MP3 vs WAV: formal study?

[Mark Bassett]

Not a formal study... but interesting none the less.

http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2013 ... t-everest/

Does appear anyone has actually taken up the offer yet of proving they can differentiate between 320kbps MP3's and .wav files in the link I posted above.

We’ve also heard from another impressive candidate who’s currently studying for a PhD in ear training. He is confident that he can demonstrate a clear positive at 192kbps, and seems optimistic that he might be able to succeed at 320kbps. Reliably differentiating a 192kbps file is an impressive feat in its own right (studies suggest that the majority of musicians and engineers can’t even hear that difference) but we already know that it can be done. If we could get any solid evidence of this happening at 320kbps, it would be news worth reporting.

That 'impressive candidate' is yours truly, although I haven't done anything impressive, just built an app to provide repeatable, reliable double-blind a-b-x seamless switching between any two sound files, who want's a try?

The difficulty lies not in hearing a difference, but scientifically proving that you can. Justin and I are still working out what constitutes 'proof' in his world that would satisfy readers.

[Mark Bassett]

Not a formal study... but interesting none the less.

http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2013 ... t-everest/

Does appear anyone has actually taken up the offer yet of proving they can differentiate between 320kbps MP3's and .wav files in the link I posted above.

We’ve also heard from another impressive candidate who’s currently studying for a PhD in ear training. He is confident that he can demonstrate a clear positive at 192kbps, and seems optimistic that he might be able to succeed at 320kbps. Reliably differentiating a 192kbps file is an impressive feat in its own right (studies suggest that the majority of musicians and engineers can’t even hear that difference) but we already know that it can be done. If we could get any solid evidence of this happening at 320kbps, it would be news worth reporting.

That 'impressive candidate' is yours truly, although I haven't done anything impressive, just built an app to provide repeatable, reliable double-blind a-b-x seamless switching between any two sound files. Who want's a try?

The difficulty lies not in hearing a difference, but scientifically proving that you can. Justin and I are still working out what constitutes 'proof' in his world that would satisfy readers.

[Sammas]

Not a formal study... but interesting none the less.

http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2013 ... t-everest/

Does appear anyone has actually taken up the offer yet of proving they can differentiate between 320kbps MP3's and .wav files in the link I posted above.

We’ve also heard from another impressive candidate who’s currently studying for a PhD in ear training. He is confident that he can demonstrate a clear positive at 192kbps, and seems optimistic that he might be able to succeed at 320kbps. Reliably differentiating a 192kbps file is an impressive feat in its own right (studies suggest that the majority of musicians and engineers can’t even hear that difference) but we already know that it can be done. If we could get any solid evidence of this happening at 320kbps, it would be news worth reporting.

That 'impressive candidate' is yours truly, although I haven't done anything impressive, just built an app to provide repeatable, reliable double-blind a-b-x seamless switching between any two sound files, who want's a try?

The difficulty lies not in hearing a difference, but scientifically proving that you can. Justin and I are still working out what constitutes 'proof' in his world that would satisfy readers.

Ha! If anyone was going to beat it, it was going to be you Mark

I don't doubt there are people out there that can accurately differentiate between a 320kbps MP3 and a wav file. The real beauty that I see in that article, I suppose is that it questions and to a large degree throws into tatters a rather sizeable concensus within audio.

I'd be happy to give your app a go! Not that I am in any degree confident that it will result in much. Any intention of putting the app on the internet, geekbench style? People download it, do a series of tests, than the results get uploaded to an online database.

[Mark Bassett]

You can find the links to the following (Mac only) apps here:

CD vs 320kb MP3

CD vs 256kb MP3

CD vs 192kb MP3

CD vs 128kb MP3

here: http://markmckinnonbassett.wordpress.com/listening-tests/

To achieve p=0.05 (common measure of statistical significance) you'll need to get 15 or more correct out of 20.

Good luck.

[Kurt]

I'm sure there used to be an ABX tool on rarewares.org years ago but I can't find it now.

Good luck

You can find the links to the following (Mac only) apps here:

CD vs 320kb MP3

CD vs 256kb MP3

CD vs 192kb MP3

CD vs 128kb MP3

here: http://markmckinnonbassett.wordpress.com/listening-tests/

To achieve p=0.05 (common measure of statistical significance) you'll need to get 15 or more correct out of 20.

Good luck.