Shitty sound engineers and venues that cheap out on decent speakers. Zero sound balance. Not to mention the possibility of the singer or band performing like ass because they’re too drunk. It’s hit or miss.
At very high volume (pushing over 130 dB, which is normal for most concerts and not unusual for clubs), even a very expensive gear will start to sound way too aggressive on your eardrums, making the experience very possibly less pleasant than listening at home at a moderately high volume on an average equipment. Going to a rock concert for an audiophile experience is weird. Symphonic orchestra or an organ concert is better for that.
Mack's Hear Plugs. The best thing that happened to going to concerts. They allow you to have a normal conversation but filter out the damaging levels of a concert. They are less than $20 and are very comfortable. I now use them for everything from using power tools to mowing the lawn.
320kbps is quite satisfying... songs in my library in 320kbps and 44.1khz....but my particular fav songs in 24 bit 192khz FLAC...sometimes 24bit 96khz is also okay while finding every songs in HiFi not so easy today... DSD64(2.8mhz) and DSD128(5.8mhz) on the other hand are out of question...they are not mainstream and way too expensive... one can not really understand its differences without having proper HiFi sound hardware...
It's fun this video was featured. I just uploaded a video on my channel of a new Hi-Fi amplifier I got. Great stuff, I'm not new in this scene. I have More Philips vintage Hi-Fi hardware refurbished. Just amazing stuff. All my friends say the same. Sounds great!
Or just get stuff that is used in studios as audiophile stuff does not give flat freq response. The flatter freq response- the more accurate to original. Which pro stuff does. HI-fi does elephant husk headphones with polar resistors and is extremely stupid if you know physics and sound processing (which i study). And hi-fi stuff does not aim dor the flattest frequency response (idk what they are doing at this point, as no legitimate sound engineer would ever buy bangs and olfsen dish shaped speaker for 10k to use for making a good mix).
@Squall Leonhart well I honestly have no idea who the hell is 'monitor audio' or 'silver 200' as I did not find any graphs for that, but you need to realize that when you are not using monitor speakers (idk about brand, i mean purpose) the sound is going to be coloured. also it is the rooms acoustics that play a huge role in your 'soundstage' or whatever you call your reverbarations. Thing is best OBJECTIVE quality is acheived by flattest possible time dependant frequency responce of speakers and minimized reflections in the room as that plays you music the way it was recorded (and sorry, but math forbids you from getting extra 'quality' aka information than there already is). Oh and obviously listener needs to sit in a sweetspot, sorry to break it but studio nearfield monitors are the best at doing being flat and if you want optimal setup just have them closer if your tv is far (unless you have big ass monitors like deadmau5 for like 50K a pop, approved and installed by dolby which were actually used to mix and master your awesome bluray vienna boy chorus). The perceived awesomeness of extra reverbaration from the cabinets and your rooms response time non-linearity is only SUBJECTIVE better quality. If that makes you feel 'just like in the concert'- great, but objectively thats original record (your room remix) that you are hearing. I hope this helps and spreads awareness that polar resistors, iridium cables for digital signals and extinct animal fur coated speakers are there not for the objective quality, but for ego-uneducatedRichKid-moneywash purpouses only (sorry but sound is just a wave and peer-reviewed physics is king here). Peace out :) i hope it didnt sound offensive as none was intended ^^
Low Quality Audio is Like: Dead Pixels 3/2 Pulldown LCD Light Bleed Coil Whine Screen Tearing Vsync Lag Mechanical Hard Drives Non-Native Resolution (looking at you XBone, 900p) Once you realize how bad it is, You'll pay anything to get rid of it.
bruh, i know the feels when it comes to screen tear. but its also kinda like when you have to use your TV as a computer monitor but it doesnt scale properly so you have to input custom scaling but even tho its @1080p you get weird artefacts and patches of the screen that are lower res than the rest of the screen. thats kinda what low quality audio is like.
less quality audio is more like a TN panel vs a oled or good va or ips panel. And higher sound will be more like Hdr. But just like in visuals great production is need it to actually bring the right experience along with hardware well tune to the experience A DVD from a well done movie will look better than a Hdr 8k blogger homemade video
David Senatsky that's a great comparison, because for 90% of what people use a screen, surfing the web, watching movies, document writing etc no different between 60hrz and 144 only on high pace video games where a high refresh monitor will make the difference.
Room acoustics will get anyone off to a good start regardless of equipment. So many people with stereo systems don't take the time to properly place their speakers or tame reflections when needed.
I just bought a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x on sale for a little over a hundred bucks. Coming from a three hundred dollar pair of Beats Studio... I will never make that mistake again.
