Yesterday was my first time taking an ABX audio test.
I tested CD Wav Audio vs. LAME MP3 320 CBR
Over Yesterday and today (well, actually its a couple hours past midnight now), I took the test a total of 6 times. Fubar ABX Testing was used for these tests.

The gear used on all tests is:
Soundblaster PCI 128
Pioneer DJM-600 Mixer
Pioneer HDJ-1000 Headphones

In all tests the bitrate is 320 CBR.

Description and exact settings will be noted on each test.

Various settings were changed during different test (example: stereo mode, joint stereo mode, replay gain on or off etc...) and all of those settings are noted in each test log.

Three different versions of the LAME encoder are tested, including the new 3.97a10 beta version

Each test is 21 tries.

Each test out of the six tests will be posted on a seperate page.


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Test 1 - CD Wav Audio vs. LAME 3.96.1
320 cbr, Stereo Mode, optimized for quality
-b 320 -m s -h -p
Foobar Replay Gain Off

foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.3
2005/04/29 19:26:04

File A: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.mp3
File B: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.WAV

19:28:16 : Test started.
19:32:32 : 01/01 50.0%
19:34:16 : 02/02 25.0%
19:36:40 : 03/03 12.5%
19:39:03 : 03/04 31.3%
19:40:57 : 04/05 18.8%
19:42:09 : 05/06 10.9%
19:43:50 : 06/07 6.3%
19:52:17 : 06/08 14.5%
19:54:12 : 06/09 25.4%
20:01:15 : 06/10 37.7%
20:02:42 : 06/11 50.0%
20:03:39 : 07/12 38.7%
20:03:55 : 08/13 29.1%
20:04:12 : 09/14 21.2%
20:04:33 : 10/15 15.1%
20:04:59 : 11/16 10.5%
20:05:24 : 12/17 7.2%
20:05:52 : 13/18 4.8%
20:06:19 : 14/19 3.2%
20:06:56 : 15/20 2.1%
20:16:53 : 16/21 1.3%
20:33:54 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 16/21 (1.3%)

Test 2 CD Wav Audio vs. LAME 3.96.1
320 cbr, Stereo Mode, optimized for quality
-b 320 -m s -h -p
Foobar Replay Gain Off
(Same settings as first test attempted again)

foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.3
2005/04/30 12:04:32

File A: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.WAV
File B: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.mp3

12:06:22 : Test started.
12:08:12 : 01/01 50.0%
12:08:42 : 02/02 25.0%
12:09:09 : 02/03 50.0%
12:10:07 : 03/04 31.3%
12:10:53 : 04/05 18.8%
12:11:27 : 05/06 10.9%
12:11:46 : 05/07 22.7%
12:12:38 : 05/08 36.3%
12:13:20 : 06/09 25.4%
12:13:52 : 07/10 17.2%
12:14:21 : 08/11 11.3%
12:14:58 : 09/12 7.3%
12:17:26 : 10/13 4.6%
12:18:21 : 10/14 9.0%
12:18:46 : 11/15 5.9%
12:19:09 : 11/16 10.5%
12:19:40 : 12/17 7.2%
12:21:10 : 13/18 4.8%
12:21:47 : 14/19 3.2%
12:25:31 : 14/20 5.8%
12:25:57 : 15/21 3.9%
12:26:07 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 15/21 (3.9%)

Test 3 - CD Wav Audio vs. LAME 3.96.1
320 cbr, Joint Stereo, optimized for quality
-b 320 -m j -h -p
Foobar Replay Gain Off

foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.3
2005/04/30 16:22:16

File A: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.WAV
File B: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.mp3

16:24:21 : Test started.
16:26:37 : 01/01 50.0%
16:28:57 : 02/02 25.0%
16:34:50 : 03/03 12.5%
16:37:38 : 04/04 6.3%
16:40:08 : 04/05 18.8%
16:41:08 : 05/06 10.9%
16:41:49 : 06/07 6.3%
16:43:01 : 07/08 3.5%
16:48:21 : 08/09 2.0%
16:51:16 : 09/10 1.1%
16:51:49 : 10/11 0.6%
16:53:15 : 11/12 0.3%
16:54:12 : 11/13 1.1%
16:59:32 : 12/14 0.6%
17:02:43 : 12/15 1.8%
17:04:36 : 13/16 1.1%
17:06:26 : 14/17 0.6%
17:06:53 : 15/18 0.4%
17:08:12 : 15/19 1.0%
17:08:54 : 16/20 0.6%
17:09:31 : 16/21 1.3%
17:09:41 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 16/21 (1.3%)

Test 4 - CD Wav Audio vs. LAME Stable Version 3.93 MMX Included
Preset Insane
Foobar Replay Gain Off



foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.3
2005/04/30 19:04:34

File A: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.WAV
File B: file://C:\Program Files\foobar2000\ABX Testing\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.mp3

