Two Audio Questions

[Sage]

1) How big is the difference between listening to MP3 format songs and songs straight from a CD through headphones?

2) Is there a noticeable difference in sound quality between earbuds and regular headphones?

 

[boombexus]

Hey YC,

Question 1:

Ok, before I get started here, let me set the foreground for you. I don't listen to music through headphones very much, but I do listen to alot of music in my car. Now you might be saying how is this going to translate to your question regarding headphones. Well here we go.
I have CD's that I listen to in my car (I have a fairly high end system in my car) that are both burned CD's and bought CD's. I notice that there is a difference in sound quality between the two. The bought CD has a better sound quality than the burned CD, mainly in bass respone and some in treble response. Seeing as how a set of headphones contain such a small speaker, you would probably notice a bit of difference in the higher end of the sound spectrum. (treble) Since the size of headphone speakers are so small they are incapable of producing low bass frequencies. Now in the higher end where you will notice a 'slight' difference in sound quality it is easily taken care of with some adjustments of the EQ which you might have on your player. If not, the difference in sound quality is bearable.

Question 2:

I have both earbud and regular headphones. I just recently purchased a set of Sony headphones, the ones that cover your entire ear, and they sound so much better than the earbuds that I had before.

Hope that helps you out.

 

[quattro_bro]

Hey Boombexus,

Are your 'burned' CDs CD to CD (straight copy), or MP3 compilations burned to CD? I have noticed a big difference between the two and I think the answer to YC's question hinges on this one.

Also worth noting is the fact that the sound quality of bought CDs varies greatly. In my collection, I have both types ([CD to CD] and [cda to MP3 to compilation CD]) of burned CDs that sound better than some of my bought CDs. Of course, many of my original CDs sound better than anything I have burned.

As I look at what I typed in the previous paragraph, it suggests a bit of an enigma, a sort of non-answer, if you will. For this, I apologize. Unfortunately, I have sold my audio soul, so to speak, in the name of performance, so I currently can't speak to the differences I know you can hear in high-end systems. As a result, I fear that I have only complicated the issue. However, I believe that the only true answer is, "It depends". It depends on the quality of the original CD; it depends on the quality of your CD burning hardware/software; it depends on the quality of your end-user audio system.

Headphones--again, it depends.

Good buds are better than bad standard headphones (that don't cover the entire ear), but I agree with Boombexus in that headphones that cover the entire ear typically give better sound than either buds or standard headphones.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

On the MP3 issue:

You need to remember that not all MP3 files are created equal. You need to look at the bit rate of the sample, which can be anything from 64kbps to 320kbps. More is better here, and the higher the bit rate, the larger the file.

I personally don't download files for burning if they're less than 192kbps, as I find the degredation of sound, particularly in bass response and treble definition, to be too much to bear.

On the headphones issue...
A decent set of in-ear headphones can be surprisingly good, but on sheer sound quality full-size headphones will always beat them.

What hasn't been mentioned is that headphones are about two things: the supply of noise (music) to your ears, and the reduction of background noise, and this complicates matters further.

In-ear headphones will effectively damp out a lot of noise, but tend to do it by being able to inject the music into your ears. Any high-volume, high-pitch external noise will go straight through them, and the result of this for me was that I found it difficult to hear my music whilst on an aeroplane recently.

Of the full-size headphones, there are two types: open- and closed-backed. The open-backed headphones tend to sit against your ears, are very comfortable for extended periods, and given an open, airy sound, but you pay for this in reduced noise cancellation. Sennheiser do very good open headphones. Closed headphones tend to fit over yourears, so are immensely uncomfortable if you have big ears. The sound tends to be heavier and more forced, although the noise cancellation is much better.

I know Bose do a pair of active noise-cancelling headphones, but I think they're like $500 a pair!

Finally, if you care, there is a direct relationship between the cancellation to you of external noise and the 'leakage' to the world of your music.

 

[Sage]

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
Finally, if you care, there is a direct relationship between the cancellation to you of external noise and the 'leakage' to the world of your music.

, don't worry, I hate being forced to listen to others' music, and thus I've never done the same. Even at home, I keep my music at very moderate levels so that one can't hear it when more than 10 feet away from my computer. In fact, I personally can't stand excessively loud music-- My hearing is rather acute, so listening to loud music really hurts my ears.

On the subject of bit rate, I don't download music off of the net, so that shouldn't be a problem for me at all (since I can import music at up to 320kbps).

Thanks again.

 

[Pako]

For a more graphical approach, take a clean TIFF image ( or another high-end graphic format ) and export it to a compressed jpg format. Consider the TIFF image as your .AIF or WAV file with zero compression, and consider your mp3 as you would your compressed jpg version. Dry different export quality setting and you will "See" an example of how mp3's differ from AIFF or WAV files which are common 16-bit, 44.1 khz formats for production CD's.

 

[rjensen11]

I can tell the difference between burnt CD's(burnt off of MP3's) and store bought CD's with my $20(? got them as a gift, but saw the price in a Radioshack add...) pretty distinctivley. It's hard to pinpoint, but I can clearly say that drums(especially the cymbles) sound much better on store-bought than burnt CD's. I'm giving up on downloading MP3's unless it's for sampling. The sound quality just butchers the music.
You also have to consider the sources for MP3's and stuff, as well. Some come from regular recorders(like a few for Live concerts), others come from "Unreleased albums", and yet even more come from CD's already burnt x times.
And yeah, if you download any MP3's make sure it's at least 128KB/s, better around 320. I only have 1 below 128, and it's at 96 or something, but it's a story(Kind of like a book on tape), so there's no 'music'.

 

[Pako]

Anxiously Awaiting for a new audio standard, 24/32-bit, 96-192khz.... MMMmmmmm, talk about debth and detail.

In the studio, I record people at 24-bit, 48khz...and when I lower the quality to CD format, 16-bit, 44.1khz I can hear a definate difference....

Soon, very soon we will have close to Analog resolutions for our audio.

 

[f50]

i agree with boom,but i had a sony md recorder and when i record music of the net on LP4 (lower quality) sound better than when i do direct of a store cd (on LP4 mode).

i know when you compress a file like cd or audio to a mp3 could get lower quality but that my sperience, and yes depend on the khz of the file.