FLAC VS MP3? Well, here's my "take it with a grain of salt" answer.

[theonly500]

Please do not twist my words.

 

Basically you said, you had "audiophiles" which were able to distinguish the sound. Then I added, that normal average persons won't be able to tell which one is which.

I don't know where i twisted your words there.

 

Sorry if offended you there.

[LeeWonky]

Basically you said, you had "audiophiles" which were able to distinguish the sound. Then I added, that normal average persons won't be able to tell which one is which.

I don't know where i twisted your words there.

 

Sorry if offended you there.

The difference between a normal person and audiophiles is probably saying the difference between one strand of hair compared to another strand of hair (both are of the exact same color) is probably a tenth of a nanometer. Barely any difference. Even the test somewhat proved that they're not entirely different from normal people.

Plus anyone could probably do this test with the same amount of time if they try to concentrate.  

[Volbet]

Plus anyone could probably do this test with the same amount of time if they try to concentrate.  

Let's try. I can easily do a blind test.

I have never self identified has an ´audiophile´, but I would say that my sound equipment is pretty good, so if there is a difference I should be able to hear it.

What songs/pieces of music did you use in your test? Or should I just try it with my own music?

 

The only problem is that the result will be based on self reporting, so you would have to trust me.   

[LeeWonky]

Let's try. I can easily do a blind test.

I have never self identified has an ´audiophile´, but I would say that my sound equipment is pretty good, so if there is a difference I should be able to hear it.

What songs/pieces of music did you use in your test? Or should I just try it with my own music?   

Well, if you read my thread, there's your answer on the song I used in the test...

 

 

The only problem is that the result will be based on self reporting, so you would have to trust me.   

What's this supposed to mean?

[Volbet]

Well, if you read my thread, there's your answer on the song I used in the test...

Well, I should read things a bit more thoroughly before asking dumb questions then

 

 

What's this supposed to mean?

It would mean that no one has any way of varifying whether or not I'm telling the truth. 

If I were to do a blind ABX test of a FLAC and MP3 version of a piece of music, then I would be the only one that would be able to report my results.

So, I could be lying through my teeth or I could be telling the truth. There is really no way for any of you to know for certain. 

[LeeWonky]

It would mean that no one has any way of varifying whether or not I'm telling the truth. 

If I were to do a blind ABX test of a FLAC and MP3 version of a piece of music, then I would be the only one that would be able to report my results.

So, I could be lying through my teeth or I could be telling the truth. There is really no way for any of you to know for certain. 

Fair enough, but thats just basically over-thinking. Thats why the title includes "take it with a grain of salt" because, well, take the results with a grain of salt.

[SSL]

Well, I should read things a bit more thoroughly before asking dumb questions then

 

 

It would mean that no one has any way of varifying whether or not I'm telling the truth. 

If I were to do a blind ABX test of a FLAC and MP3 version of a piece of music, then I would be the only one that would be able to report my results.

So, I could be lying through my teeth or I could be telling the truth. There is really no way for any of you to know for certain. 

 

Fair enough, but thats just basically over-thinking. Thats why the title includes "take it with a grain of salt" because, well, take the results with a grain of salt.

 

The foobar ABX plugin generates a verifiable hash that would at least make it very difficult to falsify results.

[LeeWonky]

The foobar ABX plugin generates a verifiable hash that would at least make it very difficult to falsify results.

I should use foobar ABX then if I have the time (more importantly the opportunity) to do it again.

[TheMastr13]

Oh yeah, woops, ripped. Burning is the other way.

Yeah, no one burns CD's anymore.

Umm... Yeah.. Totally *casually tosses CDs in the trash*

[EposVox]

I don't understand how people think they're being productive making these posts...

 

• It's already known that not everyone can tell or appreciate the difference between lossless and lossy audio. It's the same as people who can't easily tell the difference in image/video resolution or framerate. On average, most people probably can't without trying hard, but the techies/'philes who really appreciate it can.
• There's no "debate." One is objectively better than the other, but only a certain % of users can appreciate that.
• and thus - there's no reason to argue over it; those who appreciate it can appreciate it without hurting anybody.

I'm not sure how people find this a place of argument.

If I want to watch my videos in 4K UHD, then I can do just that, but I'm not going to go after someone that doesn't bother upgrading their DVDs. 

 

Stop worrying so much about what other people do and just enjoy life - you'll be happier.

[SSL]

I don't understand how people think they're being productive making these posts...

