{"id":8263,"date":"2019-08-09T18:28:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T06:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/?p=8263"},"modified":"2019-07-26T18:36:42","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T06:36:42","slug":"hi-res-audio-high-res-music-not-the-same-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/hi-res-audio-high-res-music-not-the-same-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"Hi-Res Audio, High-Res Music: Not the same thing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hi-res audio,\nhigh-res music: Not the same thing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tracks you\u2019ve ripped from CD are not high\nresolution, and you won\u2019t find high-res music files at the iTunes, Amazon MP3,\nor Google Play stores, at least not yet. Upconverting those music files won\u2019t\nmagically transform them into high-resolution tracks, either.  You can\u2019t put in what was never there in the\nfirst place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-Resolution\nAudio is Not:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 192 kHz up-sampled version of CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An up-sampled and “restored” version\nof an MP3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high-resolution digital copy of a vinyl\nrecord<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high-resolution digital copy of an analog\ntape<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 24-bit recording played through the\nheadphone jack on a portable device<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anative 192 kHz recording played through\nlaptop speakers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high-quality CD recording playing\nthrough a typical car stereo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIGH-RESOLUTION\nAUDIO FROM AN AUDIOPHILE PERSPECTIVE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audiophiles have eagerly embraced\nHigh-Resolution Audio formats, but many have not experienced the full\ncapabilities of these new formats. They would do well to focus on acquiring\nplayback equipment with true high-resolution performance. 24-bit audio provides\nno benefit if the power amplifier can only deliver 17-bit (103 dB) signal to\nnoise ratios. Likewise, high sample rates are useless when played through\nspeakers having an 18 kHz top end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good CD played through a\u00a0high-resolution system\u00a0easily outperforms a High-Resolution Audio recording played through a low-resolution system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Can you really hear\nthe difference?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that\u2019s the big question isn\u2019t it? Can\nyou really hear the difference? Read very carefully, as many\nmanufacturers will claim something to the effect that their high-res\nmusic player \u201creveals more of the original musical performance than an MP3\nplayer or smart mobile phones.\u201d  Saying high-res is better than MP3 is no\nbetter than saying a CD is better than an MP3 file.  Of course, it is, but\nmany can\u2019t hear the difference between an MP3 file and a CD (or a\nhigh-resolution track for that matter). Think you can? http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/therecord\/2015\/06\/02\/411473508\/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality<\/a>\nBe sure to listen on the best-quality headphones or speaker system you have).\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIGH-RESOLUTION\nAUDIO FROM AN AUDIOPHILE PERSPECTIVE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audiophiles have eagerly embraced\nHigh-Resolution Audio formats, but many have not experienced the full\ncapabilities of these new formats. They would do well to focus on acquiring\nplayback equipment with true high-resolution performance. 24-bit audio provides\nno benefit if the power amplifier can only deliver 17-bit (103 dB) signal to\nnoise ratios. Likewise, high sample rates are useless when played through\nspeakers having an 18 kHz top end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good CD played through a\u00a0high-resolution system\u00a0easily outperforms a High-Resolution Audio recording played through a low-resolution system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hi-res audio,\nhigh-res music: Not the same thing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll open this can of worms ever so slightly.\nHi-Res Audio and high-resolution music are not the same thing. Hi-Res\nAudio is a proper noun defining playback hardware, while\nhigh-resolution music refers to the actual music files. The two terms are\nsometimes used interchangeably, sowing confusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the risk of oversimplifying the details,\njust know that \u201chigh resolution\u201d is being defined by the audio industry as\nanything exceeding CD quality. For many, that definition simply isn\u2019t good\nenough. If that\u2019s you and you want to learn more about some of the issues\nsurrounding high-resolution recording and playback.  Happy listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FINALLY – FORTUNATELY\nMUSIC IS STILL ENJOYABLE THROUGH LOW-RESOLUTION SYSTEMS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have all had the experience of being emotionally\nmoved by music that was played through poor-quality playback systems. Car\nradios, MP3 players, and low-resolution streaming audio all have a place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, many people became fans of the Beatles while listening on cheap AM transistor radios. They rediscovered their favourite tunes when they purchased albums and upgraded their stereo systems. With the improved systems they discovered details that they had never heard while listening to the same song hundreds of times on a cheap radio. Today we have 16-bit and 24-bit digital releases of classic Beatles recordings dubbed from carefully restored master tapes. These digital releases may or may not fully meet the definition of High-Resolution Audio, but they capture far more detail than the original vinyl releases. It is hard to listen to one of these newer releases without discovering wonderful details that were overlooked in many years of low-resolution playback.\u00a0 24-bit high sample-rate recordings are capable of delivering\u00a0all of the details captured in the studio while low-resolution formats make music available in more places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi-res audio, high-res music: Not the same thing The tracks you\u2019ve ripped from CD are not high resolution, and you won\u2019t find high-res music files at the iTunes, Amazon MP3, or Google Play stores, at least not yet. Upconverting those music files won\u2019t magically transform them into high-resolution tracks, either.  You can\u2019t put in what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8270,"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions\/8270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abtec.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}