Be honest now...

TALON1973 · 3 May 2011 at 20:43

hmm.... my 96/24 flacs blow mp3 out of the water .... hell they make mincemeat of teh standard cd version as well

BloodyL · 3 May 2011 at 20:47

Ahh, but with 96/24 you are talking a very different beast, a vastly improved noise floor and dynamic range for a start.

TALON1973 · 3 May 2011 at 20:51

Auraomega said:
I have a few FLAC files at around 320kbps, my smallest being 317kbps.

lol ... elton john goobye yellow brick road albulm 96/24 flac ... 1st song is 243 mb ( yep thats megabites )

Auraomega · 3 May 2011 at 21:19

Pink Floyd's Sorrow (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason) at 350mb

My highest bitrate song is 5562kbps!

TALON1973 · 3 May 2011 at 21:31

Auraomega said:
Pink Floyd's Sorrow (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason) at 350mb My highest bitrate song is 5562kbps!

if there was a genesis version i could download id beat that

asim18 · 3 May 2011 at 22:09

I can definitely hear the difference. This ABX thing is interesting, will try it out.

wilko49 · 5 May 2011 at 13:22

Haven't got any good FLACs to test, but I can easily tell the difference between a CD and mp3 or aac. On that subject, what's the best software for ripping CDs to FLAC?

Auraomega · 5 May 2011 at 13:57

Exact Audio Copy, as the name implies, it's an exact copy

Unlike a lot of software it employs a secure ripping mode which helps keep everything synced up, I've had issues with other rippers overlapping audio for example.

Tediore · 6 May 2011 at 20:21

I don't mind 320kb/s mp3s, but I get 90% of my stuff in .flac simply because I can

jorzeh · 7 May 2011 at 15:30

My Sennheiser IE8's love Flac.

Paracelsus · 9 May 2011 at 19:24

I can't tell the difference, either on sennheiser headphones or creative speakers.

I'm sure there is a difference, but it must be small enough for me not to notice. If I actually tried to hear it...possibly. But both sound great so I don't care!

Somnambulist · 10 May 2011 at 19:41

wilko49 said:
Haven't got any good FLACs to test, but I can easily tell the difference between a CD and mp3 or aac. On that subject, what's the best software for ripping CDs to FLAC?

EAC as someone else said, or XLD if you're on a MAC. Need to make sure it's set up for Secure Rip in the options obviously.

jorzeh · 13 May 2011 at 13:33

TALON1973 said:
hmm.... my 96/24 flacs blow mp3 out of the water .... hell they make mincemeat of teh standard cd version as well

This When i'm rolling my IE8's it's easy to tell the difference, But with my HD800's and Graham Slee amp, You really don't even have to concentrate to tell the difference it's just so apparent.

Shamrock · 13 May 2011 at 13:42

Still a distinct lack of ABX testing in here.

james.miller · 13 May 2011 at 14:08

Shamrock said:
Still a distinct lack of ABX testing in here.

there always will be.

Shamrock · 13 May 2011 at 14:19

The ABX testing results will still probably vary. I only managed 5/10 correct which to me means I can't tell the difference but then another guy posted a perfect 10/10.

james.miller · 13 May 2011 at 17:32

jorzeh said:
This When i'm rolling my IE8's it's easy to tell the difference, But with my HD800's and Graham Slee amp, You really don't even have to concentrate to tell the difference it's just so apparent.

right, just how many pairs of headphones do you own? hd555's, 650's AND hd800s?...just....why ?

Shamrock said:
The ABX testing results will still probably vary. I only managed 5/10 correct which to me means I can't tell the difference but then another guy posted a perfect 10/10.

well, yeah. ABX results are virtually impossible to verify online anyway. I dont personally believe they prove anything at all.

Shamrock · 13 May 2011 at 18:08

james.miller said:
right, just how many pairs of headphones do you own? hd555's, 650's AND hd800s?...just....why ?

Haha, I've got 8 IEMs and 10 headphones!

Why? Well, why not?

People collect stamps, clothing, watches, trainers, CDs, DVDs, cars, toys, memorabilia etc etc.

Why is collecting audio gear any different?

james.miller · 13 May 2011 at 18:26

I just see it strange way to spend money, that's all

. if you can afford a pair of hd800's then why buy anything else what does a pair of hd555s offer you that the hd800s dont? where do the 650's fit in between those? I am surprised you would compare that to stamp collecting. other than the collecting-part, i cant see how they are similar at all. I mean, i wouldnt compare collecting microwave ovens to stamp collecting either lol. Or Tv's

Infact anything functional. i just dont see the reason for collecting electrical goods lol.

Shamrock · 13 May 2011 at 18:35

Fair point, I might have a collection of headphones which seems pointless and a waste of money to many, but I could say the same about watches which I do not collect. I have a £10 watch I got from argos. It tells the time which is good enough for me so why do I need another? I'm sure watch collectors could justify owning many watches despite them all having the same function of telling the time.

With headphones, I don't think one headphone can fit all purposes, but maybe 10 is going a bit far.

If I was to trim it down as much as possible, I'd probably keep an open, a closed, a portable closed over-ear, a quality IEM and an expendable IEM for gym/exercising.