CD vs MP3 sound quality

[rammie 10+ year member]

Is there a noticeable difference in sound quality with mp3s vs CDs? My head unit plays MP3s (on discs) and thats mostly what I listen to, but with a good SQ system would I notice the difference?

And is there a difference with burned MP3s on disc vs. iPod?

This is all assuming the mp3s are good quality downloads/bit rate

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[vipervin 10+ year member]

original CDs would be the best. depending on how the mp3 was encoded, general population wont be able to tell the difference compared to a CD on even a SQ system. its for those with trained ears or naturally have better frequency response to music that may notice the difference.

as for mp3 on disc vs ipod, i would think on cd would be better since ipod to HU is just another connection for potential signal loss

 

[xclusiv3 10+ year member]

my ipod is hooked up through the tape deck...only at very high volumes there is static but its actually louder then cds....by far.....

but i dont put the ipod volume all the way up, i leave it at 2/3 and then use HU volume.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

cds > mp3s all day long

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The CD will sound better. Most people won't notice. Unless you have a really quiet car the road noise will mask any difference. Both are still better than radio.

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

This has been discussed a lot....

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114272&highlight=mp3+quality

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178103&highlight=mp3+quality

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173595&highlight=mp3+quality

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169876&highlight=mp3+quality

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152207&highlight=mp3+quality

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131673&highlight=mp3+quality

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

these pictures really makes it easy to understand whats really goin on...

awesome find

cd

196kbps mp3

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Considering that your tweets roll off in the neighborhood of 10k off axis, and that wind noise severly masks higher freqs, and that most people have hearing loss in the upper registers, he vast majority of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference based on frequency response. Dynamic compression is a different story, but so many recordings come out of the studio horribly compressed anyway it won't make a difference. Still better than radio and more convenient that toting around cases of CDs. Doing 75 down the highway, I'll give up a bit of freq that I can't hear and dynamic range that I won't miss for sheer convenience. The really well recorded albums that I like I keep on CD in the car. The rest MP3s are good enough for.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

Considering that your tweets roll off in the neighborhood of 10k off axis, and that wind noise severly masks higher freqs, and that most people have hearing loss in the upper registers, he vast majority of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference based on frequency response. Dynamic compression is a different story, but so many recordings come out of the studio horribly compressed anyway it won't make a difference. Still better than radio and more convenient that toting around cases of CDs. Doing 75 down the highway, I'll give up a bit of freq that I can't hear and dynamic range that I won't miss for sheer convenience. The really well recorded albums that I like I keep on CD in the car. The rest MP3s are good enough for.

doesnt really make sense, since most people mount their tweets off axis, think they would design them to roll off at a higher frequency

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Look at a response plot for most any tweet that includes 30 and 60 deg off axis plots and you will see that they roll off very early. High freqs are very directional. Most people can't hear them that well anyway nor does most music contain much information up that high.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

true.. true...........

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

CD will sound better, expecially at higher frequencies... the mid ones sound more clear and natural aswell

but who can stand inserting/ejecting cds all the while these days?

 

[Excelsius 10+ year member]

Just wanted to let you know that it is a fallacy to say that "there is no audible difference between mp3 and CD." First, it depends the type of music you're listening to. If it's some sort of crap that consists 90% of bass, boom, and jibberish, then you won't hear anything (the cells in your cochlea (ear) might be dead anyway). BUT, if you are listening to polyphonic music, like classical, there is a HUGE difference between the best mp3 (320kbps, highest quality...) and a lossless format like ape. You also have to make sure that your speakers have good quality, but even with decent quality speakers you'll be able to hear the difference.

Second, it is extremely important what methods you use to rip your CDs. The best ripper in existence that corrects all the minor errors is the free EAC (Exact Audio Copy). If you use that with the highest setting AND use a good CD burner like Plextor, LiteOn, BenQ, etc (another complex topic), you'll get the exact same quality as the CD. In some cases the copy will be better than the CD because EAC corrects the errors and the glitches in the CD, whereas your player can't detect them and play all the crap altogether.

So in case you are interested in building a quality library for quality music, I hope my post will put you on the right track. People often post just for the sake of posting, without really understaning that they can mislead some people.

If you're listening to bass and other annoyingly repetitious music all the time, then just follow whatever the previous posts recommended. You shoouldn't be a purist to listen to crap.

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

I can notice a difference in bass output. I'd like to get on the meter with a original vs. a burnt copy of the song. Sounds interesting.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

CD will sound better, expecially at higher frequencies... the mid ones sound more clear and natural aswell
but who can stand inserting/ejecting cds all the while these days?

just thinkin about it alone is motivating