[offtopic]
I do apologize for this off-topic content in advance, but this opportunity is way too good to let pass.
All you who think it's easy to hear artifacts with lossy encoders at 128, 192 or even 320 kbps, now is you chance to prove it and prove others wrong.
Go to this website:
http://www.maresweb.de/listening-tests/mf_128_1.php
1. Download:
http://www.maresweb.de/listening-tests/ABC-HR_bin.zip
2. Read the readme.txt inside the zip file
3. Download the test samples and unpack them as instructed. Then run the .bat files (or manually decode them) as instructed in the readme.txt
4. Start abchr.jar file. Load a file set config file (again, as instructed)
5. Start testing (help:
http://ff123.net/64test/practice.html )
6. Save results from the program and upload them to the test organiser
If I miswrote something in haste, the proper instructions are in the readme.txt in the aforementioned zip file.
In my humble opinion, I doubt the majority of you will be able to detect current lame 128kbps (above test) from the original reliably for most of the samples. Not to mention pulling it off for Ogg or Apple's AAC implementation. Reliable detection here could be defined as a result in which you get at least <0.05 probability of guessing in the ABX module of the ABCHR.jar program.
Now here's your change to prove to yourself that you are right and I'm mistaken (which I'm more than willing to admit, if somebody shows proof).
Please do not take this as me claiming you absolutely cannot hear the differences. There are many people who can distinguish some tracks at 128kbps from original reliably. However, they are usually very experienced in blind subjective evaluation of lossy encoders.
As such, I find it somewhat unlikely based on my own testing on myself and others, that most of you will be able to do it reliably under blind conditions, unless of course you happen to be very experienced in subjective blind evaluation of perceptual encoders output.
And don't take it as an offence. Take it as a sign of how far the lossy encoders have developed since the crappy encoders of the bygone days.
Your listening test results (if done as instructed) would also be more than welcome to the test organisers.
[/quote]
PingPongPay,
the only way for you to know is to find it out for yourself. Get the headphones, if you can hear the problems, then think how to solve it (better files, different headphones, etc).
Do remember that any 128kbps encoding is not the same as any other 128kbps encoding. Encoder maker, encoder flags user and possible transcoding all affect the quality of the end result.
A good 128kbps encoding can be transparent to most of people most of time. However a crappy 128kbps encoding, once transcoded from AAC to mp3 can sound like utter crap to almost anyone.
It's all down to how it was done and who does the listening.