Do You Prefer 320 kbps?
- Thread starter SWL3600
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cpt_paranoia
Addicted Member
If they do, it could be down to provenance; what mix/masterings have been used?
Yes!
I might prefer a really good recording in 320K MPS vs a crappy recording in lossless. But that good recording is almost surely available in lossless as well...in which case I would prefer the lossless version.
cpt_paranoia
Addicted Member
Wirh streaming services, who knows...
??
My biggest concern with streaming is that the services are doing additional processing (equalization, dynamic range compression, etc) to "improve" sound quality for their target market....those listening on smartphone speakers, ear buds, etc.
Add this to the overly aggressive compression that many labels have already applied, and the notion of streaming as a high fidelity alternative becomes questionable.
On a related note, I have wondered if it is not the services but rather the labels that are doing the additional processing. Unfortunately, us high-fidelity enthusiasts are a niche market, so the likelihood of a streaming service that caters to us is slim to none.
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cpt_paranoia
Addicted Member
That's exactly what I mean. Well, barring the 'improving' bit...
cpt_paranoia
Addicted Member
Yup; that's the provenance concern; streaming is just so opaque about where the sources are from, and what has been done to them, and by whom.
"Improving" as regards mobile and other lo-fi devices...to the inherent detriment of those using higher fidelity gear.
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SWL3600
Super Member
Thanks for the input so far. I agree with all of it. What got me to start this thread was a recent purchase of some Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones.
My previous pair were the Bose QC35 2's. I use them for long walks and hiking. Typically I'd just stream Spotify and they worked great for that.
When I got the new Bose headphones, Spotify was absolutely terrible to listen to. The highs were out of control and no amount of EQ could save it. Tidal sounded much better in lossless but believe it or not, it sounded better in 320.
At home in my HI-FI rig I looked further into this. I don't know what's going on with Spotify but it used to sound decent on my system but now not so much. Then I started comparing Tidal's 320 vs lossless tracks. Now this is my system, my room, my ears and all that but I was surprised that the majority of the time I preferred the 320 option because typically it was smoother and more natural sounding. The other thing I noticed was when comparing the two, they sounded so damn similar with the exception being that it almost seemed as if the lossless version had the treble turned up a click or two making it sound more 'crisp. Not my cup of tea.....and in the past when I had MQA or the more high resolution recording it was just more of the same. More treble.
Now some recordings have more detail depending on several factors but man it wouldn't surprise me one bit if what I think is going on here is in fact actually happening.
My previous pair were the Bose QC35 2's. I use them for long walks and hiking. Typically I'd just stream Spotify and they worked great for that.
When I got the new Bose headphones, Spotify was absolutely terrible to listen to. The highs were out of control and no amount of EQ could save it. Tidal sounded much better in lossless but believe it or not, it sounded better in 320.
At home in my HI-FI rig I looked further into this. I don't know what's going on with Spotify but it used to sound decent on my system but now not so much. Then I started comparing Tidal's 320 vs lossless tracks. Now this is my system, my room, my ears and all that but I was surprised that the majority of the time I preferred the 320 option because typically it was smoother and more natural sounding. The other thing I noticed was when comparing the two, they sounded so damn similar with the exception being that it almost seemed as if the lossless version had the treble turned up a click or two making it sound more 'crisp. Not my cup of tea.....and in the past when I had MQA or the more high resolution recording it was just more of the same. More treble.
Now some recordings have more detail depending on several factors but man it wouldn't surprise me one bit if what I think is going on here is in fact actually happening.
What is it that you think is happening?
SWL3600
Super Member
Oh, I dunno......maybe the higher frequencies are being tweaked to be perceived as having more clarity?
I'm not being 100% serious but hey, we are living in the world we're living in. Having a hard time trusting anyone these days. It's sad.
Back when storage space was an issue....maybe. But TB hard drives have made storage easy and affordable. The collection of my music is all on a hard drive. Well two....one as a backup. No more media. That's all gone. That collection represents many hours of work. Anything less than lossless would have been unacceptable.
E.G. Spotify doesn't do any EQ. Could you imagine the **** storm they would get from artists and consumers if they did?
Spotify, Tidal and Amazon only do normalization to -14 LUFS.
Loudness normalization on Spotify - Spotify
support.spotify.com
E.G. Spotify doesn't do any EQ. Could you imagine the **** storm they would get from artists and consumers if they did?
Spotify, Tidal and Amazon only do normalization to -14 LUFS.
Loudness normalization on Spotify - Spotify
There was no such "shitstorm" when radio stations added compression.
Stalking?
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To accept anything other than lossless goes against everything this forum is about. The continued quest of better sounding music. Even though most of us could never tell the difference between 320 and flac. Even though most of us have budget equipment set up in less than ideal room conditions. Even though most of my rock recordings of the 70s were recorded in bad conditions including mobile recording setups. Those same master recordings limited by 50 years ago technology. Perfect sounding music is our White whale.
Do you pay for listening to radio stations?
If you add *within reason, the whole white whale starts to smell.
cpt_paranoia
Addicted Member
The whole 'loudness wars' thing reputedly came about because record labels thought they could make their records 'stand out' more on radio plays by 'turning it up to 11'. Missing the fact that radio stations employed volume levelling of their own, for technical broadcast reasons (on FM)...
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