The HD Audio Debate (16k/44.1KHz vs 24k/192KHz vs Vinyl vs whatever etc.)

[88keys]

FYI: I posted this ATOT in hopes if getting opinions from audiophiles and non audiophiles alike...


A good friend of mine who has a collection of HD audio tracks from various sources, some of which are downloaded, others he ripped from vinyl and DVD audio.

Now I was once of the school of that the CD or Wav files was as good as it gets and that there is simply no improving upon that.


But upon listening to some of these HD tracks I am beginning to doubt that. There are differences in the HD recordings, some of which are subtle and difficult to explain while others are a bit more obvious.

My suspicion is that the mixing and mastering is done differently for each medium and that more care and effort was put towards the HD tracks. But if that is the case; then why not just use the same mix for each medium and be done?
Does having a higher sampling and frequency somehow enable audio engineers to produce better mixes?

 

[uhohs]

if it sounds better, then the mixing and mastering was probably done/redone better.

 

[eldorado99]

Yup, depends on how well it was recorded as well.

 

[uhohs]

yeah, that too

 

[Markbnj]

Maybe you can make some quality distinctions between analog and lossless digital formats, I don't know. My ears are a decade or so too old to tell the difference. But within the lossless digital formats I haven't seen any convincing discussion that we can hear the quality of sampling rates above 44 khz.

 

[StrangerGuy]

This has been done to death, with the conclusion that anything beyond 44.1/16 only matters at the production side. Besides our senses are so easily fooled by our own brain that it's entirely possible that the differences you are hearing are really just placebo effect from your own expectation bias.

 

[MixMasterTang]

It also depends on the playback device, amp and speakers. But the difference between $1,000 and $100,000 worth of equipment can only be recognized by very few (and I am not one of them).

 

[PliotronX]

24-bit makes a larger difference than sampling rate IMO. Anyone remember the demonstration of 8-bit dithering? The MAD decoder? Good stuff. I am happy with 16/44 because I mostly maintain a high quality collection, everyone else listens to XM where it's all tinny and lacks lowend. It is so painful to listen to some people's collections...

 

[Rakehellion]

Meh, this is like the "humans can't see more than 60fps" argument.

 

[motsm]

DVD-audio and other high resolution discs are typically mastered with audio enthusiasts in mind, which is where the perceived difference in quality comes from, the higher sample rates are inconsequential in a final product. That said, using higher sample rates during the recording process will move aliasing distortion from audio filters above the human hearing range, which would otherwise cultivate near the nyquist frequency, and be potentially audible. Higher bit rates are similar, offering a better noise floor, so when dynamic range compression is used you have less risk of pushing the noise floor into an audible range. Again, both of these issues are not something the end user has to deal with, which is why 16bit 44.1khz is sufficient for a final product.

It's been a few years since I've done any audio production or recording so hopefully I have all the terminology correct, but I can't imagine the science has changed.

Meh, this is like the "humans can't see more than 60fps" argument.

It really isn't.

 

[amdhunter]

Was he using Monster Cables? It makes a huge difference in quality. Once I recorded a vinyl record that had a ton of dust and pops onto a metal cassette. I was horrified that the sound was worse with a whole bunch of hiss from the cassette, even Dolby S didn't fix it.

I switched to some Monster cables and the cassette instantaneously it sounded like a Digital recording on the highest bitrate blu-ray audio DVD you could imagine, with no pops and the warmth of a analog master recording. Even a live performance could not have been better.

It was wonderful.

 

[mmntech]

All depends on how it was mastered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

That's why vinyl tends to sound better than modern CDs or digital media. But only vintage vinyl.