Hello! This is probably stupid.

So I have recently gotten rid off my streaming services to save money and I have been into transferring my new and old CDs into MP3 form (320 kbps) and listening to those either on my Sony Walkman (NWZ-B162F or something) or on my PC with the Windows Legacy Media Player/VLC and now the music sounds so, so different than the same songs sounded from Spotify or YouTube Music. (Official apps on Android, iOS and PC or the web version on PC while having the “HD Settings” on.) Headphones and the soundbar is the same as before, no changes there.

Like the MP3 form, that should be much more poorer quality and inferior in all the ways, but it sounds “deeper”? The streaming services have sounded so… flat? Sorry, English isn’t my native language but yeah, flat or shallow? Empty even? Hollow?

Is this because of I now “own” the music and possibly respect it more and that makes it sound better? Am I turning into an audiophile, which I have never had any interest in before? Or is there something real in this? Not complaining really, just been pondering this a while and my fiancé agrees on this as he’s been doing the same on his old iPod…

Thanks in advance or anyways. :)

  • ominouslemon@sh.itjust.works
    10·
    1 day ago

    Spotify and YouTube music are known in the audiophile world for their not-so-great audio quality. I.e. the audio files that you stream via those services are very compressed.

    An mp3 file 320 kbps is not a huge jump in quality, but it’s definitely noticeable without being an audiophile! You’re definitely experiencing that

    • Lantsu@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      Thanks to you too! This seems to be a combination of so many factors, but the most important thing is that my tunes are banging. :) I didn’t plan on learning this much today hah!