Questions about mp3 quality vs hi-fi system, Is logical to listen mp3s with a serious system? Options

[pietrosolar]

Hi guys,
I was questioning about my music library, some of it: flac. Other: mp3

Now: I really have not a great system (just a good pair of headphones, and a usb dac). But I was thinking at it in general: until what could be have a sense to listen mp3 music with a good system?

I mean, if u listen music with the notebook ampliers hardly you will recognize differences beetwen a mp3 128 kbps and a 24bit-etc.... So when, with what kind of system u will be able to listem differences, or to feel the bad quality of a 320kbps mp3?

[lvqcl]

with what kind of system u will be able to listem differences

The worse the better: Deviation from a flat response can unmask artifacts.

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

Hi guys,
I was questioning about my music library, some of it: flac. Other: mp3

Now: I really have not a great system (just a good pair of headphones, and a usb dac). But I was thinking at it in general: until what could be have a sense to listen mp3 music with a good system?

I mean, if u listen music with the notebook ampliers hardly you will recognize differences beetwen a mp3 128 kbps and a 24bit-etc.... So when, with what kind of system u will be able to listem differences, or to feel the bad quality of a 320kbps mp3?

MP3 encoder developers often have truly high performance audio systems in specially treated rooms for their evaluations of their own products. In general they are looking for a very high proportion of all files, even the most difficult to be indistinguishable at the highest or competitive bit rates. Not only that, but they know what to listen for.

If you want to do your own proper blind evaluations of your own 320K bit MP3 files, this is actually a pretty easy test for you to set up for yourself. At least one well-known high quality music player software, namely FOOBAR has an ABX plug in. Just find a CD track you like, encode to MP3 (or AAC), decode back to .WV and compare the two .WAV files, ensuring that no level or start/stop timing errors have been introduced along the way.

[DonP]

I mean, if u listen music with the notebook ampliers hardly you will recognize differences beetwen a mp3 128 kbps and a 24bit-etc.... So when, with what kind of system u will be able to listem differences, or to feel the bad quality of a 320kbps mp3?

If you can hear above 16 khz, and you are talking about loudspeakers that can reproduce that well (most can't, but most earphones can), then you'd want to use an mp3 setting that doesn't cut those high frequencies. 320 should be good on that count.

[greynol]

It's been said countless times that hearing pure tones above 16kHz and hearing content above 16kHz in music are quite different, damn that pesky masking.