[parkersweb]

I’ve done a bunch of testing over the years including a similar test of ‘can people hear mp3 compression’ as well as comparison of mp3 variable bit rate qualities.

In practice, on average playback equipment (by which I mean decent hifi) in an average listening environment most people can’t tell the difference.

But… I’ve also done blind testing with a top mastering engineer on studio speakers and he was able to identifying 48 vs 192 reliably.

Mastering quality was ruined by the battle for perceived loudness. So masters with decent degrees of dynamic range is definitely helpful.

[saltcured]

On the other hand, I visited a friend's recording studio in my prime listening years and remember being blown away when they played me some recording masters that were 24 bit/192 kHz. This was just one raw, uncompressed bit stream versus another. It was the first and only time I had felt that a straight up stereo speaker reproduction was completely transparent, like the performers must actually be there somehow in that acoustic space.

I've heard things get close using regular CD audio with some umpteen-channel DSP effects, but nothing like that from two speakers and a straight playback with no effects processing.

I've also had a binaural headset demo get really really close. I imagine it could be better, but this was for some generic model, not anything that is tuned to your own personal ear shape etc.

[mmmlinux]

I mean 48 is pretty much trash. Id hope a top mastering engineer can tell the difference between that and 192...