What songs to use to compare mp3 vs flac?

[dex85]

hi all, title says it all. i'm going to compare various bitrate mp3 vs flac for portable mp3 player(it plays flac too), so i can save space without comprising SQ too much. what genres or specific song do you find to be best for revealing mp3 weaknesses?

 

[krmathis]

Some samples to ABX:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...e=post&id=4895
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...e=post&id=4794
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...e=post&id=4598
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...e=post&id=4599
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...e=post&id=4606
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...e=post&id=4562
http://martel.ic.cz/bordel/clavicula_sample.flac

 

[cswann1]

I use well recorded acoustic instrument pieces like string quartet's and the like.
A solo violin that hits the highest notes can reveal roughness in lower bitrate digital files easily for me.
Hope this helps

 

[Pio2001]

Tracks seemingly very sensitive to compression, though without killer frequencies :
Kraftwerk - The Robots (from The Man Machine, 1978, intro)
Depeche Mode - Something to Do (from Some Great Reward)
Transwave - The Rezwalker, London live remix (from Helium).

 

[dex85]

ok, thanks all. i will try all of them when i have some time. to get 10/10 in ABX(or x/10,depends on bitrate) with several samles its gonna take me a whole day

 

[ArgoArts]

yes, acoustic music with full frequencies and little compression. I use the Blue Coast Collection from Blue Coast Records. You should also listen to how the image collapses at lower bit rates.

 

[CDBacklash]

General rule of thumb, 192kbps VBR is a very spacey option with minimal loss.
256 VBR isa less spacey option with minimal loss.
According to many, there will in fact be no loss with a good 192 VBR and any EAC 256 VBR.
At the end of the day, it's almost like comparing 16 and 24 bit. Only the silences will really reveal the weakness of any and while music is playing there is not much difference at all.
all IMO of course.

 

[deadly55]

it's also subjective to ones ears.

 

[krmathis]

^ Hence why an ABX test is the way to go, to fight subjectiveness.

 

[flatmap]

In my experience I get the most relevant comparisons using material that I know well and which I like.

If I don't care for the music used in comparison tracks, I find I get less useful information to make the comparison. Of course you can still judge SQ based on unfamiliar material -- but I find I miss a lot in that situation. YMMV.