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FLAC vs MP3/AAC
Sorry, I meant to post in gearheads....
I know there were several discussions on this already, but most I saw were nearly 10 years old and the rest brought up even more questions.
I can't hear a difference, can most people?
6 months ago I updated some stuff. Got some nice used Klipsch KG speakers that are better than anything I've ever owned, vintage Pioneer receiver and hooked up a blue-tooth adapter.
I also invested in my first pair of good headphones. At the recommendation from the employee I bought about a half a dozen different pairs and listened to them for about a week and returned all but 1. Price retailed from $100 - $350. Ended up keeping the Sennheiser that retailed for $350 (but on sale for about $225).
The speakers and headphones are the best I've ever heard my music.
I had avoided ripping all my boots for years, but finally broke down and did it. Took hours and hours (seriously, why does disc 1 and disc 2 from the same show have a different name, making me go back and manually label everything?). Dumb me didn't realize itunes has the ALAC option, so I downloaded in the highest bit rate available, 320.
Sounded great, as well as all the studio albums. So I'm not looking forward to doing it again to get better quality.
Out of curiousity, last night I ripped Vs into FLAC and the same CD into AAC 320. Tried nearly every song back to back, several times, and could not hear a difference.
Couldn't hear a difference on my phone with headphones, or blue-toothing it from my computer to my big speakers. Both sound great.
Some old threads said the biggest difference was heard with car speakers. Haven't tried it, but my car speakers are crap compared to what else I use. They also said the difference cant be heard with headphones, which didn't make sense to me....unless you're sticking with the earbuds or something. I spent about a month researching headphones and making sure they didn't need a driver, and like I said tried a bunch before I found a pair so I don't know why that would be the case.
Is there really a difference, or is AAC/mp3 getting better with the higher bit? I know i can hear the difference with a crappy mp3, but these sound great.
What would I have to do to hear the difference, or do many just never hear it? I mean I'm sort of glad, I don't have to re-rip all my boots or pay the extra cash. But if it can be better, I want to hear it!
I know there were several discussions on this already, but most I saw were nearly 10 years old and the rest brought up even more questions.
I can't hear a difference, can most people?
6 months ago I updated some stuff. Got some nice used Klipsch KG speakers that are better than anything I've ever owned, vintage Pioneer receiver and hooked up a blue-tooth adapter.
I also invested in my first pair of good headphones. At the recommendation from the employee I bought about a half a dozen different pairs and listened to them for about a week and returned all but 1. Price retailed from $100 - $350. Ended up keeping the Sennheiser that retailed for $350 (but on sale for about $225).
The speakers and headphones are the best I've ever heard my music.
I had avoided ripping all my boots for years, but finally broke down and did it. Took hours and hours (seriously, why does disc 1 and disc 2 from the same show have a different name, making me go back and manually label everything?). Dumb me didn't realize itunes has the ALAC option, so I downloaded in the highest bit rate available, 320.
Sounded great, as well as all the studio albums. So I'm not looking forward to doing it again to get better quality.
Out of curiousity, last night I ripped Vs into FLAC and the same CD into AAC 320. Tried nearly every song back to back, several times, and could not hear a difference.
Couldn't hear a difference on my phone with headphones, or blue-toothing it from my computer to my big speakers. Both sound great.
Some old threads said the biggest difference was heard with car speakers. Haven't tried it, but my car speakers are crap compared to what else I use. They also said the difference cant be heard with headphones, which didn't make sense to me....unless you're sticking with the earbuds or something. I spent about a month researching headphones and making sure they didn't need a driver, and like I said tried a bunch before I found a pair so I don't know why that would be the case.
Is there really a difference, or is AAC/mp3 getting better with the higher bit? I know i can hear the difference with a crappy mp3, but these sound great.
What would I have to do to hear the difference, or do many just never hear it? I mean I'm sort of glad, I don't have to re-rip all my boots or pay the extra cash. But if it can be better, I want to hear it!
Post edited by mace1229 on
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I recently put a new stereo in my vehicle. I bought a used truck that didn't have a usb port, so I swapped it out. My old car could only do mp3, but this new deck does flac. Make it easier because I don't need to worry about mp3's anymore, but I'm using the stock speakers in my truck, so there's not really an audio benefit to flac in there.
I'm happy with the way everything sounds. It was just knowing that there's even a higher detailed digital version out there and not being able to hear the difference that bugged me. But it the quality is pretty much maxed out with what I have, and I can't get that extra little bit without some complicated/expensive system I'm still perfectly happy.
Else, you're opening up a very expensive can of worms