Most people can’t tell. That’s why 128kb streaming is doing so well. It’s also why “hifi” streaming is just snake oil, and FLAC and any bitrate above 128 is a waste of space. Anybody’s who’s into music should take that test and figure out if they should be storing FLACs and paying for things like Tidal.
But it takes all sorts, like for example listening to FLAC with $10 Panasonic earbuds.
Most people can’t tell. That’s why 128kb streaming is doing so well. It’s also why “hifi” streaming is just snake oil, and FLAC and any bitrate above 128 is a waste of space. Anybody’s who’s into music should take that test and figure out if they should be storing FLACs and paying for things like Tidal.
But it takes all sorts, like for example listening to FLAC with $10 Panasonic earbuds.
Hold on, you can totally hear the difference between 128 and 320 kbps encoded MP3s, even with some generic mobile phone earbuds.
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You don’t? At low bitrates, cymbals start to sound like crumpling cardboard to me.
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I don’t notice it on any of my sound listening options, never have but I definitely do hear it on a buddies high end setup
I normally just listen to podcasts on those earbuds, but it’s what I had at the moment, so it’s what I used.