Cockos Incorporated Forums - View Single Post - Discrepancy in what people are hearing in output MP3

DVDdoug · 11-11-2017, 11:12 AM

I think we should just accept the fact that MP3 is lossy compression. The lower the bitrate, the more dats is being thrown-away. And the "damage" is cumulative, even if you re-encode to the same bitrate.

Accumulated damage is the main reason to avoid MP3 during production. If you want a lossy format, you should compress ONCE as the final step. (AAC is supposed to be more-immune to multiple generations of compression.)

If you want perfection, don't use lossy compression!

But high-quality, high-bitrate, first-generation MP3 is usually transparent in a blind ABX test (depending on the program material and the listener's ability to hear compression artifacts). A lot of people claim that MP3 compression is "obvious" but most of those people think it's so obvious that they have not bothered to do a proper, scientific, level-matched, blind, ABX Test. The truth is with a high-quality MP3 (or AAC or AC3) it's very-hard to hear a difference (with most program material) and you have to listen very carefully... if you can hear a difference at all.

And, (with a high-bitrate MP3) it's unlikely for anyone to hear/identify compression artifacts without the original to compare to. (Every time I thought I was hearing a compression artifact on my 'V0' MP3s made from CDs, it's turned-out that the same "defect" was on the CD.)

11-11-2017, 11:12 AM	#31
DVDdoug Human being with feelings Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Silicon Valley, CA Posts: 2,787	I think we should just accept the fact that MP3 is lossy compression. The lower the bitrate, the more dats is being thrown-away. And the "damage" is cumulative, even if you re-encode to the same bitrate. Accumulated damage is the main reason to avoid MP3 during production. If you want a lossy format, you should compress ONCE as the final step. (AAC is supposed to be more-immune to multiple generations of compression.) If you want perfection, don't use lossy compression! But high-quality, high-bitrate, first-generation MP3 is usually transparent in a blind ABX test (depending on the program material and the listener's ability to hear compression artifacts). A lot of people claim that MP3 compression is "obvious" but most of those people think it's so obvious that they have not bothered to do a proper, scientific, level-matched, blind, ABX Test. The truth is with a high-quality MP3 (or AAC or AC3) it's very-hard to hear a difference (with most program material) and you have to listen very carefully... if you can hear a difference at all. And, (with a high-bitrate MP3) it's unlikely for anyone to hear/identify compression artifacts without the original to compare to. (Every time I thought I was hearing a compression artifact on my 'V0' MP3s made from CDs, it's turned-out that the same "defect" was on the CD.)