If you
seriously can hear the difference between a FLAC file and a LAME 3.98 encoded mp3 at the Insane setting (320 Kbps) you need to get a job as a Mastering Engineer. I really can't believe most if not all the people that go around saying yes they can hear the difference between those two particular encodings (FLAC at any compression level is still the exact same sound vs LAME 3.98 Insane), I just don't believe it.
I think, and this has been proven in my own experience too many times, that people train themselves to say "Yes, I can hear a difference" because the sheer number of people that make the claims is a bit unbelievable in itself.
I've always been of the mind that if you want CD quality on the go, get a PCDP and some nice headphones (Koss KSC-75 ftw on the go!) and have at it.
But, I'm simply astonished by the sudden wave of "GOTTA GO FLAC" that's permeating the community these days. A lot of us - myself included - have been using FLAC and other loss
less formats for nearly a decade now, the rest of the world is just catching up with us it seems, and it's the hip new cool thing.
I don't get it personally, and while I know my ears aren't nearly as good as a recording or mastering engineer's ears, I do know that for on the go listening LAME 3.98 Insane - or even Ogg -q6 - sounds absolutely
fan-freakin-tastic to these ears of mine through my modded KSC-75s.
I think most people just keep telling themselves they can hear a difference and their unconscious minds are simply making it happen, but that's just me I suppose. Of course, I've been participating in these types of debates since HydrogenAudio first went online in it's old format and still do...
The 4GB Fuze can be found for about $80 these days, and offers microSD support so, with 16GB microSDHC cards on the market relatively cheap, you can always add more capacity at any time. And if you're planning on lugging FLACs around, you're gonna need it.
