Beatles 24 vs 16 bits...

[Archimago]

Just got my Beatles USB stick. Anyone done ABX testing of 24 bit FLAC vs CD?

I'm thinking of upsampling a track from remastered 16-bit CD to 24-bits and doing some ABXing myself, any Beatle audiophile can recommend which track is considered of high enough quality that 24 bits can make a difference???

[Wombat]

I'm thinking of upsampling a track from remastered 16-bit CD to 24-bits and doing some ABXing myself, any Beatle audiophile can recommend which track is considered of high enough quality that 24 bits can make a difference???

None.
I doubt any of the originals was recorded with more dynamic range a 16bit version can offer even after remastering.
If i read correctly i even wonder why they offer 24/44.1. I doubt they did the remastering at 44.1kHz so they had already processed it inbetween again.
Of cause they may have treated the master to 24/44.1 different as the master to 16/44.1

[Wombat]

There comes me one thing to mind. Mr. Phil Leigh has some interesting findings with throwing everything into an Audio Diffmaker.
It should be easy to compare 2 files. It also should show what version is louder by nature and may sound different alone due to that.

[Phil Leigh]

There comes me one thing to mind. Mr. Phil Leigh has some interesting findings with throwing everything into an Audio Diffmaker.
It should be easy to compare 2 files. It also should show what version is louder by nature and may sound different alone due to that.

I'll look into it. I have the 16 & 24-bit versions of AR and LIB...

[Phil Leigh]

OK, so I diffed the 24 and 16 bit versions of Come Together.
First observation: these come from the same digital master. There is zero sample rate difference between them (ie the samples all line up perfectly - not possible if they were from different masters).

Second observation: the overall null is -82dB (so in 16-bit terms the difference is in the bottom 3 bits). The difference file sounds silent until you give it 50dB of boost - then you can hear broadband noise (hiss) plus the basics of the music itself - you can follow the words!. Interestingly the hi-hats are very clear...

Looking at the diff file frequency plot, the differences are all below 500Hz or above 15kHz. In between there is little difference.

Conclusion: the files are very similar but still different. The differences should be audible on good equipment. The differences should manifest themselves at the top end (hi-hats) and possibly in the bass guitar/drums.

The 24-bit masters are worth having - certainly Abbey Road is.

[cliveb]

Looking at the diff file frequency plot, the differences are all below 500Hz or above 15kHz. In between there is little difference.

Conclusion: the files are very similar but still different. The differences should be audible on good equipment. The differences should manifest themselves at the top end (hi-hats) and possibly in the bass guitar/drums.

Second conclusion: the differences you hear are probably nothing more than the artefacts of noise-shaped dither that was added to the 24 bit masters when preparing the 16 bit releases.

[Phil Leigh]

Second conclusion: the differences you hear are probably nothing more than the artefacts of noise-shaped dither that was added to the 24 bit masters when preparing the 16 bit releases.

Clive - entirely possible - however that means the 24-bit versions are more "accurate"...
In fact looking again at the frequency plots I am certain you are correct.

The 24-bit versions have (literally) more music and less noise in them. But we are talking about tiny things here.

[lrossouw]

The 24-bit masters are worth having - certainly Abbey Road is.

Thanks Phil! I was going to get them as they are somewhat more portable than a big box of CDs (and require no ripping). But now I have an audiophile reason for it to, though I'm unlikely to be able to hear the difference

[w_ellis]

Hi,

I've recently bought this too and want to check whether I'm actually listening to it at 24/44.1.

I'm playing the FLAC files via the the optical output from my Squeezebox Classic attached to my Denon AVR-3805. Will the optical output send 24bit to the amp?

Thanks,
Will

[Phil Leigh]

Hi,

I've recently bought this too and want to check whether I'm actually listening to it at 24/44.1.

I'm playing the FLAC files via the the optical output from my Squeezebox Classic attached to my Denon AVR-3805. Will the optical output send 24bit to the amp?

Thanks,
Will

Yes. Definitely.