The rule of Perceptual Entropy is that you need a minimum bitrate of 176kbps for 44.1kHz stereo. If you're encoding below that, it can't possibly be indistinguishable from the original. ITU-R BS.1116-1 testing has proven that simple fact out over and over again.
How can this be true? If you record a 22kHz square wave, you certainly don't need 176kbps to describe that as perfectly as uncompressed audio - it depends how good your compression algorithm is.
I'm not disagreeing with your other points, but subjective testing is never that simple.
Before you ask, "Don't you feel guilty" the answer to that is: "Did Citibank or Nationsbank feel guilty about accepting 700 billion in taxpayer dollars?"
No, but neither will you be getting any more than $500k in your paycheck anytime soon.
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The rule of Perceptual Entropy is that you need a minimum bitrate of 176kbps for 44.1kHz stereo. If you're encoding below that, it can't possibly be indistinguishable from the original. ITU-R BS.1116-1 testing has proven that simple fact out over and over again.
How can this be true? If you record a 22kHz square wave, you certainly don't need 176kbps to describe that as perfectly as uncompressed audio - it depends how good your compression algorithm is.
I'm not disagreeing with your other points, but subjective testing is never that simple.
Before you ask, "Don't you feel guilty" the answer to that is: "Did Citibank or Nationsbank feel guilty about accepting 700 billion in taxpayer dollars?"
No, but neither will you be getting any more than $500k in your paycheck anytime soon.