[evilking]

Here are some sample tracks in FLAC and LAME 3.98 at -V5. Also, some notes to help you ABX.

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Killswitch Engage - Breath Life, chorus (1:10), there's an odd wavering quality to both cymbals.

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Ladytron - Runaway, 34 seconds in, one of the faint synth sounds that pans left and right simply doesn't in the MP3. Another synth sound is slightly distorted.

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Ladytron - Deep Blue, 58 seconds in, voice is simply different, also some faint sounds are missing from the MP3 (eg. just after the word blue there is a high pitched click/beep in the right channel in the flac but not in the MP3).

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Prodigy - Fuel My Fire, every voice sounds different throughout the song. Really obvious, this one.


Surprisingly easy at -V5. I was worried 3.98 would trip me up somehow (I haven't tested it as thoroughly as 3.97), but no, the faults are there and are fairly easy to hear (took about 3-4 minutes per track to differentiate).


Obviously -V0 and 320kbps will take much longer to find faults...

EK

 

[ILikeMusic]

Quote:

Obviously -V0 and 320kbps will take much longer to find faults...

Yes, but again, even though the -V5 thing is an interesting diversion the thread is really about comparing high-bitrate compressed files to lossless, so that would really be the appropriate task.

But thanks for the above samples... I'm gonna to give them a try.

Edit: BTW, have you tried MediaFire for sharing files? A lot faster than Radpidshare if you're not a premium user, and no obnoxious delays before the download...

.

 

[Warhawk]

Honestly I couldn't tell a difference between 128 mp3 and flac!
Of course that was with my marshmallows.

Now that I have my etys and the bass isn't clouding all the details, I can tell the difference.
But honestly, I can't tell difference between 192 mp3 and flac, or even ogg q3 and flac.

 

[ILikeMusic]

Wow... we apparently have a very different definition of 'fairly easy to hear...'

I would label those differences (the ones I could detect) as trivial at best. But in any event it's moot as they disappear for me utterly at -V0 (probably a good deal sooner actually but I don't have time to compare each step.). You do have a good ear though. I wonder... can you resolve these at -V0? (Warning: If you say yes you're going to have to come to the US to prove it...

)

Thanks again for the effort. This is the right way to have these discussions, i.e. with samples that can be objectively compared. I wonder how many here can resolve even the -V5 samples without a lot of effort, if at all, and -V0... fuhgetaboutit.

BTW I kind of like Ladytron... gonna have to check them out...

 

[mrdeadfolx]

This poll should be, "Do you give a rats ass about this topic, since its like taking a few different religions and arguing which one is 'right'?"
My vote would be "no".

 

[DARKHAVEN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdeadfolx /img/forum/go_quote.gif This poll should be, "Do you give a rats ass about this topic, since its like taking a few different religions and arguing which one is 'right'?" My vote would be "no".

Wow, what an incredibly useless contribution. Seeing as there are five pages of comments and over 100 votes, I'd say a decent amount of people clearly "give a rats ass about this topic." Thank you for wasting all of our time, not to mention your own.

 

[Oya?]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdeadfolx /img/forum/go_quote.gif This poll should be, "Do you give a rats ass about this topic, since its like taking a few different religions and arguing which one is 'right'?" My vote would be "no".

My vote would be yes. And that's a pretty poor analogy anyways.

 

[reorx]

i rip everything above 192, and on the ULTRA RARE occasion I find an infinitesimal difference between the mp3 and the lossless version, i just shrug and remember back in the day when my warped tapes would just endlessly loop on my auto-reverse walkman, and i STILL would listen to the music.

can i hear the diif between 128 and wav? YES. 192 and wav? Rarely. 320 and wav? Not that i know of (unless the mp3 is REALLY BADLY encoded).

192 kbps mp3 and above are an acceptable trade-off for ease, convenience, space, and battery life for my portable.

Home listening, where space and battery life is not a concern , i spoil myself and go lossless. So what if i cant tell the diff between that and 320? I just feel better knowing im listenning to the original source material

 

[Night Surfer]

IMO this poll shows the extent of placebo driven delusion that is rampant on this site.
Well ripped High bitrate MP3's are indistinguishable from lossless. This has been proven in countless tests.
The fact that it is even being seriously discussed is absurd.

 

[mrdeadfolx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DARKHAVEN /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, what an incredibly useless contribution. Seeing as there are five pages of comments and over 100 votes, I'd say a decent amount of people clearly "give a rats ass about this topic." Thank you for wasting all of our time, not to mention your own.

Anytime, and thank you for my daily dose of internet message board overreaction

This is, after all, where I come to waste my time. I'm simply implying that the

smilie is just about the perfect way to sum up these threads. All 600 of them.

 

[midget]

it really depends on the track, sometimes there are nuances that ill never pick up on mp3.

 

[majkel]

I could answer all three at the time because I definitely hear the difference but it's no problem for me to listen to lossy music in highest bitrates.

 

[timb5881]

I can hear a big difference when playing mp3 files through my home speakers when compared to lossless. On headphones smaller differences detected, mainly the fade out trails and initial part of notes. On speakers, the imiaging and front to back detail is like cardboard with mp3 files.

 

[DARKHAVEN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by timb5881 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can hear a big difference when playing mp3 files through my home speakers when compared to lossless. On headphones smaller differences detected, mainly the fade out trails and initial part of notes. On speakers, the imiaging and front to back detail is like cardboard with mp3 files.

Even at 320kbps? I find it hard to believe that the effect on imaging and soundstage would be so inferior. Man, I guess my ears just aren't that good...

 

[dazzer1975]

I use wav as my lossless and the best way I can describe the difference between that and mp3 at high bitrates i.e. 256 and 320 is like others have said, it just sounds to be a much fuller experience. How can I precisely pin it down I cant, but there is more depth and a feeling of roundness to the wav files that is not there to the same degree in the compressed files.

That being said, I only use wav on my imod and clip (not that the clip is at the level of imod with vcap dock but I find the clips signature goes very nicely with this more fuller and rounded sound I experience with wavs) and 320 and 256 on everything else