Lesson learned. I actually heard a pair of 125 dollar beats. They are, literally, as bad as 10 dollar headphones from the dollar store. Honestly, if you want cheap beats, reconsider and get cheap Philipses or Sennheisers. I'm not a Sennheiser fan, but their 30-40 dollar range is actually quite good for the money.
Hi-fi sound equipment doesn't necessarily have to reproduce the sound from the source accurately, some can still be considered hi-fi even if it "colors" the sound. "Reference quality" is the term used for gear that's goal is to be as accurate as possible.
Actually "reference" equipment finds its root in the idea of recording studios. The idea was to have a reference to which a system could be tuned to sound best. For example, early hip hop recording studios used a boom box for their reference since that is what the end user would be listening on. Reference has just trickled down now to mean "stare of the art".
I argue with my friend who owns expensive beats headphones while I use cheap but good IEMs, about sound quality all the time. Most people think price always equals quality, but with most tech these days that isn't true.
Beats are crap, best headphones I ever owned were Sony MDR V6 many of the radio stations and recording studios used them because of their accuracy and they were $70
Gotta say, as an audio professional.... This was spot on, lol! I'd love to see you guys cover the modern music experience with streaming platforms (spotify, RUclips, etc.. which are all normalizing the listening experience through weighted measurements of the audio tracks and creating a playback gain adjustment) and the fidelity wars in Streaming (Soundcloud is notorious for it's lower quality compression schemes compared to Spotify or Tidal)
Don listen to this people -___- most prople use their headphones in public so they care about the design which beats usually has the best looking headphones so if you want one, get one.
that statement makes no sense at all ! Turning up bass would allow you to hear sounds under 1000Hz or 1kHz louder Range of human hearing is 20Hz -20,000Hz or 20kHz
I came to the conclusion about 30 years ago that most people's ears are not good enough to recognise high quality audio. I hear every change I make in any part of my system. Every part of your system is critical - stands, equipment, cables, room. Cables make a notable difference and are vital. Uncompressed FLAC is very clearly much better than compressed 320kB MP3. I worship hifi and have an immense music library. I have spent substantial amounts of money over the last 3 decades but I enjoy every moment of it. I listen to music for many hours every day. When you get to a level that you are discovering new basslines/extra drums/additional backing singers then you are doing it right. When you just have to listen to that one more track then you are doing it right. When it makes you cry you are doing it right. Music is life.
@2:28 "...more premium cables and wires can, in some cases, make a slight difference" Linus, you are correct, for most stereos. But for a truly well built, high end stereo, the difference that cables make is anything but slight. @3:05 "...very difficult to hear the difference between a high quality mp3 and a lossless flac" Linus, ditto my first comment, as it pertains to a true high end stereo. If you have not heard, for example, a pair of Wilson Alexx, or Vandersteen Seven loudspeakers, with like-quality components, professionally set-up, then you have not heard a system where the differences in cables, or mp3 vs. flac, will be very apparent. Otherwise, a very good video.
+Ultra Sound sounds like constant accidental disconnections and interference from physical objects, speeds that only PCI-E can make use of, poor range and access points in multiple places in every single room. Just imagine using the internet on your phone and, oh crap, have to turn around to make the internet work - that'll get tiring quick.
good mp3 is good enough for most people. Lossless can make a difference. But only if you do not listen to it with a potato wired to a watering can. Note: Potato doesn´t mean bad quality, it is just different.
What I always got from audiophiles. I can literally go from an MP3 to FLAC file of the same song and not hear a single bit of difference in them with my gaming laptop with it's upgraded sound card. If I literally need to get a $500+ audio setup just to hear that little difference, in a song that's already mixed perfectly, then it's just pointless to me 😂
That's because you are expecting instant discernment. It's hard to tell shit with instant A-B tests except for major changes in tonal structure. Try listening to each long term... the differences over time become much more apparent.
As Peter Goldmark (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carl_Goldmark) of Columbia records noted (i'll paraphrase), Americans don't give a S*** about audio quality, it just needs to be loud. Cinema companies, audiophiles, classical and Jazz music fans move audio quality forward.
First, a hifi system is NEVER going to sound like the engineer and band recorded it. Room nodes, standing waves and speaker quirks all have an effect. You were right about "HIFI". It means true to the original. Every audio component is designed and marketed to a PRICE POINT. Yes $400 speakers should sound better than $100 speakers. In 1981 Infinity had "Reference Standard" speakers that M.S.R.P. for $20,000! To me hifi is about the BEST you can AFFORD on your budget. I've been using an equalizer (ADC SS2IC) and a dynamic range processor (Pioneer RG 2) since 1982, to help my system sound better, at least to me! Your video was informative and enjoyable. You are an astute man.
