Music Listeners Test 128kbps vs. 256kbps AAC

notthatwillsmith writes "Maximum PC did double-blind testing with ten listeners in order to determine whether or not normal people could discern the quality difference between the new 256kbps iTunes Plus files and the old, DRM-laden 128kbps tracks. But wait, there's more! To add an extra twist, they also tested Apple's default iPod earbuds vs. an expensive pair of Shure buds to see how much of an impact earbud quality had on the detection rate."

Humidity??

[TopSpin]

Clearly these test are inadequate, or at least they haven't disclosed enough information on the testing conditions. As any true audiophile knows, headphone performance is strongly affected by atmospheric conditions; I'll bet that if they had bothered to maintain proper water vapor saturation levels in the test facility the complete the inadequacy of the ear buds would have been obvious to everyone involved, because sensory receptors (hair cells) in the human ear only achieve full sensitively under controlled conditions.

No doubt they also failed to account for magnetic field alignment; the flaws of low bit rate reproductions are much easier to perceive when the listener is not aligned with Earth's natural axial vectors. The solenoidal force lines ruin the high band pass attenuation of any digital audio and will make both low and high bit rate reproductions equally poor, so naturally there wasn't a strong correlation among the test subjects.

Idiots.

</sarcasm>

Summary ....

[Anonymous Coward]

The Maximum PC staff listens to some crappy bands.

Phew - saved by slashdot!

[rueger]

Judging by the comments from the six people who actually got to read the article I'm glad it got slashdotted before I wasted my time on it.

Re:Too Many Variables

[Anonymous Coward]

while Coldplay songs, which are more simplistic, make it harder to discern.

I prefer Coldplay @ 0kb/s

Re:Cost and quality

[FightCopyright]

Yeah, well I used to have a gf who claimed to be a Scientologist, and she gave over $40k to the church. She states that some alien is responsible for blowing up volcanos that created humans, but you know what... the bitch is just wrong.

Wait a sec...

[cciRRus]

Maximum PC did double-blind testing with ten listeners in order to determine whether or not normal people could discern the quality difference between the new 256kbps iTunes Plus files and the old, DRM-laden 128kbps tracks.

Shouldn't that be a "double-deaf" test?

Re:Hmmm

[superpulpsicle]

Hmmm I took the pepsi challenge and chose gif.

Re:The results...

[Anonymous Coward]

You will have to pry my Ampex from my cold dead fingers.

Frankly, I'd rather they bury your Ampex with you.

Re:Apple earphones != throw aways

[kernspaltung]

Your shameless plug just sold at least one of your CDs. And ignore the AC's comment--they obviously didn't give your music a listen. You are most certainly a musician. I, however, am a drummer, which just means I hang out with musicians. *BADDA BOOM*

no, YOUR methodology is flawed

[r00t]

We want an experiment designed to identify the codec that will make our music sound the best.

That's it. "best" Not "like the original", which is a poor substitute for "best".

If the original was tainted by phono record pops and clicks, and the codec made that go away, great! We really don't care about "like original". We care about the best.

Your experiment measures something that, while mildly interesting, isn't what we need to determine.

Re:Of course..

[Anonymous Coward]

128kbps should be enough for anybody.

No Country music

[flyingfsck]

Both kinds of music were missing: They had neither Country nor Western music in the test.

What is America coming to?

Re:The results...

[bursch-X]

The harmonics in brass instroments and symbols

Is this higher maths?
.
.
.
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Aah, you mean cymbals?

Re:The results...

[flyingfsck]

"I could hear the lyrics clearly in a few places"

Hmm, I guess that is only because you don't have low skin effect monster cables on your earbuds... ;)

Anyhoo, if you can hear a difference, then you haven't gone to enough heavy metal shows.

Parse error

[Kadin2048]

At 192k I start not to be less annoyed.

I don't think that means what you think it means.

Re:no, YOUR methodology is flawed

[mikec]

So, you would be happy with my codec, which replaces hip-hop with Bach played on original instruments? That sounds best to me...

Re:No Country music

[v_1_r_u_5]

its senses.

Re:Parse error

[TobyRush]

As the bit-rate rises, he becomes less annoyed. At 192k, he starts to notice less of a difference, and so starts to become less annoyed.

Yes, but the original poster said that at 192k, he starts not to become less annoyed.

(I'm too literal-minded to let it pass just because no one else is reading this far down. Actually, I'm only here because I was looking for the inevitable Princess Bride reference...)