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Topic: is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598? (Read 11307 times) previous topic - next topic
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is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

hi,im new here
i have marantz mcr 502 hifi system and i listen to music on it via usb stick
(because the cd player is damaged,so it doesn t work)
the music which is in the usb stick is in mp3 format with bitrate of 320kbps
i have moved to a new flat in which i have problems with the isolation
so i can listen to music just with headphones in it
i want to buy the sennheiser hd 598 headphones
but i m afraid that the sound quality of the  music in mp3 320kbps format won t be good enough  for such good headphones
if my cd player on the hifi still had worked i would already buy those headphones because all my cd disc are original or burned from lossless format albums(flac,ape)
so such sound from the cd would be quality enough for such great headphones
so im asking if someone can answer me if the music in 320kbps(via usb) would be good enough for the sennheiser hd 598 headphones or are such headphones just for cd albums that are original or in lossless format,if its so than i guess i should buy some cheapier headphones that would better fit in with music in 320kbps
although i have read on some forum sites on the net that mp3 320kbps has the same sound quality like flac

is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

Reply #1
Generally headphones don't have a huge impact on your ability to detect mp3 artifacts.  Unless the ones you're coming from are extremely bad I think you're unlikely to suddenly notice new flaws in your current files.

is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

Reply #2
Nobody can truly answer your question simply because we do not have your music, your equipment, your listening environment, or your ears.  Only you can determine what lossy encoder and setting are right for you.  Someone can come along and say that you should use the -V 5 setting with Lame 3.97 while someone else might say you need to use --alt-preset extreme with Lame 3.90.3.  So who is right?  The best thing you can do is run a set of blind ABX tests of your own comparing your source lossless files to a handful of different Lame tracks that do a good job of representing your library.  The first thing I would do is encode a few tracks at -V 5 with the latest version of Lame and go from there.  Pass the test and bump the setting up to -V 4.  Keep increasing the setting all the way up to -V 0 and, if you still continue to pass your blind ABX tests, try going for 320kbps CBR.  That is what I would when determining the appropriate encoding setting for the latest version of Lame.


is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

Reply #4
so im asking if someone can answer me if the music in 320kbps(via usb) would be good enough for the sennheiser hd 598 headphones or are such headphones just for cd albums that are original or in lossless format,if its so than i guess i should buy some cheapier headphones that would better fit in with music in 320kbps

In most cases the speakers/headphones are the weakest link in the audio chain, or at least the most critical. I see no point in settling with lower quality headphones in your case. Properly encoded MP3 files can be transparent, i.e. perceptually indistinguishable from the source, and are most certainly not the weakest link. Buying worse headphones to mask MP3 artifacts hurts you in cases where there are none.

although i have read on some forum sites on the net that mp3 320kbps has the same sound quality like flac

The point of MP3 compression (or lossy compression in general) is achieving transparency (see above). So, yes, good encoders can produce MP3 files at 320kbit/s CBR which most people won't be able to distinguish from the original. But, like kornchild2002 already mentioned, it is advisable to conduct your own ABX test (with your headphones of choice) to determine the correct settings, 320 kbit/s CBR is most likely overkill (and CBR doesn't make much sense for lossy compression in the first place). This doesn't save you from "killer samples",  edge cases which the MP3 codec cannot handle efficiently, resulting in artifacts. The only way to avoid that is to stay lossless.
It's only audiophile if it's inconvenient.

is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

Reply #5
Buying worse headphones to mask MP3 artifacts hurts you in cases where there are none.

Yes, and in some cases having poorer headphones might actually expose artifacts in situations where better headphones would still provide more transparency.

is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

Reply #6
so im asking if someone can answer me if the music in 320kbps(via usb) would be good enough for the sennheiser hd 598 headphones or are such headphones just for cd albums that are original or in lossless format,if its so than i guess i should buy some cheapier headphones that would better fit in with music in 320kbps

In most cases the speakers/headphones are the weakest link in the audio chain, or at least the most critical. I see no point in settling with lower quality headphones in your case. Properly encoded MP3 files can be transparent, i.e. perceptually indistinguishable from the source, and are most certainly not the weakest link. Buying worse headphones to mask MP3 artifacts hurts you in cases where there are none.

although i have read on some forum sites on the net that mp3 320kbps has the same sound quality like flac

The point of MP3 compression (or lossy compression in general) is achieving transparency (see above). So, yes, good encoders can produce MP3 files at 320kbit/s CBR which most people won't be able to distinguish from the original. But, like kornchild2002 already mentioned, it is advisable to conduct your own ABX test (with your headphones of choice) to determine the correct settings, 320 kbit/s CBR is most likely overkill (and CBR doesn't make much sense for lossy compression in the first place). This doesn't save you from "killer samples",  edge cases which the MP3 codec cannot handle efficiently, resulting in artifacts. The only way to avoid that is to stay lossless.


why doesn t cbr for mp3 320kbps have any sense?

 

is mp3 320kbps good enough for sennheiser hd 598?

Reply #7
Because not all parts of the song may be complex enough to require 320 kbps, and therefore you would be wasting bits (a.k.a. file size) there and also potentially diverting bits from parts of the song that require more than 320 kbps (via the bitstream).

Like most other topics in this thread, the purpose of VBR has been discussed ad nauseam in past threads on this and other forums—even despite there being detailed documents about it available in many places. Try searching for either.