MP3 vs FLAC

CliffyBiro

CliffyBiro

CliffyBiro

Caporegime
Joined
1 Mar 2008
Posts
26,303
How much of a difference would you say there is between FLAC and mp3 with a bitrate of 320kbps?

Having never listened to a FLAC track, but now having a mp3 player that can play them and good headphones for once, I fancy trying it out.

Is the difference immediately noticable?
 
I cant really notice much of a difference, but that could be down to my headphones and soundcard. Give it a try and see what you think.
 
For me it depends on the music. I can definitely hear a difference when listening to classical or operatic music but not when listening to other types.
 
i'm always highly sceptical of anyone who says they can, especially when talking about 320kbps MP3s. i'd wager most people can't tell the difference at half that bitrate. placebo is a wonderful thing.

but it's easy to prove you can. all you have to do is a blind listening test.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=16295

of course the few people above who say they can tell the difference won't be posting in this thread again. :p
 
Last edited:
Never mind MP3 v FLAC, what about MP3 v OGG? The latter being better both in terms of sound quality and compression, and has the massive advantage of being open source. It's a wonder MP3 is still so mainstream.
 
Mp3s the stabdard, eveyone uses it, all equipment suppots it, i cant see it being replaced, even though size is no longer an issue.
 
The vast majority of people who say they can hear a difference most likely are making themselves believe there's a difference because they know they are listening to a higher quality file.

If they didn't know what the quality was, they most likely would not be able to tell the two files apart. This is known as blind testing and is the proper scientific way of showing whether or not you can perceive any differences.

Tests done by people with music gear worth thousands have shown that with 192+ kbps mp3 files, the vast majority of people can't tell any difference between mp3 and CD.

That said, I still like having my music stored as flac, just incase I someday do notice a difference; makes me feel more comfortable listening to my music!
 
I can notice a difference, and I use tunes that I know very well to test this out. However for the most part, people can't tell the difference. A big issue is that sometimes people encode MP3s poorly.
 
What's your equipment?

Tbh if you can't - then don't bother with them and save the space. As said I sometimes can, but still always encode to MP3 anyway these days.

Edit - off topic and having just seen your pic in the Secret Santa thread, you are the spitting image of a mate in real life. :eek:
 
Greenlizard0 said:
I can notice a difference, and I use tunes that I know very well to test this out.
Click to expand...

come on then. put your money where your mouth is.

install foobar2000. http://www.foobar2000.org/download
now download this zip file.... http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_abx

open foobar. goto file>preferences>components and click on install. browse to where the the above zip file is and then restart when prompted.

now goto file>add and select the 2 files - one flac and one mp3. now highlight both tracks in the playlist. right click>utilities>abx two tracks.

abx.png


from here it's fairly straight forward. just click A, B, X or Y to start playback. if A is the flac then B must be the mp3 (or vice versa). same goes for X and Y. you can switch between them taking as long as you like and then all you do do is match A to either X or Y and B to the odd one out. easy peasy considering your statement that i quoted above?

edited 07/01/2011. 13 correct guesses from 16 attempts is considered good enough.
 
Last edited:
I can notice a difference but only through my flatmates amp and speakers etc. On an iPod or an MP3 player or via headphones on my laptop I can't hear it.
 
Urgh *sighs*

Why is it that when anybody says that for a few tunes there is a noticeable difference there are some who get a bit of an erection?

If you want marc2003, email these details and most importantly find me another test / a Winamp test and I'll happily have a go.
 
Occasionally you find a 320kbps mp3 that's been poorly encoded - I have a couple of 320's that you can notice the difference on with a good pair of headphones. However, most of the time I notice no difference. (FLAC at home, mp3s of the same files at work)
 
Greenlizard0 said:
Urgh *sighs*

Why is it that when anybody says that for a few tunes there is a noticeable difference there are some who get a bit of an erection?
Click to expand...

it's because the claim that you're making is so outlandish. i've never ever seen test results from a single person who can tell the difference. if you do post back, it will be a world first.

but i can see you're making excuses already....

Greenlizard0 said:
If you want marc2003, email these details and most importantly find me another test / a Winamp test and I'll happily have a go.
Click to expand...

just install foobar in portable mode. it won't touch any of your existing settings and will take less effort than replying to this post.

i can't prove you can't hear the difference. it's up to you to prove that you can. in the past i've seen a few people return and admit it's all in their mind. but most disappear without trace. i look forward to your next post. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom