How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?

PapaLazaru

PapaLazaru

PapaLazaru

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Saw this on Reddit and took the test. Now my audio equipment is most certainly not high-end, but it is pretty decent. Creative Aurvana Live 2 headphones and an Arcam rPAC DAC / Amp.

Out of 6 I got 2 right as uncompressed WAV files, and the other 4 at 320kbps MP3's. There is most certainly a noticeable difference from 128 to 320, but from then on I found it very hard to notice any difference.

How did you score?

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality
 
well it doesn't work properly in IE , it tells you . but ive got high end equipment and hi res files ... and I CAN tell the difference in those to basic files
 
Using firefox here - nothing saying it doesn't work but I noticed in the source there are warnings for "your browser doesn't support uncompressed wave playback", etc.
 
Rroff said:
Using firefox here - nothing saying it doesn't work but I noticed in the source there are warnings for "your browser doesn't support uncompressed wave playback", etc.
Click to expand...

meaning your not hearing it right ... so any test you take it borked lol . the worse file will sound as good as the best lol
 
^^ Its not showing that error I just noticed it in the source (so obviously not all browsers work properly) when I went looking for the samples to play externally as I couldn't really tell any difference in the browser and I know from my own collection that has some 128kbit MP3 and FLAC versions of the same tunes that I can atleast tell that much difference. So I'm assuming something somewhere is causing a limitation with the browser playback.
 
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About 10 years ago (or more) I did Spectrum Analysis on different files of the same song and this was the result.
Basically the lower the bitrate the more top end disappears.

mp3fulltestweb.jpg
 
You got 4 out of 6 correct!

Do you spend a lot of time listening to high-quality audio files? Adding specialized equipment to your system can boost the audio quality, but if there are weak links in the chain (say, if you’ve got a digital-to-analog converter and cheap earbuds), you won’t hear as much. Bonus hint: Scroll back up and listen to the uncompressed WAV files again – even self-proclaimed audiophiles say that it takes time for your ears to adjust to the differences in files.
Click to expand...

Audio-Gd Compass 2 -> Sennheiser 650

Got the Jay-Z and Neil Young ones wrong. I picked the lowest res one for the Jay Z song and thought the WAV file sounded the worst on that song lol. His voice sounds more 'grainy' on the WAV which I thought was low quality but it's just more detail I guess.
 
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Using X-Fi->my own DIY amp->HD600s so not like a terrible setup but I really struggle telling any difference through the site.
 
You got 5 out of 6 correct!

Do you spend a lot of time listening to high-quality audio files? Adding specialized equipment to your system can boost the audio quality, but if there are weak links in the chain (say, if you’ve got a digital-to-analog converter and cheap earbuds), you won’t hear as much. Bonus hint: Scroll back up and listen to the uncompressed WAV files again – even self-proclaimed audiophiles say that it takes time for your ears to adjust to the differences in files.
 
Im using my headphones through a 50p usb soundcard. I got 0 out of 6. I know its far from the best setup, but i think 5/6 i chose the 128kbps, so i must be a happy customer when it comes to poor audio tracks.
 
I want to say i just knew from the first few seconds but this could all be a lie and all the tracks are the same haha
 
5/6 but 3 of those were complete guesses between 320 and lossless so realistically it's more like 2/6 (this was with PureDAC->Taurus->EL-8C so no issues with the source chain).

Having now read a post on reddit, it kind of spoils the test
there is a slight delay on the lossless track...

If you want a much better test to see if you can actually hear the differences between well encoded mp3 and lossless, try this out:

http://abx.digitalfeed.net/

Best I've done is about 60%, and I think that's mostly just luck. Daft Punk, Killers, and Eagles I can do ok on just because I'm somewhat familiar with the music, the others are a crap shoot.
 
67%
40,60,60,60,80
Seems to indicate the noiser the music the less difference you can hear.

Isn't there also the issue that those of us with quality kit will be getting the best from both formats compared to some poor sod using apple ear buds?
 
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Hardly any 128k files got picked by me only one.

The 320k files got picked mainly.

And 1 wav file so only 1 right out of the whole lot.

This is with focal classics and ehp-02d.

The 320 and wav were hard but i found the discovered 320k as being sounding more airy.
 
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Bit of a bump, been meaning to try this.

3/6 with a Soundblaster Z and some average headphones (Ultimate Ears UE6000). Listened for the top end/spaciousness, think this was the best indicator.
 
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