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Can you notice the difference between MP3 and FLAC?

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Can you notice the difference between MP3 and FLAC?

FLAC vs MP3

“Here, of course, the question is not about the difference between MP3 and FLAC, it is broader: that lossy compression formats (MP3, AAC, WMA, Ogg Vorbis and others; that is, lossy) differ from the “lossless” (FLAC, ALAC, APE, WavPack and others; that is, lossless).

FLAC vs. MP3

Actually, with such wording, it becomes clear that in the first group of formats, the original data is not completely saved, and the second can be restored to its original format (for example, Wav or Aiff extracted from CD) without loss. What exactly is lost and in what proportions depends on the specific type of lossy files and their bit rate, that is, the degree of compression. But to say that all MP3s sound bad and the “flacks” are perfect is the height of arrogance and incompetence. Lossy audio formats have been developing for more than twenty years, and serious research laboratories (Fraunhofer Institute, for example, in addition to working on MP3, is also famous for the invention of the most efficient solar battery) and a group of enthusiasts. The math of encoding is constantly improving, and nowadays it is not so easy to distinguish files produced by different codecs by ear.

I would immediately make a reservation that not only the files themselves are important, but also the equipment they are to be tested on, the listening environment, and the examiner’s listening experience. In MP3 of any low bitrate Ariel Pink will sing with the voice of Ariel Pink, of that there is no doubt. It is quite possible that a person listening to music as a melody through white headphones in a subway car is sufficient for the eyes, and the difference in codecs will come down to a comparison of file sizes. A disc jockey who is embarrassed to buy or search lossless will also think that everything is in order with his MP3, while preparing a set in the “Tractor” on the built-in speakers of the laptop. True, during a party on a big, loud, clean-sounding audio system from the club (sometimes they meet, believe me), it suddenly turns out that the guy who speaks right after for some reason, the music got big, clear and cool. Lossy formats are developed for the convenience of transferring files over the Internet, for storing them on portable audio players, and finally for personal playback. Okay, it’s silly to watch a gigabyte AVI movie on a big screen. Even in a home theater, this is not entirely decent. The same goes for MP3. On your iPod: listen to your health (although AAC from iTunes definitely sounds better), but if you go to the disco, please don’t miss out, even if you start Skrillex. And when you listen to Christmas jazz with your girlfriend’s parents on their big lacquered speakers, buy FLAC or ALAC too. With MP3, you run the risk of getting into an awkward situation. In theory, after 256 kbps bit rate, it will be quite difficult for your future audiophile father-in-law to know if you are leaking or not.

Usually when you view an MP3 file, you don’t care about anything other than the bit rate. If you already consider yourself a person with a taste for music and sound, you should look in the file properties for the codec data that was used during the conversion. Suppose you see “Lame 3.99” there, this means the latest MP3 codec was used and you’re in luck. But next to it is “Joint Stereo”, which is not great anymore. This means that to save a couple of percent of the file size, the codec was allowed to add something to mono, although the recording is stereophonic and the sound image has slightly lost depth and clarity. There are also fully botanical CBR or VBR, ABR and UBR, but if you’re ready to dig that seriously, do it yourself. Well, you found out the properties of the file, everything is simple there. The difficulty is this: You hardly ever know what your 320 CBR Stereo is made of. Scammed out of Internet radio? Made from an unremastered original Japanese CD? Recoded from 192? There is a lot of music on torrents or Soulseek, but there are few guarantees. Another complication is that lossy formats slightly increase the peak values of the audio signal. The so-called overshoot: thousands of micro-overloads throughout the entire file. Again, you won’t notice this on a train with an iPod. And the future father-in-law can hear. “The so-called overshoot: thousands of micro-surges throughout the entire file. Again, you won’t notice this on a train with an iPod. And the future father-in-law can hear.” The so-called overshoot: thousands of micro-overloads throughout the entire file. Again, you won’t notice this on a train with an iPod. And the future father-in-law can hear. “

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MP3 and FLAC: who wins?

MP3 and FLAC: who wins?

FLAC vs MP3

Music lovers from all countries have been arguing for many years: is it possible to distinguish a high-quality MP3 from a lossless one in a blind test (FLAC, APE, etc.)? How much does compression loss affect the music experience? Should you give up MP3? Let’s try to answer these questions.

FLAC vs MP3 320 kbps
A little history

In the early 1990s, experts understood that the future of music was digital. However, hard drives were expensive then and fans preferred to store their music collections on cassettes and CDs. The researchers faced a problem: they needed a suitable format to store records on computers. At the same time, they were counted every hundred kilobytes – you can slightly sacrifice quality compared to CD discs, but save precious hard drive space.

In the late 1980s, the first functional prototypes of a new lossy compressed audio storage format, MP3, were created. The first publicly available MP3 encoder appeared in 1994, and the first playback software soon followed. The first encoding algorithms made it possible to obtain files with slightly “chopped” high frequencies. The sound quality was not comparable to that of a CD, but the output file sizes were quite acceptable.

In the early 2000s, the sizes of hard drives were growing rapidly and other audio formats that provide lossless compression began to appear. Relatively speaking, an audio track in this format can be restored to its original WAV from a lossless CD. Perhaps the most popular lossless compression format was FLAC, introduced in 2001. It is suitable both for storing home audio collections and for playing music on professional computers. However, a FLAC file can be 6-10 times heavier than a good quality MP3 (256 or 320 kbps). But does file size and losslessness mean consistently high sound quality?

A bit of anatomy: The human ear is theoretically capable of hearing sounds from 16 Hz to 20 kHz. However, much depends on the age and individual characteristics of the listener. The author of this article can hear sound with a frequency of 16 kHz, but not 17 kHz and above, but there are adults (25 years and older) who can still perceive 18 kHz. All of these frequencies are quite successfully supported by the MP3 format. If you are exceptionally clear, you will be able to hear some difference in the high frequencies, but the difference is almost subtle for most people.

Even if your favorite song in the spectrogram is clipped to 20 kHz, you won’t hear any distortion (unless of course you’re 8 years old).

The vast majority of people cannot, for natural anatomical reasons, distinguish between high-quality 320 kbps MP3 and FLAC (as long as both digital recordings are obtained from the same source). Of course, if you compress more MP3, for example, up to 96 kbps, the difference will be clearly audible even with cheap headphones. But in the age of terabyte drives, no one listens to music with such compression.

Of course, the equipment used for listening has a significant impact on the perception of music. It is impossible to listen to all the high frequencies in the recording of a symphony orchestra on headphones for 300 rubles, even if you have wonderful hearing and a high-quality recording. However, many specialists are dedicated to mixing music, taking into account the capabilities of the most popular audio equipment among consumers. Bill Ward (Black Sabbath drummer) said that while working on his solo album Accountable Beasts (2015), he first tried to achieve a clear and distinct sound from each note, but then realized that almost all listeners would use inexpensive equipment. and they wouldn’t hear all tones and halftones. As a result, Bill bought several relatively inexpensive headphones from a nearby store and mixed the album in them.

In the case of a file obtained from the Internet (even bought honestly), it is extremely difficult to understand which input was the original source. The sound quality of a file obtained by digitizing vinyl or CD (with or without remastering) will differ from a quality recording of Internet radio broadcasts, although all files can have the same bit rate.

Thus, we come to an obvious conclusion: the difference between high-quality MP3 and high-quality FLAC will only be heard by a trained music lover (most likely young, since after 40 years the range of audibility is reduced ). In addition, you will need quite expensive equipment to appreciate all the characteristics of the sound.