These tech quickies are gold and is why Linus Media Group is awesome. Now that i have built all the computers and studied tech for over a decade, it is still nice to revisit clips like this and enjoy the culture.
I think I commented on this video a while back and just thought I would refresh my memory of your opinion on High End Audio and " Hi Fidelity Audio". Actually its a pretty good explanation to what high end audio is and isn't. And typically I criticize those who try and explain what high end audio is when they are not truly educated on the subject. But I have no real criticism or additions that should be mentioned. Yes the main goal of hi fi is to reproduce music as close to the original source and with the highest fidelity. Most people have never heard a truly state of the art music system, and those who have I can account to is its a eye opening and sometimes spiritual experience. That has been one my great pleasures in being a audio consultant for over 40 years introducing those to a higher quality listening experience typically leads to a more emotional connection to the performance. If the system is properly designed, setup and calibrated it can be an amazing experience. But the issue is its not easy. It takes many years of experience to know how to design, setup and calibrate a music system to bring out its full potential. So unless you take many years to learn whats involved ( which I do encourage ) then you will need the assistance of a audio specialist. The best place to buy a high quality music system is at one of the many independent high end audio video stores in your area. These smaller high end audio stores carry the better brands of speakers and equipment, AND most of these stores will have salesmen who have the experience and knowledge to help you design a system properly for your listening tastes, budget, and room. I could go into where to start and what is the most important parts of a music system but this would get very lengthy. So the one big advice I can give you in going into the process, is that understand that everything in a music system matters and effects the overall sound quality. The better the system the more it will reveal any short comings in the system. So dont think by just buying expensive speakers that is going to give you hi fidelity sound. Everything in the chain matters and actually ( not to say speakers are not important, they are ) but the equipment in front of them is equally if not more important. Understand the detail in the music comes from the recording to the source equipment, preamplifiers, amplifiers, cables, etc. Speakers are only as good as the equipment in front of them. So do not go into this process thinking if I just buy expensive speakers its going to give you high quality sound.
Very very few people can tell a difference between FLAC and 128 ACC , with an ABX test. The test have been done on many many different set ups and cans.
I just got some AKG371 cans and a Shanling UP4 portable DAC/Amp and I'm absolutely hooked. I can't wait to put together a proper system for at home listening.
Its not only the sound, its also admiring the technology that produces it. There is even a saying that audiophiles listen to their equipment and music lovers listen to the music.
Cables make more than a slight difference because in many cases you are matching the impedance of the cables and components. It has little to do with the materials however some audiophiles prefer some materials over others. Some shielding will actually degrade the sound because of something called skin effect! The difference in my system between high quality MP3's and full resolution is dramatic. If you haven't heard a high end music system you haven't heard music.
+Michael Jastrzebski (MikeJ122O) agreed. The only problem with FLAC is the retrocompatibility with mp3 devices. Man, even AAC can play in my old Sony Walkman.
320kbs is good enough,they've done tests before and its almost impossible to distinguish between lossless and 320, if you were tested between the 2 you would end up just guessing.
+ethanr24 I doubt it. Can we have a look at these studies? If you have a fairly decent pair of headphones (a $60,- pair of Grado SR60's would work perfectly already) you'll probably easily hear the difference between Daft Punk's 'One More Time' in 320 kbps MP3 or FLAC. It's definitely not equally noticeable in every track, but in some tracks it's really not difficult to hear.
I actually agree with this, I don't care about 320kbps or a 1411kbps wav either. But WAV can also do 24 bits, 96khz and higher if you want it to. Now that's where the differences get interesting again. Honestly, CD quality just isn't that great or demanding.
Coming from beta to today, Hi-Fi is definitely a thing, but the cost is almost directly proportional to the quality of fidelity. Also, the difference between mp3 and lossless (or compressed vs uncompressed) is very noticeable.
Audiophile here, i have listened to many headphones over the years, and sofar the Orpheus is the best sounding headphone to i have heard (and i have heard the entire STAX, HiFiMan, Audeze, Beyerdynamic and most of the Sennheiser lineup, just to name a few). The Orpheus did have one slight flaw, that the SR009 and HD800 did not have, and that is, audio coloration, they slightly colored the sound to a warmer tone then the other 2 mentioned. But that coloration helped the sound. Also, Linus, you forgot the DAC! Also, i wonder how the new senneheiser orpheus is, i will be testing it in a few months..
