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Can We Really Tell Lossless From MP3?
EddieSpinola writes "Everyone knows that lossless codecs like FLAC produce better sounding music than lossy codecs like MP3. Well that's the theory anyway. The reality is that most of us can't tell the difference between MP3 and FLAC. In this quick and dirty test, a worrying preponderance of subjects rated the MP3 encodes higher than the FLAC files. Very interesting, if slightly disturbing reading!" Visiting with adblock and flashblock is highly recommended, lest you be blinded. The article is spread over 6 pages and there is no print version.
The "new" recording standard is to overcome environmental sound. Quiet channels are a thing of the past, I guess it's not the best solution but... have you ever noticed movies that are mixed "proper", with the voices at a whisper and the sound effects loud? This is very annoying to watch, if you can't blast the sound to hear the voices. To deal with this they even build a function (in televisions) to even out the sound and boost the quiet parts up, or limit the upper volume level(AVL) etc(helps during annoying ads). This is not bad. In the end we need a more advanced format that keeps all 'voices' separated so our amps can remix channels on the spot. We get lame final mixes in our rapped up formats. The best possible system would store each 'voice' separately and allow for a advanced amp/decoder to mix to our preference (like cutting out the whole band except the guitar). This is the best way to have an audio file but alas... doesn't really exist for consumers.