Some 2L Hi-Res music samples are either botched or cooked
2016-03-15 00:18:13
I'm not sure if it is due to sloppy work or intentional fudging, but for the second time now in just a few days I've noticed that the songs I happened to download from 2L's HiRes Download - test bench samples page , to compare with Foobar ABX testing, have exhibited audible flaws, tells, which have nothing to do with sampling rates, bit depth, or MQA deblurring. Today's song, the 16bit/44k vs 24bit/96k versions of Ola Gjeilo's North Country II , has a minor time synch error which is easily detectable using Foobar ABX test's phrase repeat function:foo_abx 2.0.1 report foobar2000 v1.3.9 2016-03-14 14:30:50 File A: 2L-048_14_stereo_44kHz_16b.flac SHA1: 007639ed4d83823e1e72f6029c3f52f3f7af8f05 File B: 2L48SACD_14_stereo_96k.flac SHA1: 4171ca9fd626c42eef0e1d91deabce8dd66acdbc Output: DS : Primary Sound Driver Crossfading: NO 14:30:50 : Test started. 14:33:59 : 01/01 14:34:08 : 02/02 14:34:19 : 03/03 14:34:26 : 04/04 14:34:31 : 05/05 14:34:36 : 06/06 14:34:42 : 07/07 14:34:52 : 08/08 14:35:00 : 09/09 14:35:06 : 10/10 14:35:06 : Test finished. ---------- Total: 10/10 Probability that you were guessing: 0.1% -- signature -- 345f879a467e817ec7b36e0ad5614b3f05857bf0 Note, it is just a few milliseconds out of time alignment so a naïve listener might not even consciously pick up on it with slow, casual switching, but that's exactly how to best cook a demo: fool them into thinking what they are keying on is the "Hi-Re$" part since they can't quite put their finger on the distinction unless you point it out to them. [Minor level changes on the order of a fraction of a dB are notorious for creating the exact same illusion: you hear a subtle change but you don't perceive it as level. Just like with the McGurk effect, knowledge of the illusion doesn't make you immune to it either, even if you are one of the world's foremost experts on the topic]. If the very first two songs I happened to download to compare both show flaws I'd be rather surprised if there aren't at least some others as well. So the next time some newb brags that they can hear a difference on this site's files, send them on over to this thread.