Audio Quality

Gareth56

I think it would be fair to say that when it comes to audio quality playback Sony Walkmans are superior to iPods, so with respect to Walkmans would it be better to have AAC rather than MP3 audio files on a Walkman because MP3 files are inferior as far as audio quality is concerned and AAC files are far better?

[Deleted User]

Give this a read:

http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/

Gareth56

I can't follow all the techie stuff I was just basing the above on what I've read in less technical literature and what I've been told.

So in simple terms is there no difference in audio quality between MP3 and AAC files?

[Deleted User]

Gareth56 wrote: »

I can't follow all the techie stuff I was just basing the above on what I've read in less technical literature and what I've been told.

So in simple terms is there no difference in audio quality between MP3 and AAC files?

I guess I'll go to page 2 then and copy the conclusion across... :rolleyes:

What does all this mean?
Basically, if you want true CD quality from the files on your iPod or music server, you must use WAV or AIF encoding or FLAC, ALC, or WMA Lossless. Both MP3 and AAC introduce fairly large changes in the measured spectra, even at the highest rate of 320kbps. There seems little point in spending large sums of money on superbly specified audio equipment if you are going to play sonically compromised, lossy-compressed music on it.

It is true that there are better-performing MP3 codecs than the basic Fraunhöfer—many audiophiles recommend the LAME encoder—but the AAC codec used by iTunes has better resolution than MP3 at the same bit rate (if a little noisier at the top of the audioband). If you want the maximum number of files on your iPod, therefore, you take less of a quality hit if you use AAC encoding than if you use MP3. But "CD quality"? Yeah, right!

wizk1

I think it's all a load of b***cks in my opinion. If you want high quality audio files, go FLAC or some other lossless format, and listen to it on a high-end hi-fi. Not a crappy little MP3 player. My Samsung YP-Z5 does a decent enough job of playing 320Kbps audio, but I know it's not going to get any better than that.

Sput2001

i think it would be fair to say that when it comes to audio quality playback sony walkmans are superior to ipods,

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4....

aliEnRIK

Deleted_User wrote: »

Give this a read:

http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/

I assume you also agree with their conclusion that not all digital cables sound the same?

Halloway

For the same encoding rate/file size AAC is considered to have superior audio quality. My personal experience is that I would agree with that.

I have also owned several iPods and a Sony music player and I thought the Sony just edged it on audio quality (bearing in mind that audio quality across the entire iPod range has varied) but I don't think there's a lot in it. If anything it might simply have been that the headphones supplied with the Sony player were very good.

Marty_J

The player is waaaaaaaaaaaay down the list of things that make a difference to the audio quality. The earphones you're using are massively more important.

I like having AAC files, but to be honest I'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between one and an mp3. You can use a lower bitrate though, and so get more music on. Instead of using a 192 kbps mp3 file, you could use a smaller 160 kbps AAC and probably not tell the difference.

You're really dealing in minutiae though.

John_Gray

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I assume you also agree with their conclusion that not all digital cables sound the same?

None of mine seem to make any noise at all! :rotfl:

[Impressed with Halloway's statement of Occam's Razor in his signature. And it's quite some time since I've seen the word 'minutiae' used.]

aliEnRIK

John_Gray wrote: »

None of mine seem to make any noise at all! :rotfl:

[Impressed with Halloway's statement of Occam's Razor in his signature. And it's quite some time since I've seen the word 'minutiae' used.]

I suggest you change your amp and speakers then