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. :)
Many factors at work here.
First off, mp3 at 320 kbps (or 256 for that matter) encoded with modern algorithms will be nearly idrntical to the original source. I defy you to reliably tell it apart from a FLAC in an A/B test. Where it usually fails is in stereo imaging, not obvious distortion or frequency limitations.
Secondly, many people have mentioned normalization (actually compression) in streaming services. When applied after the mix, i.e. exactly what they do, it ruins music. If you can turn off every ‘feature’ in these services that modifies the sound, you’ll find improvements.
Thirdly, you’re not necessarily getting great sound from them anyway. Spotify defaults to 96kbps Vorbis which is comparable to 128kbps mp3. And if your network speeds are low or laggy, it may well drop the quality dynamically to keep playing without glitches.
Fourth, there’s the issue of mastering. You may have a differently-mastered release than what is on the streaming site. This can make a HUGE difference in some cases. If you can, try listening to Dark Side of the Moon releases from 2003 (Doug Sax) vs. the 2023 blu-ray.
And those are only the most likely candidates. There could well be other factors at play.
Great answer! Thank you. :)
I do know that some of the albums I like have been not even remastered, but remade when the band changed record studios, so the album has been quietly “swapped” from the crunchy original to the clean and safe new version, so yeah, I’m careful when hunting the CDs. So with some bands (/recording studios) that can be huge and tbh, gross, factor too. (I personally prefer the first few albums and ditch the bands once they learn to play with each other…)
Another factor might be that you may be listening over cable headsets now instead of Bluetooth?
With the MP3 player yes, there is aux. But on PC it’s the same Bluetooth earphones or soundbar. // Edited for grammar lol
FWIW my ears aren’t trained enough to tell the difference b/w bluetooth and cable for my headphones.
Depends a bit on headphones too! Mine can be turned on while they’re also connected by the aux so the ANC and such can be on, or they can be used off with the aux which still does sound great, but obviously doesn’t actively cancel any noises.