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Can You Really Hear the Difference Between Lossless, Lossy Audio?
CWmike writes "Lossless audio formats that retain the sound quality of original recordings while also offering some compression for data storage are being championed by musicians like Neil Young and Dave Grohl, who say compressed formats like the MP3s being sold on iTunes rob listeners of the artist's intent. By Young's estimation, CDs can only offer about 15% of the data that was in a master sound track, and when you compress that CD into a lossy MP3 or AAC file format, you lose even more of the depth and quality of a recording. Audiophiles, who have long remained loyal to vinyl albums, are also adopting the lossless formats, some of the most popular of which are FLAC and AIFF, and in some cases can build up terabyte-sized album collections as the formats are still about five times the size of compressed audio files. Even so, digital music sites like HDtracks claim about three hundred thousand people visit each month to purchase hi-def music. And for music purists, some of whom are convinced there's a significant difference in sound quality, listening to lossy file formats in place of lossless is like settling for a Volkswagen instead of a Ferrari."
There is a long discussion among very qualified individuals on this subject. You can read it here
Mine goes to fiveier.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Agreed, if anyone is really such a purist that they think a file format is superior over another, they should either skip the argument and go see the band live, or kill themselves to save everyone else the hassle.
I got here through a series of tubes
By Young's estimation, CDs can only offer about 15% of the data that was in a master sound track...
[ -- insert appropriate Neil Young lyric for satirical effect here -- ]
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
It's like asking "can you win a race against a Toyoda?" where do you even start with that....?
Since Akio Toyoda is 30 years older than me, I'm pretty sure I could beat him in a race.
it doesn't matter how lossy or lossless the file is if you're listening with shitty white earbuds.
Or not using Monster Cable
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
I listen in the truck with a blown exhaust and whilst getting high on the fumes, lossy or lossless? I have trouble noticing if the car radio is even turned on.
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
You jerk! I clicked on that link!
Doesn't matter, the audiophile market is not rational (kind of like the wine market).
Show me a rational market, and I'll have to inquire as to the nature and evolutionary history of the species of aliens participating in it.
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
Look, you want your 0's and 1's to look like stupid Comic Sans 0's and 1's or like high quality, stylish Zapfino 0's and 1's?
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Yes! Someday, instead of having real dog whistles, we'll just play back mp3's of dog whistles for our dogs, and those will only work if recorded in 24bit/96kHz!
Also Monster Cable.
That's a myth. Monster cables are no better than cheaper products from other vendors.
If you can hear a difference, then it's probably because you have your ethernet cable connected backwards.
You need to go deeper.
Hey, it still counts if you're listening to it on an episode of Tom & Jerry.
Violence is like duct tape. If it doesn't solve the problem, you didn't use enough.