I was just listening to some mp3s (I have about 5GB so it's a decent investment) and I decided to pop the CD of what I was listening to. Whoa, I was blown away by the difference (which I didn't expect). It was simply a whole other level of clairity. And this was a comparison to an mp3 encoded at 192kbps too. To everyone who can't hear the difference, I envy you. This realization isn't a fun one for me as it devalues my 5GB collection in my mind. Hard drives had better speed up and get bigger because I like the concept of mp3s, but I wish they were a better.
It very much depends on which player you use. FYI winamp's decoder is CRAP.
yeah it all depends upon the player you use as well as the format.. a lil insight about the different formats.
Codec performance on a typical multimedia computer
Quality Format
rating 5 (CD quality)
WAV / 1400kbps (original)
MP3 / 85kbps (fhg vbr)
RA / 96kbps
WMA / 96kbps
MP3 / 113kbps (lame vbr)
OGG / 118kbps
rating 4
MP3 / 56kbps (mp3 pro)
MP3 / 80kbps (mp3 pro)
WMA / 64kbps
RA / 64kbps
rating 3 (FM radio)
WMA / 48kbps
OGG / 67kbps (vbr)
MPC / 85kbps (vbr)
rating 2
WMA / 32kbps
RA / 45kbps
MP3 / 48kbps (mp3 pro)
rating 1
(AM radio)
WMA / 20kbps
RA / 32kbps
MP3 / 40kbps
Well, not all mp3's are created equal... but neither are all CD's. Some discs are poorly mastered, and can sound worse than a bad mp3. For me the greatest advantage of mp3's is locating hard-to-find oldies, which are not usually cd quality anyway, in cd (or near) quality, without spending hundreds/thousands of euros.
I certainly have never noticed the difference. I have about 4GB of MP3z. I've always used Audiocatalyst etc.
Have some patience, The frauenhofer institute in hanover I guess is on way to improve mp3. Acc to them their New generation of mp3 will support 7.1 and will reproduce original sound quality.
I'd even venture to say that the Fraunhoffer 128kbit sounds better than the Xing 160kbit routines.
I was really skeptical of this whole fraunhofer encoder thing, but recently a friend of mine who is a big audiophile encoded some stuffs with it and it sounded like 10 times better than the copy I had of the same CD that was ripped with AC. I mean, the AC rip sounded decent, but not like a CD. When I went to the fraunhofer rip though, daym! Also, I just got the newest Sonique and that makes it sound even more clear. I am a believer now, lol.
naren Wrote:I was really skeptical of this whole fraunhofer encoder thing, but recently a friend of mine who is a big audiophile encoded some stuffs with it and it sounded like 10 times better than the copy I had of the same CD that was ripped with AC. I mean, the AC rip sounded decent, but not like a CD. When I went to the fraunhofer rip though, daym! Also, I just got the newest Sonique and that makes it sound even more clear. I am a believer now, lol.
Good to know it haha.
5GB of music wow.
