[arnyk]

  I agree with you ..

 
I downloaded the files someone here captured from the web site. Yes, two "before" files are clipped, but I don't know how they compare to the original CDs. The ones I knew to be unclipped on the original CDs were unclipped as downloaded.
 
Killers had a few 100 clipped samples, and Daftpunk had like less than a dozen.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I jut discovered this test. I got 3 of the 6 right as correctly ID-ing .wav files. I used digital output from my iPad, followed by a Schiit Gungir Multibit DAC, followed by a HiFiMAN EF-6 amp, feeding the HifiMAN HE1000 (v1) headphone.

I REFUSE to blame my almost-random results on poor source material, clipping, or anything other than my own inability to distinguish 128 kbps from 320 kbps from wav.

 

[Zapp_Fan]

So, I think the takeaway from these sorts of tests is not that sound quality is hard to hear, it's that encoding has a very small effect on sound quality. E.g. an MP3 introduces basically zero THD, a decent DAC introduces around 0.01%, and the headphone itself (if it's good) introduces somewhere between 0.1 and 2.0%. Spend resources to correct big problems before small!

 

[Toom]

You can't hear sound quality, only sound.

 

[skwoodwiva]

Perry, Vega & Mozart

The were easier than the others better recordedrecorded, I am sure.
Bomb of a fair assessment!

 

[ev13wt]

Did we figure out Tidal is screwing around? (edit: read first ev13, post later...)

Not doing that "test" again.

 

[Andrew LB]

I got 4 of the 6 correct as being the uncompressed wav file, and i picked the 320kbps versions on the Jay Z and Coldplay tracks. Picking the coldplay track wrong surprised me since i know their music very well, once working for a their North American label back in the early 2000's. Hmm.... i guess i had heard enough of his singing *cough* whining *cough* as i could take back then. lol. Maybe i got lucky, or that i only listened to the first few seconds before clicking the next song quality, back and forth a few times to figure out which is best. As they say, audio memory is only a few seconds.

woah... time to update my sig. way out of date.