Audio Quality

RobTang

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?

My first rule when it comes to personal audio... If YOU think it sounds good and you are happy, it is good. Dont (a-ha) listen to anyone else, esp those audiophile people. By all means try better equipment and other formats, but you need to make your own mind up as everyone hears differently...

and emphasize the point really dont listen to this audiophile people, ive seen then come up with crazy things like little speaker cable stands, so the cable doesn't pick up interfearence running along the floor and solid silver leads which cost £1000 per metre.

aliEnRIK

RobTang wrote: »

My first rule when it comes to personal audio... If YOU think it sounds good and you are happy, it is good. Dont (a-ha) listen to anyone else, esp those audiophile people. By all means try better equipment and other formats, but you need to make your own mind up as everyone hears differently...

and emphasize the point really dont listen to this audiophile people, ive seen then come up with crazy things like little speaker cable stands, so the cable doesn't pick up interfearence running along the floor and solid silver leads which cost £1000 per metre.

Yeah, what do we know.............

almillar

As Marty above says, the biggest difference in sound quality when you take an iPod and any Walkman out of the box is that the Walkman has in-ear phones, whereas Apple has stuck with on-ear phones, which can't hope to compete with the sound quality of the sealed off environment of your inner ear. Buy both, use the Sony earphones in the iPod, and vice versa on the same song, and I'll bet you can't tell the difference between the players, but will easily tell the difference between the earphones. OK they fit differently so it's easy to cheat but in-ear is way better, some people don't like the feeling though.
So AFTER you've got a decent comfortable set of earphones, then you play about with the bitrate/file type. AAC is more efficient, ie a 160kbps AAC will sound less compressed than an 160kbps MP3. Try going down to 96kbps on a track with plenty of cymbols or 'S' sounds, and you'll get a good idea of where MP3 fails.
Rik - I heard that digital is better so i plugged by DVD player into my speaker with my audio lead but I can't hear anything. Also, is it HD?!

aliEnRIK

almillar wrote: »

Also, is it HD?!

Not entirely sure what your question is mate. But heres what im talking about ~

http://www.stereophile.com/features/368/index3.html

Ill quote ~
"When I remeasured the SV-3700, I got about half the jitter than when I first measured it! What caused this reduction in measured jitter?
Changing the direction of the digital interconnect between the transport and the jitter analyzer.
This phenomenon was easily repeatable: put the cable in one direction and read the RMS jitter voltage, then reverse the cable direction and watch the RMS jitter voltage drop. Although I'd heard differences in digital-cable directionality, I was surprised the difference in jitter was so easily measurable—and that the jitter difference was nearly double.
To confirm this phenomenon, I repeated the test five times each on three different digital interconnects. One was a generic audio cable, the other two were Mod Squad Wonder Link and Aural Symphonics Digital Standard, both highly regarded cables specifically designed for digital transmission. The generic cable wasn't directional: it produced the same high jitter in either direction. But both the Wonder Link and the Aural Symphonics had lower jitter levels overall, but different jitter levels depending on their direction. Moreover, the generic cable had higher jitter than either of the two premium cables—even in the latters' "high-jitter" direction."


ie ~ not all digital (co-ax used between transport and dac in this case) cables are the same

Marty_J

Directionality, or the idea that electricity flows better in one direction through a cable than the other, is a common concept among certain self-identified audiophiles. Belden did a double-blind test for cable directionality in conjunction with an audiophile magazine. The end result was perfectly random. Belden is still happy to manufacture and sell directional cables to enthusiasts. They make up a long length of cable, cut it in segments, identify the ends of the segments so they know how it came off the spool (length A->B, length B->C, length C->D, etc), and then let the customer identify by careful listening which direction is "better". Over thousands of cables sold, the chosen "best" signal flow is random, for segments cut from the same spool!

Audio Engineering Society - Section Meeting Report - The Truth About Audio and Other Cables

Steve Lampen is Multimedia Technology Manager for Belden CDT. He has worked for Belden for thirteen years. Prior to Belden, Steve had an extensive career in radio broadcast engineering and installation, film production, and electronic distribution. Steve holds an FCC Lifetime General License (formerly a First Class FCC License) and is an SBE Certified Radio Broadcast Engineer. On the data side he is a BICSI Registered Communication Distribution Designer. His latest book, The Audio-Video Cable Installer's Pocket Guide is published by McGraw-Hill. His column "Wired for Sound" appears monthly in Radio World Magazine.

Top Ten Signs an Audio Cable Vendor is Selling You Snake Oil - Audioholics

Signal Processing Seminar - Debunking Audio Myths - Thomas D. Kite, Ph.D

el_gringo_3

I can only tell the difference when FLACS involved tbh, all the mp3/aac/wma's seem to be almost the same, providing they are written at similar quality and ripped from a digital source.

Even then over headphones I can't see it being that much more audible with a FLAC file. The real difference is when you put it on decent speakers or a soundsystem, then you can physically move your palm back from the speaker - notice how far away you can still feel the vibrations in your hand than with an mp3/aac.

lwbe

Marty J is right to say that the player makes little difference to sound quality. The headphones/speakers you use and the audio format are what matter.

If you have any kind of portable digital player, and some decent headphones, then you can judge whether MP3 is good enough quality for you. (for many people it is)

If you want better, go AAC or another format.

aliEnRIK

Marty ~ the test was repeated FIVE times and 'physically' measured. What are the odds............

Marty_J

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Marty ~ the test was repeated FIVE times and 'physically' measured. What are the odds............

From your article:

"The directionality was probably caused by differences in the way the two RCA plugs were soldered to the cable"

A manufacturing error caused by a badly soldered plug.

A dodgy connection is hardly something to strive for.

aliEnRIK

Marty_J wrote: »

From your article:

"The directionality was probably caused by differences in the way the two RCA plugs were soldered to the cable"

A manufacturing error caused by a badly soldered plug.

A dodgy connection is hardly something to strive for.

My 2 points are thus ~
All digital cables are NOT the same
Even the more expensive cables were directional