 

• It's already known that not everyone can tell or appreciate the difference between lossless and lossy audio. It's the same as people who can't easily tell the difference in image/video resolution or framerate. On average, most people probably can't without trying hard, but the techies/'philes who really appreciate it can.
• There's no "debate." One is objectively better than the other, but only a certain % of users can appreciate that.
• and thus - there's no reason to argue over it; those who appreciate it can appreciate it without hurting anybody.

I'm not sure how people find this a place of argument.

If I want to watch my videos in 4K UHD, then I can do just that, but I'm not going to go after someone that doesn't bother upgrading their DVDs. 

 

Stop worrying so much about what other people do and just enjoy life - you'll be happier.

 

I mean, sure, at which point why revive a nearly month-old thread.

[EposVox]

I mean, sure, at which point why revive a nearly month-old thread.

Didn't see that; was just directed to the thread and added my two cents.

[SSL]

Didn't see that; was just directed to the thread and added my two cents.

 

Directed "by whom"? :huh:

[Philosobyte]

Directed "by whom"? :huh:

Thank you for being one of the only people on the internet who understand relative pronouns.

 

 

snip

 I disagree. There are many people out there who can't hear the difference and know they can't hear the difference. They just want to use the format which even "audiophiles" can't distinguish from lossless so that they have security, the assurance that there's no chance they're missing out on anything. 

[EndlessOyster]

I once played the same song as a Flac and as a MP3 through a small music festival at 110dB and I couldnt tell the difference.

[SSL]

I once played the same song as a Flac and as a MP3 through a small music festival at 110dB and I couldnt tell the difference.

 

Remarkable.

[Philosobyte]

I once played the same song as a Flac and as a MP3 through a small music festival at 110dB and I couldnt tell the difference.

What bitrate did your mp3 file have?

[SSL]

What bitrate did your mp3 file have?

 

I suspect he's trolling .... again.

[EndlessOyster]

What bitrate did your mp3 file have?

256 I think,

 

I suspect he's trolling .... again.

No while working at a music festival I played two tracks one which was flac the other was a mp3, and I couldnt tell the difference. All I remember from the system was it had two line arrays flown either stage with subs lying on the floor infront of the stage. The line arrays were probably around 10 boxes in each array, so not too big.

[EposVox]

I disagree. There are many people out there who can't hear the difference and know they can't hear the difference. They just want to use the format which even "audiophiles" can't distinguish from lossless so that they have security, the assurance that there's no chance they're missing out on anything. 

I'm not sure how that relevantly disagrees with what I said. 

The tl;dr was that there is a difference and "to each their own."

There's still no problem with someone who can't tell the difference using lossless files. It hurts no one.

 

Just like if we reach a point where I can't tell the difference between 15k resolution and 8k or something, I'm still going for 15k. 

[EndlessOyster]

I'm not sure how that relevantly disagrees with what I said. 

The tl;dr was that there is a difference and "to each their own."

There's still no problem with someone who can't tell the difference using lossless files. It hurts no one.

 

Just like if we reach a point where I can't tell the difference between 15k resolution and 8k or something, I'm still going for 15k. 

Well lossless files are just huge, and I have a music folder of over 500GBs all MP3s I would hate to know how big that would be.

[EposVox]

Well lossless files are just huge, and I have a music folder of over 500GBs all MP3s I would hate to know how big that would be.

Yeah, but it's up to that person to decide whether or not it's worth it, not some randoms over the internet. Storage is super cheap these days. Storing music is easy.

[Philosobyte]

I'm not sure how that relevantly disagrees with what I said. 

The tl;dr was that there is a difference and "to each their own."

There's still no problem with someone who can't tell the difference using lossless files. It hurts no one.

 

Just like if we reach a point where I can't tell the difference between 15k resolution and 8k or something, I'm still going for 15k. 

I should have been more specific. If my assertion is true, many listeners do care about whether humans with golden ears can hear the difference between those files. And since there are listeners out there who care, they will ask people with supposedly golden ears about their opinion. These golden-eared people then proceed to argue among themselves in an attempt to give a unified answer. 

 

tl;dr The reason people argue about it is that there are people who care about it and ask about it.

[SSL]

I should have been more specific. If my assertion is true, many listeners do care about whether humans with golden ears can hear the difference between those files. And since there are listeners out there who care, they will ask people with supposedly golden ears about their opinion. These golden-eared people then proceed to argue among themselves in an attempt to give a unified answer. 

 

tl;dr The reason people argue about it is that there are people who care and ask about it.

 

Excellent summation.

[EposVox]

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