audiophiles are habituated to sweariing. They swearAudiophiles swear lossless music sounds richer than MP3, but most people don't hear a difference at all…
Wonder what ASR says
But again so many people swear vaccines make no difference and is a big pharma conspiracy.
Technically MP3 removes from music. if one is so particular that they want stored music instead of streamed, why would anyone want a lesser product at a time where storage price is so low
Thats interesting. so by removing of certain overlapping frequencies makes the sound different from the source which you prefer ..is it the tonality or does that make the sound more Dynamic even at the db levels you seem to like ?Because it sounds different. Depending on the song I prefer the FLAC or MP3 version from the same source. Just my preferences. It has nothing to do with prices of storage. I will note you think of it as lesser, I think of it as different.
Thats interesting. so by removing of certain overlapping frequencies makes the sound different from the source which you prefer ..is it the tonality or does that make the sound more Dynamic even at the db levels you seem to like ?
Most people don’t listen intently enough. Yes, the difference between a 320 kbps (eg Spotify) and lossless stream (Tidal/AM) is not easy to discern unless heard carefully and back to back, but that between 128 kbps (Internet radio) and lossless is very obvious. I think 320 kbps allows the dynamic range to be maintained considerably intact. Also, sometimes other factors affect DR - for example, Spotify Connect, playing natively from a streamer could sound more dynamic than Apple lossless played through AirPlay from MacBook (additional stages involved).Audiophiles swear lossless music sounds richer than MP3, but most people don't hear a difference at all…
You're Talking Sense and honest experience on planned audiophile bashing thread...Most people don’t listen intently enough. Yes, the difference between a 320 kbps (eg Spotify) and lossless stream (Tidal/AM) is not easy to discern unless heard carefully and back to back, but that between 128 kbps (Internet radio) and lossless is very obvious. Look for the definition in the bass - you’d usually find the effects of compression there. Good compression doesn’t alter the mids significantly and most listeners listen to vocal/mids, hence may not perceive it.
Most people don’t listen intently enough. Yes, the difference between a 320 kbps (eg Spotify) and lossless stream (Tidal/AM) is not easy to discern unless heard carefully and back to back, but that between 128 kbps (Internet radio) and lossless is very obvious. I believe 320 kbps allows the dynamic range to be maintained reasonably intact. Also, sometimes other factors affect DR - for example, Spotify Connect, playing natively from a streamer could sound more dynamic than Apple lossless played through AirPlay from MacBook (additional stages involved).
Look for the definition in the bass - one usually finds the effects of compression there. Good compression doesn’t alter the mids significantly and most listeners listen to vocal/mids, hence may not perceive it. Understandably as well, if heard on less resolving system, music compressed as above might even sound cleaner (hence better) to some. The other way to discern lossless quality from compression is to observe (the difference in) your emotion and physical response to the song.
Thanks for illuminating on this. What I wrote is experientially true. My attempt at analysing the reasons for the experience are limited by my (close to zero) knowledge of sound engineering. My hypothesis that the bass is chopped off comes from my listening experience. For example, most of the Hindi film CDs (films from 70s and 80s) from Universal have chopped off bass. I suspect they made the prints from compressed files rather than the original recordings. I hate listening to them, but I doubt it matters to 90% of listeners listening on Rs 1000 radio/earbuds/boomboxes even notice/care.If you are not aware, much of the definition for bass comes from the mid bass, mid range and treble. The extra HF in a FLAC file will offer more defined/tighter bass.
A lossless can only be said to be "better" if one's sole yardstick is accuracy to the source and not enjoyment of music
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Thanks for illuminating on this. What I wrote is experientially true. My attempt at analysing the reasons for the experience are limited by my (close to zero) knowledge of sound engineering.
The contention of the thread is not about ‘which sounds better’ but ‘whether the difference can be perceived’. A preference for one over the other implies a perception of difference.
A very clear explanation indeed.I understand the discussion is about the compression introduced through the codecs for storing and transmitting of music. But this lucid article can help us understand the nitty-gritties of compression and its adverse impact on the music if done injudiciously though it is referring to the compression at the music production end. The writer has taken pains to elucidate each effect through audio samples of uncompressed and compressed sound for us to comprehend it. He has explained all the aspects of compression (gain, threshold, ratio, attack, release, knee), the valid reasons for compression (which might explain why some prefer certain music compressed) and the adverse effects of over-compression (distortion, low DR, missing transients etc). I found it helped me to read end to end and listen to all the comparisons.
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Audio Compression Explained (Finally In A Way That Makes Sense) | Sound Adventurer
It took me so long to figure out what compression in audio terms means--but after exhaustively researching the concept, I not only figured it out,…soundadventurer.com
I have had Tidal Subscription for 2 years and I have not yet heard a difference between Hi Res and 256 kbps AAC on Windows Desktop from Apple Music.Audiophiles swear lossless music sounds richer than MP3, but most people don't hear a difference at all…
It would be helpful to get some context of the set up you are using while hearing no difference between the two streams.I have had Tidal Subscription for 2 years and I have not yet heard a difference between Hi Res and 256 kbps AAC on Windows Desktop from Apple Music.
Hifiman Susvara, Focal Vestia N4, Burson Composer DAC, Gustard R26It would be helpful to get some context of the set up you are using while hearing no difference between the two streams.