Lossless and Lossy

[mrcd]

So I've read lots of opinions and comparisons on the matter. Some have even claimed to rip a track to FLAC and from that FLAC down to MP3 320k, and from 320kbps to 192k and from 192k to 128k and from 128k to 96k. He claims there is no change in sound.He said it's all about the ears. OK! Well I've never tried it.

That said, if there's no change in sound what is lost? If you had a lossless file and you made it lossy what did you lose if there is no sound difference? Also if there is no change why make a distinction between lossless and lossy?

[garym]

Re: Lossless and Lossy

So I've read lots of opinions and comparisons on the matter. Some have even claimed to rip a track to FLAC and from that FLAC down to MP3 320k, and from 320kbps to 192k and from 192k to 128k and from 128k to 96k. He claims there is no change in sound.He said it's all about the ears. OK! Well I've never tried it.

That said, if there's no change in sound what is lost? If you had a lossless file and you made it lossy what did you lose if there is no sound difference? Also if there is no change why make a distinction between lossless and lossy?

Google it and you'll find lots of stuff. Short version. In most (virtually all) cases, with most (virtually all) CD tracks, lossy versions created with a good quality codec (e.g., Lame mp3) will be transparent (listener unable to tell difference between lossy and lossless) down to a fairly small mp3 file (most of the data suggests that anything 192kbps and above would be transparent, but examples at 160kbps and a bit lower exist as well).

Download foobar2000 and install the ABX component. Create some lossy versions of music you are familiar with at 256kbps, 192kbps, 160kbps, 128kbbps, 96kbps, 64kpbs, etc. Then use the ABX component in foobar2000 to run your own personal test. I predict you'll be surprised. I certainly can't detect lossy from lossless with most of my music at mp3 192kbps.

So why do I rip to lossless FLAC and play this at home? First, storage is cheap. But more importantly, converting from lossy to lossy is not good (something is thrown out each time; think of different generations of taping something with oldfashioned tape recorder). So with FLAC (lossless) files as archive, I can always convert to any lossy version in the future. Maybe some new and improved codec that will let me put 100,000 files on a thumbdrive the size of a peanut? Or whatever. I'll have options and never have to rip again (the time consuming part).

[jultsu]

Re: Lossless and Lossy

If you had a lossless file and you made it lossy what did you lose if there is no sound difference?

The part(s) which the human ear/brain doesn't handle very well.