Lossless audio is not that important

[ToppingSMSL]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdHOji8FeUg


When comparing products, lossless vs lossy comes rather low down in importance when in comes to differences you can hear.

 

[abacus]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdHOji8FeUg


When comparing products, lossless vs lossy comes rather low down in importance when in comes to differences you can hear.

Watch the video again, he is talking mainly about how music is translated via different equipment not between different formats.
Just like any format, the quality of the equipment you use to play it makes a big difference.

Bill

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Watch the video again, he is talking mainly about how music is translated via different equipment not between different formats.
Just like any format, the quality of the equipment you use to play it makes a big difference.

Bill

I know exactly what he's talking about - that's why I posted the video. Watch it again.

And no, it's not about the quality of equipment you use to play it back.

 

[abacus]

I know exactly what he's talking about - that's why I posted the video. Watch it again.

And no, it's not about the quality of equipment you use to play it back.

I have already watched the video before you posted it, and post still stands. (A lossless file is 100% accurate)

Bill

 

[ToppingSMSL]

I have already watched the video before you posted it, and post still stands. (A lossless file is 100% accurate)

Bill

We know that. That wasn't the point.

 

[Gray]

Just like any format, the quality of the equipment you use to play it makes a big difference.

Indeed it does Bill.
And the video is making the point that it makes a bigger difference than whether the music is FLAC or 320kbps mp3.

 

[manicm]

I don't see the point of this video??? It's very specific to headphones and Apple, and Bluetooth and Airplay etc etc, so this video is only relevant to these users.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Nonsense, I can clearly hear the difference between Spotify and Tidal lossless (i.e. Hifi Quality or greater). While much sounds good, any of the 70s Pink Floyd albums sound awful on Spotify, for example.

Can you though? Have you done a blind test? Have you done the test shown in the video?

I have to say I've never listened to a 320 mp3 file and thought it sounds "awful" compared to FLAC.

 

[manicm]

Can you though? Have you done a blind test? Have you done the test shown in the video?

Yes I can ok??? I have subscribed to both Spotify and Tidal often. And the differences are clear on headphone/mobile and full hifi system. As I said, much of Spotify sounds good, but certain albums you will clearly hear the difference.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Yes I can ok??? I have subscribed to both Spotify and Tidal often. And the differences are clear on headphone/mobile and full hifi system. As I said, much of Spotify sounds good, but certain albums you will clearly hear the difference.

It could be different masterings. Have you checked that? The only way to do a proper comparison is get the FLAC file and make an mp3 from it and compare those.

 

[manicm]

It could be different masterings. Have you checked that? The only way to do a proper comparison is get the FLAC file and make an mp3 from it and compare those.

Whether it's the masterings I don't know. I have the CDs, and my findings are the same. The 70s Pink Floyd albums are lifeless on Spotify.

On Tidal lossless you will clearly feel the bass impact on some modern albums like Iron Maiden's Senjutsu than on Spotify.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Whether it's the masterings I don't know. I have the CDs, and my findings are the same. The 70s Pink Floyd albums are lifeless on Spotify.

Could be the mastering then. "lifeless" is quite a vague term.

 

[Steve983]

I can certainly hear the difference between lossless and MP3, I can also hear the superior sound of Hi Res stereo too when compared to cd if the source material is a modern recording that has been well recorded/produced and engineered/mastered.

How important is it? That's down to personal taste.

 

[Friesiansam]

A good part of this video is only relevant to using iPods Max to listen via an iPhone. As for lossless vs lossy, he states more than once that this is his opinion. Other people's opinions may be different and, whether the difference between lossy and lossless is detectable, will depend on equipment used and, how good your hearing is.

 

[Friesiansam]

Sure you can

So you are saying he is a liar?

 

[davidf]

I don't see the point of this video???

Just more ......to try and spoil things. It makes you wonder whether some people are actually in this hobby for the right reasons...

 

[Fidelity dom]

I personally use Spotify at 320 kbps, before adding streaming I spent an afternoon at our local hifi store demo room listening to both Spotify & Tidal via a primare i35. In the high end listening room yes I could occasionally hear a slight difference between the two streaming services & hi res streaming via tidal sounded fractionally better on the occasional track when I was sat in the sweet spot. I could occasionally hear a difference for sure, even with my middle aged ears. However the demoing moved on to swapping out various floorstanding speakers & the difference between speakers was far more noticeable. For me personally I came to the conclusion that in my living room with all the compromises of a non dedicated music space I was more than happy to go with Spotify. We all have different ears, different systems & rooms & priorities when it comes to how we enjoy our music & to me that is one of the joys of music & hifi😀.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

So you are saying he is a liar?

Let's just say I am far from convinced 😀. He perhaps thinks he can. We know that blind testing is important here and practically nobody does it (including hifi reviewers)

 

[Jasonovich]

Well Yes erm....is it worth it....do we have smart ears or do video jockeys on Youtube have exclusive access to the HiFi biblical scrolls that are without a question of doubt, the absolute truth. Dunno maybe the world is really flat?
More of the same vapour and I might actually start believing Christopher Columbus slipped off the edge of the Earth.

 

[Friesiansam]

Let's just say I am far from convinced 😀. He perhaps thinks he can. We know that blind testing is important here and practically nobody does it (including hifi reviewers)

You don’t know him, you don’t know what he listens to, you don’t know what equipment he uses and, you don’t know how good his hearing is but, you still think you know what he hears…

 

[abacus]

Lossless streaming costs no more than Lossy Spotify.

Bill

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Well Yes erm....is it worth it....do we have smart ears or do video jockeys on Youtube have exclusive access to the HiFi biblical scrolls that are without a question of doubt, the absolute truth. Dunno maybe the world is really flat?
More of the same vapour and I might actually start believing Christopher Columbus slipped off the edge of the Earth.

Exactly, ignoring measurements and blind testing is rather like that.

 

[Jasonovich]

Exactly, ignoring measurements and blind testing is rather like that.

Blind testing is flawed. When you nullify one of your senses, you mute your ability to differentiate the sound, so the brain assimilates all sound to be the same, Google it or you can ask one of your videos jockeys to comment 😜.
The best approach is to have a group of people in same room. Collectively their findings without prejudice should determine the outcome.
Measurements is just that, you're living on a different planet if you think, the buyer make their Hifi purchasing choice based on measurements?

 

[Friesiansam]

No chip here. It's just fact - you can't just say "well I can hear a difference" with no supporting evidence. That's not how it works anymore.

No, how it works is that people buy HiFi, based on what sounds good to them, because that is what matters. Most people don't care about measurements or bind testing, because those do not tell them what sounds right in their room, listening with their own ears.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Blind testing is flawed. When you nullify one of your senses, you mute your ability to differentiate the sound, so the brain assimilates all sound to be the same, Google it or you can ask one of your videos jockeys to comment 😜.
The best approach is to have a group of people in same room. Collectively their findings without prejudice should determine the outcome.
Measurements is just that, you're living on a different planet if you think, the buyer make their Hifi purchasing choice based on measurements?

That's not true. Not doing blind testing is flawed. Blind testing is a gold standard in science. Please stop making things up.