC for home listening and MP3 for syncing the portable player. It can be configured to transcode from FLAC to MP3 on the fly when syncing my iPod. So I get to manage one library of primarily FLAC files and the media player generates MP3 files as needed when syncing to a portable.

 

[anetode]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just did that, and I can tell right from the first hit of the guitar.

Or you've convinced yourself that you can. I can hear the difference in a few cases, cases where the result can be replicated and heard by others. Even in these cases, I don't have the gall to claim that I can hear the difference in any one random note played in the song. While there are dozens of variables to account for which might explain or validate your experience, my money's on the improper execution of the ABX test.

 

[paara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just did that, and I can tell right from the first hit of the guitar.

Impressive, doubt if I could do the same.

Doesn't stop me from wanting to upgrade my equipment though

 

[angle_sh00ter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just did that, and I can tell right from the first hit of the guitar.

Perhaps you should change your name from hybrys to hubris.

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by anetode /img/forum/go_quote.gif Or you've convinced yourself that you can. I can hear the difference in a few cases, cases where the result can be replicated and heard by others. Even in these cases, I don't have the gall to claim that I can hear the difference in any one random note played in the song. While there are dozens of variables to account for which might explain or validate your experience, my money's on the improper execution of the ABX test.

Personally, I believe the only reason I CAN hear the difference in the opening of the track so quickly, is because it's an acoustic track with a very solid guitar hit at the open, then a big draw of breath, and singing. If it was a more processed song, I doubt I could tell as easily.

Anberlin - Dismantle. Repair. (Acoustic) from the album Lost Songs.

 

[AtomikPi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just did that, and I can tell right from the first hit of the guitar.

For the sake of those of us who tend to find mp3 at high bitrates transparent, could you please post an abx between a FLAC and 320 or v0 mp3 made from that FLAC file. 15 tests would be preferred, and you can take listening breaks to prevent fatigue.

 

[nick_charles]

Foobar has a splendid ABX (DBT) plug-in which renders all speculation about "can I hear the difference" redundant, you just set it up with the two files and run 20 or so trials and you can see if you can tell the diff or not.

Sighted assertions of "I can tell the difference between A and B" are weak and frankly worthless when you can determine the answer easily and reliably with a little effort.

Though as Julius Caesar (possibly) said "It's only hubris if I fail"

 

[anetode]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally, I believe the only reason I CAN hear the difference in the opening of the track so quickly, is because it's an acoustic track with a very solid guitar hit at the open, then a big draw of breath, and singing. If it was a more processed song, I doubt I could tell as easily. Anberlin - Dismantle. Repair. (Acoustic) from the album Lost Songs.

Sure, I admitted that there could be a very good reason for your observation. Just want to make sure that this was a blind ABX trial rather than a sighted back & forth. The results could have been biased if you could tell the two versions apart in ways other only listening to them at random.

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomikPi /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the sake of those of us who tend to find mp3 at high bitrates transparent, could you please post an abx between a FLAC and 320 or v0 mp3 made from that FLAC file. 15 tests would be preferred, and you can take listening breaks to prevent fatigue.

Going with V0.

So far 4/4 using ABX Comparator on Foobar. Going to take it to 15 later, have to go shopping now.

Personally, there isn't much difference. But I can tell when he strums some high notes in the chorus.

EAC ripped FLAC file from bought Anberlin - Lost Songs. LAME vbr-new -V0.

 

[Necrolic]

Don't fall for the "FLAC is so much better than any MP3 format" bullsh*t, I know somebody who can tell what type of battery is being used in audio equipment, and he can't tell the difference between 320kbps and FLAC.

 

[MrGreen]

Solution is to not post here and read hydrogenaudio

 

[Scrith]

In my experience most casual computer audiophiles cannot tell the difference between a decent MP3 and the FLAC it came from. So what? Most of these guys are using $20 computer speakers from Best Buy and whatever audio support is on their motherboard (which is probably converting the audio to 48K during playback, and doing a very bad job of it).

Why settle for something less, unless you are using a 10-year old hard drive and are out of room, when you never know what the future holds for you, sound equipment wise?

 

[Ra97oR]

I am not gonna argue with "I can hear it or not" but just saying why settle for less and Lossless won't lose anything transcoding to something else, where lossy will.

 

[Armaegis]

I personally don't hear much of a difference between 192 and 320. Lossless I can hear, but only during certain passages that have a "complex" mix of sound because the lossy stuff starts chopping stuff out.

 

[gbacic]

Yeah, lossless is just safer: no mucking about trying to find the best codec to use.
I can tell between some but sometimes the recording is so awful you can't tell.
The only one I really cannot tell the difference between is lossless and the new AAC 256kbps released by apple on their store.