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by ryankrage77 26 days ago
I decided to test for myself, downloaded Lacinato ABX and tested a 32-bit 352.8Khz flac I had lying around, to the same file downsampled to 16-bit 44.1KHz. I couldn't tell any difference. Then I tried 192k mp3... still no difference. Couldn't reliably differentiate 128 or 64kbps mp3 either. I had to go down to 32k before I could be certain which was which, and even then I still had to listen carefully. Think I need to get my ears checked. I know I can't hear much above 15-16KHz but I didn't think it was this bad.
3 comments
amanaplanacanal 26 days ago
15khz is about my upper limit. Too many loud concerts back in the 70s and 80s without hearing protection.
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jnaina 26 days ago
same here. seems all the years of q-tip use is saving me money by not needing to buy expensive Hi-End Audio gear.
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DiabloD3 26 days ago
Yeaaaaaaaaaahhhh.... you might be a tiny bit deaf.

OTOH, we know nothing of your audio equipment nor how its setup.

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ryankrage77 26 days ago
HiFiMan Sundara headphones, focusrite scarlett 2i2 interface. Although, it turns out the Scarlett is set to 48KHz anyway, and I can't seem to change it easily under linux. Not that it seems to matter for my ears, lol.

EDIT: Did some more ABX testing with a CD-quality track that I'm much more familiar with ('Introduction' from the Mirrors Edge soundtrack, which has been my go-to for comparing audio gear for the last decade). I could sometimes distinguish 128k mp3 this time, though interestingly, I got it consistently wrong rather than right. For some reason the compressed version seems to be my preference. Dropping to 96k mp3, I got it right 100% of the time - though only because there was a very noticeable difference in the stereo positioning of the first sound, rather than a difference in the quality of the sound. I think if it were mono I would still be unable to tell.

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DiabloD3 25 days ago
Sundaras aren't great, but are sufficient for this. Scarlett series is also good enough.

At 48khz, with a tone generator (not rando Youtube videos or anything), you should be able to clearly hear up to around 16khz (as in, can tell pitch of tone), and be able to tell a tone is being played at all up through 18khz, and hopefully up to 20khz.

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