Variable sound quality from an MP3 on different CDs?
Discussion
Hi folks,
I have a decent ICE setup in my car (amps, crossovers etc.), and for the past month or so have been playing MP3s burned to budget CDRs at 52x. Now I decided that the rate I was going through blank discs was not good, given long term calculations on how much I would spend, so I bought a few decent-quality CDRWs to use instead, which I burn at 10x.
I don't know if it's me, but I swear the sound quality from the RWs is significantly better than the Rs.
But I don't quite get how this can happen, because the source MP3s are exactly the same files on both types of disc and the data integrity is fine (i.e. I can copy the file from both types of disc to my PC, run a comparison and they will be identical byte-for-byte).
So, are my ears playing tricks on me, or is there really a difference?
There is a massive and very discernible difference when playing straight audio CDs, of course (compared to my 192kbps MP3s), but that's hardly surprising.
I have a decent ICE setup in my car (amps, crossovers etc.), and for the past month or so have been playing MP3s burned to budget CDRs at 52x. Now I decided that the rate I was going through blank discs was not good, given long term calculations on how much I would spend, so I bought a few decent-quality CDRWs to use instead, which I burn at 10x.
I don't know if it's me, but I swear the sound quality from the RWs is significantly better than the Rs.
But I don't quite get how this can happen, because the source MP3s are exactly the same files on both types of disc and the data integrity is fine (i.e. I can copy the file from both types of disc to my PC, run a comparison and they will be identical byte-for-byte).
So, are my ears playing tricks on me, or is there really a difference?
There is a massive and very discernible difference when playing straight audio CDs, of course (compared to my 192kbps MP3s), but that's hardly surprising.
-DeaDLocK- said:
Hi folks,
So, are my ears playing tricks on me, or is there really a difference?
There is a massive and very discernible difference when playing straight audio CDs, of course (compared to my 192kbps MP3s), but that's hardly surprising.
Well, you can get away with a few read errors on MP3's and they just sound a bit worse, but usually you can spot that as it's so obviously gone wrong. So, are my ears playing tricks on me, or is there really a difference?
There is a massive and very discernible difference when playing straight audio CDs, of course (compared to my 192kbps MP3s), but that's hardly surprising.
As for 192kbps sounding much worse than CD's I've noticed this too, but ONLY in the car. I've come to the conclusion that the car headunit MP3 decoders are rubbish. If I feed my Creative ZEN MP3 player into AUX it all sounds much better. Oh, and this is with a reasonably high end Sony headunit.
ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
As for 192kbps sounding much worse than CD's I've noticed this too, but ONLY in the car. I've come to the conclusion that the car headunit MP3 decoders are rubbish. If I feed my Creative ZEN MP3 player into AUX it all sounds much better. Oh, and this is with a reasonably high end Sony headunit.
I only noticed it on mine when I got rid of the passive crossover for the front components and installed an amp dedicated to driving only the front tweeters. The difference in clarity, crispness and decay of the high frequencies of decent audio CDs was incredible when compared to MP3s. One particular album I have in 320kbps CBR comes pretty close though.
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