Can you really tell difference between mp3 and flac ?

[R3X]

I found this great test and scored pathetically on it with 3/3 (Creative AE5 (direct HP) + AKG K550 mk3s)

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

And my ears are apparently pretty decent and sharp, I always heard read there is a pretty big difference between 320kbps mps and flacs but maybe my ears are deceiving me.

Anyhow try the test and maybe be surprised, just don't throw your £600 headphone amp against the wall

 

[R3X]

esat posted this link on another thread which throws even more spanners to can we really tell the audio quality difference between motherboard onboard sound and 2K Audio hi-fi equipment.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733-19.html

I have to admit I ain't too sure, I couldn't tell the difference firmly between 320k and flac, but still use flac anyhow.

 

[R3X]

I personally can't tell a difference between them, I thought this was quite a good video about it.

Good video, that girl did the same test as the one I have posted but she looks like shes in her 20s and she still scored 4/6 right which is excellent and even the ones she got wrong were still 320k.

As the guy who did the video said once you get in your 40s, 50s things get worse in terms of ear sounding, to which I will politely say sod off

 

[R3X]

It is almost completely down to your headphones, for example on good headphones anything at 128-192 sounds frankly bad. 192-320 are passable to good, 320 and FLAC are both good. Also depends on frequency response of headphones.

Once you know the common problems with MP3, it is laughably obvious to spot low bitrate Mp3 from FLAC, most common problems are splashy treble, worse sibilance, worse bass, worse soundstage. Generally it is VERY obvious to me and I pretty much loathe any Mp3 under 192Kbps, most of the time I just don't even bother listening to anything less than 320Kbps or FLAC. Some 192Kbps are "passable" whereas 128Kbps is consistently bad.

Yeah I can still tell the difference between some 128 recordings to 320/flac, but I gotta admit around 192 not so much.

 

[R3X]

With today's storage ratio and prices be it HDD, SSD and even SD cards as long as you don't have a million songs you could probably get away with it without breaking the bank, so you could go with flac if you wanted really.