Can you hear a difference? Tell the Truth!

shankly1985

shankly1985

shankly1985

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I have always used FLAC when ever possible I was even buying my music from new websites that sell flac version. Around last year I started using Spotify Free. I only just found out the free version is only 160kbps lol I now doubting~ I can really tell the difference between Flac and 320 something I have always thought I could.

Here is a webite with three songs each has 160, 320 and Flac can you pick out the Flac track for each?
I got 1/3 and even then I think it was luck!

https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/5/15168340/lossless-audio-music-compression-test-spotify-hi-fi-tidal
 
One out of three. Got the 2nd one correct, seemed fairly obvious on that one, the other 2 I couldn't tell the difference.
 
A lot of music is produced with the low bitrate formats in mind because they know they will be used on crappy phones and other poor playback mechanisms. You won't be able to tell the difference because the source is already poor and you're playing it though a phone.

Try encoding something with a lot of wide sound from years ago (eg Human League Unlimited "Hard Times") and you'll be able to tell the difference between different bitrates because some sounds just won't get reproduced correctly or with as much detail. It's up to you to see if the type of music you listen to and the devices you use can show the difference to the extent it's worth you caring about the higher bitrate/lossless formats.
 
2 out of 3 (first attempt on each), failed on the last one. But the sample was deliberately difficult to determine due to minimal amount to hear on plus original recording was low bit rate anyway apparently.

Anyway, even with my poor unused ears (most of the time), I can hear the difference. Although I will admit I'd probably wouldn't tell the difference normally during general listening as I just listen to what I like anyway even if the quality isn't the best.
 
Meddling-Monk said:
Anyway, even with my poor unused ears (most of the time), I can hear the difference. Although I will admit I'd probably wouldn't tell the difference normally during general listening as I just listen to what I like anyway even if the quality isn't the best.
Click to expand...
Indeed - whilst it may be obvious when put in the context of the same track but with different levels of compression, when in the real world I can't imagine it being noticed.
 
If your listening on £40 of poop it's a waste of time anyway. Want to listen to music properly invest in the gear.
 
I could tell which was the 160 for each easily, but couldnt really distinguish between 320 and flac.
 
3 out of 3 which was a surprise, the first 2 were slightly more obvious with the highs in the first and the lows in the second, that last one was a much closer call.

m50 + dragonfly
 
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Retried it again using the speakers from my Z906 (slightly better sound than the speakers from my main rig), and I too failed the last one (again). Now, either my ears are really bad, or I'd need to test with a more silent setup (headset maybe instead of open speakers and pc fans running). In any event, again, most likely I wouldn't notice in most cases anyway for general listening, but if I were to be familiar with something, I would notice the difference in the end. (Assuming all flow is quality, and not done via a potato somewhere along the line).
 
That is an interesting test, I have never claimed to be able to tell the difference and I have just done the test using £15 logitech speakers with on board sound.
I got thema ll right first go which surprise me.

The only thing I got wrong was the track I thought was 160 on the last track.


being honest though I had to listen to the 320/lossless a few times to pick out the difference between them. the 160 was pretty obvious(on the first 2 tracks at least) not so sure I would hear a difference if listening "normally" ie whilst doing something else and not fully concentrating on the music.
 
At the end of the day, very few on here will actually tell the truth. End of story. I tried it and to be honest I guessed and got 2/3.
 
kindai said:
I could tell which was the 160 for each easily, but couldnt really distinguish between 320 and flac.
Click to expand...

Same here.
When I had my hearing operations and bought myself a DAP and triple driver in-ears I had my daughter randomly choosing the same track but in four different formats.
192, 320, FLAC and FLAC 24bit - I couldn't hear a difference between the last 3 so all my music is now compressed to 320.
 
Haven't looked at the link but if its like some of the tests posted before even just playing in a browser can skew results etc.

I generally can't hear the difference above ~192kbit MP3 quality aside from the odd track.
 
Rroff said:
Haven't looked at the link but if its like some of the tests posted before even just playing in a browser can skew results etc.

I generally can't hear the difference above ~192kbit MP3 quality aside from the odd track.
Click to expand...

I won't even entertain the idea of listening in a browser, the true test is to put them on a DAP and into quality headphones.
What's the point of listening through a browser and into (for the majority) low quality speakers?
 
2 out 3. 1.5k of gear. Need a much bigger sample size than this, also even if the difference in minimal at best its not like HDD space is a problem haha. Also does not mean that more expensive headphones do not sound better, I want the best source possible when my headphones cost what they did :eek:
 
Also, how come with music its most people agree there is no/little difference. However with films there are a multiple of "HD" "lossless" formats used? How come films are not just 7.1 320kb/s MP3 ? Is it simply because they have enormous budgets?
 
I got the first one, the second one was between two and I picked the wrong one and I had no idea on the third as the sample was ridiculously poor to start with.

Most of my source material is in Flac format and the rest is 320k mp3, I won't use anything lower. The biggest reason for using Flac is that unlike the examples in that test, a lot of my music is produced and mastered to a very high standard (Porcupine Tree, Yes, Airbag, etc.) and the better quality stands out more clearly.
 
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