I've been exploring a bit the audiophile recently but I'm also a gamer and I really think you can compare both to have a better idea of how it is: *Entry-Level* In the audiophile hobby, this means: entry-level sound equipment (usually good pair of headphones and maybe a DAC) + FLAC/ALAC or mp3 320 or aac 320 is equivalent to clean 60fps on mid-high-ultra settings (on preference) in gaming + decent gear The experience is better than lower specs, some may settle for less, but in general, people enjoying the hobby consider this as a minimum. *Mid-range* Flac/wav/alac + CD + some vinyls and mid-range equipment is equivalent to 144hz on high settings with competitive gear The experience is substantially better for the trained ear/eye, in fact is not even a fair comparison if you really are capable of noting the difference, however, not all can do this especially those who are more casual. *High end* WAV only + Vinyls + cd and very high-end equipment definitely 240hz on whatever setting and gear best suited for performance (for example some pro gamers may turn on shadows since they are blurry as shit and could be confused to an enemy), Here every bit adds up, in gaming you may only have 4 ms of input lag per peripheral, but then if you have 4 ms in all your gear and turns out your gear is desynced then you may end up with 40ms delay total, so reducing this to 1ms of input lag per peripheral is already huge! Same for an audiophile, every electronic piece and every digital piece adds up to the entire sound experience, but while gaming is usually very objective, here in the audiophile hobby, it is super subjective to a point where some may enjoy building huge racks of equipment and end up with concert-like sound experience while others may enjoy something completely different!
Switched from a pc Sound system to 2 canton “budget and compact” hifi speakers today and while watching movies with them you REALLY notice a difference.
I spend almost an hour heard over 20 headphones in the store, try 50$ to 500$ in different brands. and eventually my ears chose the JBL E55BT Quincy Edition (130$) I recommend everyone to try many headphones and choose what best for you (and for your type of music)
In the last stream I said I don't like your lectures. I was joking, I genuinely love your lectures on your experiences because it gives great insight on the things you've done.
omfg. i finally found a video where i am able to correct - rather than to learn from you dude ;) - Hi-Fi Speakers are cleary NOT created to sound exactly like the signal once recorderd - they're designed to make the most sugar sweet hearing experience possible with a minimal lack of quality. you were talking about full range monitors actually or whole systems of them - which are mostly only used to mix and master such stuff to be able to sound on any - even poorly designed combo devices (cd radios, bluetooth boxes, shit like that) as good as they can. to do so you have to eliminate some disturbing frequencies which sound - in live environment - really great to ensure the full musical experience (you know what im talking about if you ever sat any close to a violin or western guitar virtuoist playin live in front of you without any amplification) but dont fit on the most of common home stereo devices and on the other side - push the frequencies the human ear percepts as some kind of ......... "sweet spots" ;D that make you feel comfortable while hearing. as simple as it sounds - sometimes it's magic. if u like my comment i would love to see one of you guys on my dirty black metal example ^^
CORRECTION: "a Hi-Fis speaker's job is to produce sound exactly as it was originally recorded and received by the MICROPHONE" (not speaker) CORRECTION: It was implied that tube (analog) amplification is of highest fidelity...but that is not true. Digital recording mediums and digital amplifiers are much truer to capturing the original source than analog components are, such as tape recorders and tube amps. Also, 1 large part of Hi-Fi that was not discussed here is the ACOUSTICS OF THE ROOM and speaker/listener placement, not just the speaker housing, acoustics which plays a HUGE role in perceived quality.
You cannot amplify a digital signal, you have to convert it to an analog waveform and then use a variety of methods to amplify it, either by transistors (class AB), chip amps, or tube amplification. "digital amp" is a literal oxymoron.
Get a good DAC's . also helps. I agree with what you said here Brokenhill. Also if it sounds good to you then buy it. You will be the one listening to it. We all like different sounds. I like my HI-FI and good quality recordings. I can not hear anything over 13.8khz . And I do hear more things in good quality recordings. You also need the right gear to play it and know what to listen for.
I'm solo happy that this generation of young people are really caring about the quality of their music, AND actually holding their music via. vinyl, analog tape and hi res audio, my personal favorite, flsc and dsd. if only HiFi equipment would get out of this ultra expensive jewelry phase, and quit worrying about looking more expensive than it sounds.
I would also love to see a video about cable interference (power/signal). Like how does laying an (unshielded) network cable (or signal cable in general like audio or video) right next to a power cable affect the signals. How much current do you need to run through a power cable to affect/distort the signal in the signal cable?
+ColinSSX agreed, if you get baked enough with a high quality system the world can collapse upon itself. close your eyes with a good sound stage and you may even get visual hallucinations.
