undefined | Better HN

0 pointskuschku9y ago0 comments

> You might be surprised to learn that "HD audio" often has worse sound quality than "CD quality".

That only applies if you have a perfect master.

If you want to listen to a song mastered for CD, unless it’s 24/192, it’ll likely clip at several points.

Which is about 90% of songs today.

And if you want to remix the song, or use an equalizer, or other effects, you’ll also want 24/192.

And nowadays the ultrasonic effects he describes don’t even affect mobile phones anymore, and storage is plenty – making the disadvantages he describes moot.

0 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

iopq9y ago· 2 in thread

That's not true, after you band-limit a 24/192 file and convert to CD quality there will be no clipping. Nobody can tell the difference in a blind test between CD quality and higher.

kuschkuOP9y ago

If it’s properly done.

There’s thousands of retail CDs out there with clipping, intentionally created during the Loudness War.

To listen to them properly, one would require a remaster, or 24/192.

pja9y ago

That’s a problem with the mastering, not the recording format: There’s plenty of dB available in a CD to cover the full range of human hearing.

Sadly you have no guarantee that a random 24/192 recording wont have the same compression / clipping problems that plague CDs thanks to the loudness wars.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse