Why use mp3s and/or high end amps when...

[g30ffr3y 10+ year member]

There is a pretty big difference between mp3s encoded at 320 kbs and Cd quality sound even if it is done correctly. mp3s are compressed audio and compression loses sound quality and lots of it. Do a side by side comparison of a well recorded CD and a well encoded 320 kbs copy of it. I bet you can tell the difference or at least I can.
Most downloadable music on the web is highly compressed such as iTunes.

apple uses AAC to compress the itunes music files not MP3...

 

[Damaso87 10+ year member]

apple uses AAC to compress the itunes music files not MP3...

Apple does...but you can pick (on windows) to rip to MP3

 

[AznRevlAzn 10+ year member]

well, most people who are not computer literate or literate in audio in this case do not know how to properly rip a song or encode one properly, they usually just go and get a free program and rip a song that only lets you rip it at 64 or 96kbs at most. Thats where it sounds like crap.

Also, people hear at the maximum of 192, not 128. There is a difference. As for CD qualiy audio, ripped, it comes to about 1024, and all that is just wasted unheard noise.

 

[Qwerty 10+ year member]

To simplify my thoughts:

It is much more worthwhile to use original CD-quality audio over even the best-encoded compressed audio (high-bitrate og, mp3, and wma files) than to use a $1500 amp over a $200 amp. The nuances associated with different amplifiers are MUCH less apparent than those with CDs and compressed audio. I did not mean to say that all compressed audio is worthless and serves no purpose. But, an audio system owner should consider using uncompressed music over before upgrading amplifiers for the purpose of improving sound quality and revealing nuances in music.

 

[Qwerty 10+ year member]

Also, people hear at the maximum of 192, not 128. There is a difference. As for CD qualiy audio, ripped, it comes to about 1024, and all that is just wasted unheard noise.

Why would an artist record "unheard noise." If nothing was there it would not occupy data space on a CD. Please do yourself a favor and step into a high-end home audio store or get into a car with a high-end stereo. The "unheard noise" you are referring is actually heard.

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

Agreed, but in my reality and I bet cash on this that not a soul here or any self proclaimed super ears can actually hear those nuances between amps. Again that bet has been going on for what, 16 years now..? magazines have been offering $10-15K to anyone that could actually hear those differences and not 1 soul could. Only time amps start making a really noticable difference in sq is when you get to different varieties of tube amps. So to even say that nuances are less apparent with cd's over mp3s in reality it does not matter because you cannot hear those differences.

I do understand what you mean but I do not think everyone on here listen to mp3's only, we listen to a variety. I listed to both mp3 and cd's and buy decent equipment to play both.

I also understand that people who in general buy amps to improve sq should only do so when they need allot more power to drive there speakers or need certain features of that specific amp. If a person goes from one class a/b to another class a/b with both the same rms rating it is literally a waste of cash unless the feature differences are vast

 

[Qwerty 10+ year member]

And if you really want to get down to it....CD's aren't all that great SQ wise either. Majority of them are overly compressed in mixing/mastering, killing most of their dynamics.

I agree. But, why would you further compress audio when some CDs aren't all that great SQ wise to begin with?

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

File space. Think about it. How does every compilation CD out there seem to be able to fit exactly 20 songs, no more, no less? Is it luck, or just compression methods?

Also, people hear at the maximum of 192, not 128. There is a difference. As for CD qualiy audio, ripped, it comes to about 1024, and all that is just wasted unheard noise.

Bullsh*t. As far as OGG is concerned, 192kbps is nowhere near as good as 512. I've done many different bitrate encodings of the same song before. Just because you can't hear the difference, doesn't mean we can't, either.

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

Why would an artist record "unheard noise." If nothing was there it would not occupy data space on a CD. Please do yourself a favor and step into a high-end home audio store or get into a car with a high-end stereo. The "unheard noise" you are referring is actually heard.

exactly, everything in a recording is made to be HEARD and should be HEARD not just lost. In my home gear I can hear things that most people would never pick up like people talking in the background of an actual recording! Or a slight squeek in a string, the sigh of a female singer in bewteen moments... little things like that. This is why I love being into audio and what makes it fun for me to try to recreate a very nice listening experience in a car, that and bass sounds so much better in car to me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

MP3'S do have there place and I do listen to them in car but it is rare for me to at home.

 

[Qwerty 10+ year member]

The truth is, MP3 can't handle high frequencies, low ones are a breeze. The lower the bitrate of the MP3, the more you lose higher frequencies. Don't believe me? Listen to an 80kbps MP3, and explain why it sounds muffled, but can still retain decent bass.

I'll do just that. Our ears are much more sensitive to higher frequencies than lower frequencies. The mp3 compression does not do a better job on the lower frequencies. It is simply more difficult for the human ear to differentiate.

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

I hope your results don't conflict *too* much. I've had mixed results depending on the song. Mainly, I have "Erben Der Schopfung - By My Side" in 48KBPS windows encoding which sounds fine, and a LAME 80kbps "Lacuna Coil - My Wings" which sounds horrible.

Years ago I frequented a site that had new music downloads every week or so, all in windows encoding under 56kbps. My entire preference of music is thanks to the less than AM radio quality music of rusgoth.org that I loved for years. While I can tell 256 from 512, 96 is still music to my ears. =p

 

[Qwerty 10+ year member]

IMO a lot of it has to do with what speakers/etc you are using. Some speakers are more revealing than others.

All speakers sound different with some being MUCH more revealing than others. The whole system technically plays a role in the quality of sound it produces. Focus on the original idea. I argue that using uncompressed music as opposed to compressed music will have a much greater effect on the sound quality compared to using high-end amps instead of low-end amps.

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

I have always argued "even though I am a hypocrite buying high and amps" that in car it really does not freaking matter. Bottom line, buy an amp according to ..

#1 power you desire

#2 features

#3 brand reputation

#4 looks / design

#5 after all of that is looked over then make your choice between the few winners according to price.

Also yes, I do not think many people that know what they are talking about would argue about "using uncompressed music as opposed to compressed music will have a much greater effect on the sound quality compared to using high-end amps instead of low-end amps."

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

Technically, using even a Legacy amp, when set right, won't sound much worse than a Zapco, assuming they are capable of pushing the same amount of power.

Personally, I'm saying that compressed music would have a much more noticable effect than the distortion caused by any electrical equipment, unless you have alt whine. I say this because in my experience, from HU to EQ to SSF to AMP to SUB gives less distortion than a normal 128kbps MP3 has in the first place.

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

They would not be able to tell the difference between a legacy and a zapco putting out the same rms power, that is the funny part //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif