When you start with a lossy compressed audio source (like MP3 or AAC), further compression will compound the effect of the thrown away audio information. The reason for this may be self-evident to you – but it is critical for me to explain. However, when you are recording audio or downloading samples, always shoot for the best quality you can get.
This has its advantages when distributing the content. When we compress the file, it becomes significantly smaller than the original one. Lossy or compressed file types like MP3s throw away audio information to reduce the file size. It is essential to understand the difference between uncompressed and compressed audio file types.
That's exactly 1 of 3 - the same figure one could expect from completely random guessing.Īt least four times, people simply offered no guess, saying they couldn't hear any difference. We played a total of 48 songs, and 16 times the person correctly identified the high-fidelity service. When Spotify or Apple Music had occasional browser or library issues, we substituted Deezer's standard-quality service (at 320 kbps). The three services we used were Tidal (to represent hi-fi), Spotify (to represent normal quality at 320 kbps) and Apple Music (which streams at 256 kbps, but with a more efficient compression algorithm). HiFi streaming delivers an uncompressed sound file, which means that you can hear every instrument and every note - as the artist intended. ".delivered in lossless, CD quality (1,411 kbps vs. The Tidal website describes its music like this: The quality of your speakers (or headphones) matters, and so do the way the music was created, the strength of your internet connection to stream, and so on.Īmong the high-fidelity services, you might be most familiar with Tidal, because Jay-Z is the company's big-name owner and co-owners including Kanye West. Let's be up front about this: The quality of the music you hear is based on countless factors. Our investigation was not a scientific test, but we did try to replicate what most consumers would do when they're choosing a service: turn on the music and listen to decide what's best.)
#IS 320 KBPS GOOD FULL#
( For a full explanation of how CNBC carried out our test, click here. Our research suggests that most people can't hear any difference.