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How low can you go?

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  • September 4, 2011 at 2:30 pm #6847
    DJ Max D.
    Member

    Well, I can go REALLY low since I am a bassist. But when it comes to mp3s 95% of my tracks are 320 kbps CBR or V0 VBR, the remaining 5% is 256 kbps CBR or V1 VBR.. I don’t think it’s too good to go below that.

    September 4, 2011 at 3:27 pm #1001585
    D-Jam
    Participant

    There have been many scientific tests to prove most audiophiles are all talk.

    They played songs they never heard at different sound qualities, and they couldn’t tell the difference.

    Bad quality is bad quality…but the arguments I’ve seen about how “even 320 kbps is a step down…I can tell” are a complete lie.

    September 4, 2011 at 3:35 pm #1001586
    Irwin J. Céspedes
    Member

    Interesting, but as D-Jam says, no matter how high is the quality of the file, the result tends to be the same. Although, people can perceive a big difference between file formats. One example, once I converted a .WAV file I have done to a .mp3@96Kbps and to a .ogg@96Kbps and the winner, hands down, was the .ogg file. It remained clear and punchy.

    Even though this test, I don’t know the technical specs of each file format, but there are some specific formats that work better in lower situations

    September 5, 2011 at 2:04 am #6854
    jezalenko
    Member

    D-Jam, post: 6844 wrote: There have been many scientific tests to prove most audiophiles are all talk.

    They played songs they never heard at different sound qualities, and they couldn’t tell the difference.

    Bad quality is bad quality…but the arguments I’ve seen about how “even 320 kbps is a step down…I can tell” are a complete lie.

    This may be true – up to a point. I have noticed that when listening to my music, I can pick out the difference between a 320kbps and an older 128kbs – however, I too struggle to tell the difference between a 320 and 256 kbps.

    So I think bit rates do make a difference, just not as much a we could like to think….

    September 5, 2011 at 11:55 am #6859
    Fluxdeep
    Member

    D-Jam, post: 6844 wrote: There have been many scientific tests to prove most audiophiles are all talk.

    They played songs they never heard at different sound qualities, and they couldn’t tell the difference.

    Bad quality is bad quality…but the arguments I’ve seen about how “even 320 kbps is a step down…I can tell” are a complete lie.

    As usual D-Jam, you need only a few words to say big truths and I honestly admire you for that 🙂

    I don’t buy music in WAV format, just Mp3; 320 if i can, but honestly 256 would not make any difference. I bet that one could use 192 now and then and people just would not notice.

    September 5, 2011 at 2:46 pm #6862
    Benny Mackney
    Member

    320 or bust for me. I usually don’t notice but if I listen I can spot some dullness in the highs sometimes when the bitrate goes any lower (192ish, 128 sound almost rubbish now).

    September 9, 2011 at 5:40 pm #1001626
    Phil Morse
    Keymaster

    For me, 320 is indistinguishable from anything else, same with 256, 192 sounds fine in most cases – any lower, no, except for like 60s pop etc where it sounds rubbish anyway.

    September 9, 2011 at 5:45 pm #7154
    Phil Morse
    Keymaster

    For me, 320 is indistinguishable from anything else, same with 256, 192 sounds fine in most cases – any lower, no, except for like 60s pop etc where it sounds rubbish anyway.

    September 16, 2011 at 2:06 pm #7557
    Chris Jennings
    Participant

    I use lower than 320 quite a bit in VBR format. The thing to remember is there are other variables in the creating of the mp3 before the user even gets it that can affect the quality. A song with quality mastering may very well be able to go to a much lower bit rate and still sound good than a song with poor mastering.

    September 19, 2011 at 11:13 am #7625
    Benny Mackney
    Member

    Chris Jennings, post: 7552 wrote: A song with quality mastering may very well be able to go to a much lower bit rate and still sound good than a song with poor mastering.

    Obviously. Crap in any format is still crap. When people talk of the quality of a music format, they mean how accurately it reproduces whatever came out of the studio main mixer.

    September 20, 2011 at 6:58 pm #7658
    Kranic
    Member

    To put it quite simply:

    Any lossy compression algorithm will drop data.

    The real question is, how much is there to drop?

    Extremely melodic music, like Trance, will sound *BAD* at the lower rates.
    Some Drum and Bass and Techno might sound fine at 128Kbps on the other hand!

    Just my 2 cents 🙂

    September 22, 2011 at 8:26 pm #7702
    Phil Morse
    Keymaster

    Sense spoken my man!

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