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Is there any earphone-style device that could plausibly come close to providing enough fidelity to tell the difference between lossless and high-end lossy? I th
by jl6 5y ago
Is there any earphone-style device that could plausibly come close to providing enough fidelity to tell the difference between lossless and high-end lossy? I thought that only in rare and controversial cases could anyone tell the difference, and even then only using extremely high-end equipment.
- tokamak-teapot 5y agoNo, there isn’t. This is just a marketing exercise to make people question whether they should use Tidal. Psychologically some people will worry they aren’t hearing music in the ‘best quality’ if it isn’t lossless, and ‘no perceptible difference’ isn’t enough to remove that doubt. The rest of us can relax.
- smoldesu 5y agoTraditionally, lossless music has been a more indie-driven scene, mostly distributed through sites like Bandcamp and Beatport. It's certainly become more commercial today (and Tidal is still a ripoff), but I don't think it's fair to take that out on the medium as a whole. Modern lossy codecs are designed to trick your ears into thinking you're hearing the highest quality audio, not actually delivering it. When you remove that psychoacoustic element, it's an objectively different listening experience: whether or not you notice it though is a different discussion.
- smoldesu 5y agoIt depends on the environment and who's listening to it. High end lossy is really good these days (great for casual listening), but I think most people could tell the difference between the two with a basic setup and a quiet room. Of course, ymmv since audio is entirely subjective. If you enjoy listening to lossy music, you shouldn't let anyone take that away from you.