[SO74]

Hello
 
I am wondering if there is a noticeable difference between Lossless and 320 kb mp3s or 256 kb aacs with some of the lower end yet still audiophile headphones such Focal, Akg and Mr. Speakers mad dogs.  When I say lower quality I mean around 500-600 dollars and I know less expensive does not necessarily mean lower quality however I do feel that with a lot of headphones the price is a decent representation of sound quality.  I mostly use 256kb aacs and I do not really like lossless because a) takes up too much space b) not as big of a selection for some genres.  I listen to pretty much everything.  I am also a musician and am told I have good ears.
 
Thank you  

 

[62ohm]

Seems like we are in the same boat. I prefer Spotify over FLAC because it's more convenient, and I can't find the FLAC of most of the songs I listen to.
 
I made a thread asking about whether the music quality of Spotify is good enough or not some time ago, and most people seems to suggest that we can barely notice the difference of 320KB/s and FLAC. In fact, some suggest that many acclaimed audiophiles failed a "320kbps mp3 vs FLAC" blind test.

 

[SO74]

I also wanted to point out using decent more portable amps and dacs like the fio e17

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Why not setup an abx for yourself? The notable difference should be of your experience not somebody else's. 

 

[SO74]

whats an abx?

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

 
its a method to compare 2 tracks, one lossy and lossless without knowing which is which.

 

[squallkiercosa]

Personally I can't recognize a lossless against a lossy files all the time, (luckily a bit more than 60%) but you should consider Lossless files as future proof copies, highly doubt you're going to have the same problem you currently have in a few years time.
 
I have a folder with lossless files and another with lossy files. Takes time to get used to but worth the effort.

 

[Brooko]

I wrote this a while ago - just for those who want to actually know their own limits - http://www.head-fi.org/t/655879/setting-up-an-abx-test-simple-guide-to-ripping-tagging-transcoding
 
Definitely worth while taking the time and knowing what you can hear/discern - rather than simply listening to what others say about their experience.  Everyone's ears are different.
 
FTR - anything higher quality than ~ aac200 is audibly transparent for me.
 
Much more important to get a good mastering rather than a higher bit-rate most of the time. 

 

[adamlr]

  I wrote this a while ago - just for those who want to actually know their own limits - http://www.head-fi.org/t/655879/setting-up-an-abx-test-simple-guide-to-ripping-tagging-transcoding
 
Definitely worth while taking the time and knowing what you can hear/discern - rather than simply listening to what others say about their experience.  Everyone's ears are different.
 
FTR - anything higher quality than ~ aac200 is audibly transparent for me.
 
Much more important to get a good mastering rather than a higher bit-rate most of the time. 

^this.
 
and yea, just take an abx test and see for yourself. brookos guide is great. i used it for my abxing and all went very smoothly.

 

[KT66]

I have 100s of mp4 320 aac files all of albums that I love,
I had started to re rip my favourites to either wav or flac.
 
Last night I tested to see if I could live with the lossy ones and save myself
a lot of work.
 
 
To my dismay it was like day/night, especially on guitars and drums
(two instruments I also play), I can spot the mp4 every time, it's not subtle.
So I have to carry on re ripping.
 
Played back via Foobar/Wasapi/Audiolab MDAC/Prima Luna Prologue2/Rogers LS5/9
I also tried my HD600s with the MDAC and same result.

 

[adamlr]

let me get this streight, your converting lossy files into lossless ones? or did i totally misread you?
 
if i have, then two things: what program did you use to convert the files? and when you "tested", do you mean abx tested? cause if so - show us the results

 

[Brooko]

Last night I tested to see if I could live with the lossy ones and save myself
a lot of work.

To my dismay it was like day/night, especially on guitars and drums
(two instruments I also play), I can spot the mp4 every time, it's not subtle.
So I have to carry on re ripping.

Please describe exact methodology for testing

 

[proton007]

  I have 100s of mp4 320 aac files all of albums that I love,
I had started to re rip my favourites to either wav or flac.
 
Last night I tested to see if I could live with the lossy ones and save myself
a lot of work.
 
 
To my dismay it was like day/night, especially on guitars and drums
(two instruments I also play), I can spot the mp4 every time, it's not subtle.
So I have to carry on re ripping.
 
Played back via Foobar/Wasapi/Audiolab MDAC/Prima Luna Prologue2/Rogers LS5/9
I also tried my HD600s with the MDAC and same result.

 
So you don't know how, but your music suddenly had extra detail added in. Can I know the name of this software?

 

[KT66]

I played one track. Then played the other, i rarely had to do it twice

 

[KT66]

let me get this streight, your converting lossy files into lossless ones? or did i totally misread you?

if i have, then two things: what program did you use to convert the files? and when you "tested", do you mean abx tested? cause if so - show us the results

i initially ripped all my cds to mp4/320 using Sony Media Go, never thinking i would get into this head fi thing.

I have been a 2 channel audiophile for 25 years, worked in the industry for a while, and have been a musician for longer, spending a lot of time in recording studios and am a musician first and audiophile second.
my 2 channel system got to a point where i couldn't afford to improve or justify any upgrade(eg Radikal and Keel),plus I was and am extremely happy with my system.

So thanks to accidently getting a great audio phone (n8) i did get into head fi and serious listening on the move.
Then i started to re rip to wav or flac using EAC.However there are many CDs still not done.

i did not do abx testing, i did not do blind testing, and my post was not meant to wind anyone up.
I respect that we all hear differently, and some may not hear any difference, but I certainly do. I wish i didn't!

I have done abx mp3/wav testing before and spotted it every time.