19:07:51 : Test started.
19:10:54 : 01/01 50.0%
19:17:45 : 02/02 25.0%
19:19:25 : 03/03 12.5%
19:25:25 : 04/04 6.3%
19:26:21 : 05/05 3.1%
19:28:22 : 06/06 1.6%
19:36:37 : 07/07 0.8%
19:40:38 : 08/08 0.4%
19:47:05 : 08/09 2.0%
19:52:45 : 09/10 1.1%
19:53:54 : 10/11 0.6%
19:57:56 : 11/12 0.3%
20:00:21 : 12/13 0.2%
20:10:40 : 13/14 0.1%
20:19:26 : 14/15 0.0%
20:23:40 : 15/16 0.0%
20:26:32 : 16/17 0.0%
20:31:14 : 17/18 0.0%
20:35:04 : 18/19 0.0%
20:47:15 : 19/20 0.0%
20:51:42 : 19/21 0.0%
20:51:50 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 19/21 (0.0%)

Test 5 - CD Wav Audio vs. LAME 3.97a10 Beta
Preset Insane
Foobar Replay Gain set to Off

foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.3
2005/05/01 01:08:02

File A: file://C:\Program Files\Lame3.97a10\Encoding Folder\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.WAV
File B: file://C:\Program Files\Lame3.97a10\Encoding Folder\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.mp3

01:09:58 : Test started.
01:20:18 : 01/01 50.0%
01:20:54 : 02/02 25.0%
01:21:41 : 03/03 12.5%
01:22:13 : 04/04 6.3%
01:23:49 : 05/05 3.1%
01:25:08 : 06/06 1.6%
01:27:16 : 07/07 0.8%
01:28:13 : 08/08 0.4%
01:29:29 : 09/09 0.2%
01:31:00 : 10/10 0.1%
01:32:18 : 11/11 0.0%
01:33:13 : 11/12 0.3%
01:35:06 : 12/13 0.2%
01:36:27 : 13/14 0.1%
01:37:58 : 14/15 0.0%
01:38:50 : 14/16 0.2%
01:40:20 : 15/17 0.1%
01:41:23 : 16/18 0.1%
01:42:23 : 17/19 0.0%
01:45:40 : 18/20 0.0%
01:46:51 : 19/21 0.0%
01:47:01 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 19/21 (0.0%)

Test 6 - CD Wav Audio vs. LAME 3.97a10 Beta
Preset Insane
Foobar Replay Gain set to "ON"

foo_abx v1.2 report
foobar2000 v0.8.3
2005/05/01 02:25:15

File A: file://C:\Program Files\Lame3.97a10\Encoding Folder\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.WAV
File B: file://C:\Program Files\Lame3.97a10\Encoding Folder\YOUR_LIGHT_LUKE_-BP-1095784.mp3

02:27:12 : Test started.
02:27:59 : 01/01 50.0%
02:28:48 : 02/02 25.0%
02:29:26 : 03/03 12.5%
02:30:30 : 04/04 6.3%
02:31:17 : 05/05 3.1%
02:33:33 : 06/06 1.6%
02:36:11 : 07/07 0.8%
02:38:27 : 07/08 3.5%
02:42:47 : 08/09 2.0%
02:45:46 : 09/10 1.1%
02:48:29 : 10/11 0.6%
02:50:34 : 10/12 1.9%
02:57:11 : 10/13 4.6%
03:11:18 : 11/14 2.9%
03:12:45 : 11/15 5.9%
03:13:41 : 12/16 3.8%
03:15:01 : 13/17 2.5%
03:17:14 : 14/18 1.5%
03:18:22 : 15/19 1.0%
03:19:18 : 15/20 2.1%
03:21:26 : 16/21 1.3%
03:21:31 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 16/21 (1.3%)

--

You're Welcome.

--

Good results and some pair of ears you have!
With this problem sample it may not be possible to find a transparent setting,
but you might try lowering Insane's lowpass, and even tighter -m j stereo.

--preset insane -m j --lowpass 18.5 --nsmsfix 1

On one hand I wish I had your ears for testing, on the other Im glad I dont have to spend as much to get to my hi-fi

I've just started doing a bit of ABXing today (on modest equipment), and I'm wondering if there is a specific thing people can notice often. I've done 128 CBR, but I'm relying almost entirely on the sound of the drums, as well as a sort of "feel" that the low and high end don't have the same presence. The songs I'm using are Marillion ones with guitar/bass/keys/drums/vocals and I can hardly hear anything except on the drums, a bit on the vocals and occaisionally on what I think is an acoustic guitar playing arpeggios. So what else can I listen out for?

here is a good place to start looking on how to detect artifacts and listening tests.

All
Presets
Are
Already
In
Joint Stereo.

Its fair to point this out, I was not sure this is true for all popular compiles and saw no harm in putting -m j in.
By 'even tighter m j stereo', i meant tighter mj stereo than default mj stereo, not that m j stereo is 'tighter' in some particular respect.
--nsmsfix can 'tighten' or loosen m j stereo, by adjusting the preference for LR or MidSide encodes.

Now i notice --nsmsfix 1 doesnt affect --insane's LR/MS distribution so a lower value would be necessary to experiment.