Quote:
Originally Posted by RedSmurf
LAME automatically lowpass filters the sound at low bitrates
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Question: Why use a lowpass filter when low frequencies take up so very little space.
Answer: Low frequencies are extremely unforgiving and music sounds better with the low frequencies discarded rather than applying much lossy compression.
Nearly every time I'm given an MP3 encoded at a lower bitrate I get comments about something being wrong with the subwoofer/s yet no comments on the rest of the system. Maybe it is because people are used to hearing low bitrate MP3s on average systems but I can't make the same claim for myself as I've had a sub longer than MP3s have been around. I've also noticed the larger the venue, the more apparent it seems to be in the low frequencies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedSmurf
On top of that, human ears are not very sensitive to low frequencies (both considering amplitude and frequency variations), so they can be approximated, further reducing the amount of required information.
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Human ears may not be very sensitive but the entire human body is. I seem to recall an advertisement way back when, "with our subwoofer you do more than listen to music, you EXPERIENCE it". That's not word for word as I don't remember it word for word but I do remember thinking to myself how absolutely correct the concept that adding a sub to a system will allow you to "experience" music. Maybe the human body is more perceptive to the effect of lossy compression than the human ear.
Heck, while creating a playlist for tomorrow, I came across a MP3 encoded at CBR 192 (from
LegalSounds) that just didn't seem that great so I looked for the same album with allTunes to find they had it and downloaded it using the extreme setting and did a blind test between the two and the extreme had a most definite different feel. I'll admit that many other blind tests with other MP3s (CBR 192 compared to higher VBR) are hard to tell the difference.