A/B/C Test - Please test and post your results

[superczar]

Ran into this rather interesting A/B/C test (that you can do at home) between and uncompressed/lossless master WAV/ 128kbps mp3/ 320kbps mp3

How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?

A hi-def test for your ears (and your audio equipment): Listen to these songs and see if you can tell the difference between an MP3 and an uncompressed audio file.

www.npr.org

Fellow members, especially those who are using DACs that allow them to do a clean stream from a phone or computer- Would you be fine doing this and posting your results.
For me, it kind of confirms what I already knew.
My ears are not capable of differentiating between 320 and lossless

Result:
- I got 4 of 6 of wrong where I selected 320 instead of wav
- I was clearly able to distinguish between 128 and the other 2 but could not distinguish between the 320 and WAV at all
- In 2 of the tracks, I had to switch 2-3 times to differentiate between the 128 and the other 2 but got at least that difference right each time

Since it is late at night, I could do this only in my study with a pair of KEF iQ5 and a HK AVR handling the DAC and amplification.
However I will test again tomorrow in my other setups to see if I can hear a difference

 

[newlash09]

Hi superczar...

I've actually tried that on my gaana subscription streaming through my Google Chromecast.. and there was a certain difference between the free 128 kbps streams, and the paid 320 kbps streams on the majority of the tracks. But please mark the use of the word majority. Some tracks were just plain crap on both

 

[superczar]

Some tracks were just plain crap on both

LOL

128 and 320 are usually clearly discernible - Even on my 1st MP3 enabled phone way back with just-a-tad-better than a basic headphone, I remember how much better 256 sounded vs 128 although getting hold of 256kbps used to be a lot more difficult then.

Here's another (and probably better ) test I found.
This lets you do an immediate flip so there is no lag involved.

Is your audio system really ready for lossless?

Do an ABX test in your browser, and see if you can tell the difference between lossless and lossy audio

abx.digitalfeed.net

 

[greenhorn]

I got 4/6 where I picked the uncompressed correctly. The other 2 I ended up picking the 128 because I thought the compression artefacts I was hearing were detail that the was masked on the other one, when it turned out to be the other way round. So much for modern music
All 3 Coldplay's sounded weird and compressed because I have that CD and it sounds so much different on my main system.
The easiest was the concert clip because there was a bit of white noise at the start, and the effect of compression on white noise is the easiest to make out ( experience from converting cassette tapes to mp3!)


Equipment used: Moto x4 and mi pro HD earbuds

 

[lalit09]

I got 4/6 correct, 1 320kbps katy, 1 128 of cold play
Played through phone speaker.

 

[superczar]

I got 4/6 correct, 1 320kbps katy, 1 128 of cold play
Played through phone speaker.

:-O

 

[Ashenden]

My ears are not capable of differentiating between 320 and lossless

Same here, guess we are lucky . Tried on Sennheiser HD380 and then through bedroom audio setup with marantz CD player as DAC

 

[Hari Iyer]

Only double blind tests are useful. Your mind will easily play psychoacoustics and alter the results to your minds inclination.

 

[spirovious]

Got got 4 out of 6 correct

 

[superczar]

Only double blind tests are useful. Your mind will easily play psychoacoustics and alter the results to your minds inclination.

Is your audio system really ready for lossless?
Try this one -

For each iteration, you need to play X and then flip to A and B to determine whether X is A or B
Give it a try - there is no harm other than losing 15 mins of your time

 

[Deleted member 15865]

4/6 here too. Both me and wife got same score. While one of our mistake matched (no. 2), the other was for different clips.

 

[superczar]

Please try the other test as well

ABX High Fidelity Test list

A set of browser-based ABX tests comparing lossless and lossy music samples

abx.digitalfeed.net

The first one is tidal lossless vs lossy
I got 32% correct- In just one of the songs (the last one by dixie chicks) was I able to latch on to one particular detail which made me get 80% right on that

4/6 here too. Both me and wife got same score. While one of our mistake matched (no. 2), the other was for different clips.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Please try the other test as well

ABX High Fidelity Test list

A set of browser-based ABX tests comparing lossless and lossy music samples

abx.digitalfeed.net

The first one is tidal lossless vs lossy
I got 32% correct- In just one of the songs (the last one by dixie chicks) was I able to latch on to one particular detail which made me get 80% right on that

Takes too much of patience. I couldn’t get myself to go beyond the first clip. Sorry.

 

[superczar]

Takes too much of patience. I couldn’t get myself to go beyond the first clip. Sorry.

Ha - thanks for trying though

 

[Ashenden]

The second link is a better test. But got it right only 48%. So that means I couldn’t distinguish. In the first link it was 3/6. So there too lost

 

[drkrack]

Got 4/6 as well...
It depends upon what Genre you usually listen to I suppose, I made mistake in the classical genre.
selected the 128 kbps version

 

[jls001]

Stick to wav for listening on home stereo rig. Compressed formats are a compromise to reduce storage space needed in portable players or mobile phones.