Re: FLAC vs. VBR MP3: should I hearadifference?

[Neil Davidson]

> > -Very- few people can tell the difference between a
> properly encoded
> > Mp3 and a FLAC. You'll need a golden system AND golden ears.
> I have to disagree. Being in my mid-forties, I certainly
> don't have golden ears (if I ever did) and my system is
> reasonable but by no means high end. I can tell the
> difference and I'm sure most folks with normal hearing could.
> Spotting the signature artefacts of compression is I suppose,
> a wee bit like looking at those 'magic eye' pictures or
> spotting the ad-break warning marker on the corner of the TV screen.
> Most folk don't see them, but once spotted you can't easily
> fail to notice them.

Agreed. Also like spotting JPEG and MPEG artefacts in pictures and videos. I
know plenty of people that just don't see them until they are pointed out.

[Mark_H]

Good analogy but needs some qualification.

A DVD is more like a 96kbps mp3.
A D-Theater tape is more like a 320kbps mp3.

With D-Theater it is *very* much more difficult to spot the MPEG errors due to its much higher bandwidth. You need much better equipment and knowledgable eyes to see the problems.

Mark