Good quality audio systems are timeless. People still comment how good sound is from my 20 years old speakers. Compare that to 2 years old phone or PC. Nobody cares for them any more.
Kinda weird, since from a professional audio perspective, hifi actually refers to colored sound, usually somewhat V-shaped EQ's, easier to be listened to and studio grade refers to reference and studio monitors and headphones that might not be "beautiful" but they are accurate and flat. Both are great, but serve a different purpose. Hi-Fi is like making your image better with photoshop, studio grade is just the raw image to see what's wrong with it.
+troyBORG I got them a couple months ago - they're insanely comfortable (my left ear pinnae gets physically sore after wearing a lot of headphones for hours at a time, doesn't happen with these) and the sound is fantastic quality and clarity.
+troyBORG They sound amazing, as long as you can tame the treble. Depending on the music, it can be very fatiguing. Also, tell your friend to make sure they also have a quality amp and dac to really bring out the details in these very capable headphones.
+troyBORG Their sound is really nice, however, in terms of comfort - if you have issues with round ear cups on other headphones, you'll probably experience them with these as well (despite the ear cups are quite big and soft). That was my deal breaker some years back when I was looking for home-listening headphones. I ended up getting the Sennheiser HD555 and I love them so much that I got the G4ME "gaming" headset by them as well, which is pretty much the same thing in terms of shape and comfort, only with added microphone and a different colour scheme.
Higher impedance doesn't necessarily mean more "power hungry" at all, it simply means a different voltage / current ratio but effectively handling the same amount of Milliwatts, also multiple phones in parallel doesn't lower the impedance of a individual set of phones but lowers the "collective impedance" (Z-eq) seen by the amplifier.
It's all too complicated for most people. my first system was back in the early eighties . Polk SDA-1 speakers with Carver M-1 amp and parasound pre amp. Now sit down and get ready for the source . A sony walkman pro . When i told the dealer he tried not to laugh . anyway it turned out to be a spectacular combination . I have not heard anything i liked better since . My advice is listen to three or four speakers after reading a bit on the subject , get an amp that the dealer says is adequate for your speakers and go home and enjoy some music . For those that want to make a hobby out of hifi , be prepared to save your money , your going to need a pile of cash.
The reel-to-reel shown on the image at 1:10 is an Astra (Астра) 110 stereo which was produced in USSR. And there's supposed to be a model printed on the head cover :)
Impedance is not resistance. Well, it involves resistance, but it's in combination with reactance. Sorry, being in a third year electrical technologist program, can't go on without making a comment.
I own a Sony STR-DH550 amp paired with 2 3 way speakers and a subwoofer from a Sony HCD-RG495. This setup blows me away with quality. It's not about how well it reproduces every tiny frequency, it's about how good it sounds to you. Although that set-up is the only one able to make me hear all the small details in any song
I like to think the amp is more important than the speakers. I delivers the signal which the speakers translate into the forwards and backwards movements which make sounds.
When I was younger I didn't bother and didn't know about hi fi. Now that I tried it, I cannot get back, and indeed hi fi does exists and is very easy to understand a low quality recording or a bafd recording from a fine one. The mistake many people think is that a mp3 sounds bad and a flac file sounds better or a vinyl record etc..... Wrong, all is about recording copy quality even it is a CD.... And of course having a good setup of reproduction machines (amp speakers and so on)
Wi-Fi means nothing. It was only for marketing reasons. The real name of Wifi is just some code. So because people already knew hi-fi they decided on wifi. Wireless Fidelity doesn't make sense
m.2 port differences (for wifi cards and storage), its different keys and (for storage) explaining mechanics of sata interface and pci interface, and what to look for to make those and mobo's compatible
How to get a cheap but useful hi-fi experience. 1. Get an LG V Series phone, they have a built in dac which the high impedance headphones will help out. 2. High impedance open back headphones. 3. CDs transferred to flac files using EAC for the computer then transfer to phone. 4. Download Poweramp app for android and use and tune the eq to your liking. *DONE*
I surely hear quite a big difference between FLAC and quite high quality MP3. I use a quite old Yamaha V800 6.1 Receiver combined with a Boston Accoustics MCS100 5.1 speaker set. I use Optical Digital Toslink connectors to connect my gear to the receiver. It may be a little older but it still sounds really good.
"So the point of Hi-Fi then is to get as close to to the original recording as possible". How ironic. Hi-Fi equipment is built to sound good, usually meaning generous high frequency and low frequency boosts (commonly known as a smile-curve on a graphic EQ), and some saturation/distortion on higher-end equipment. Hi-Fi equipment doesn't make the original recordings sound original, but makes them more pleasing to the ear. If you want to listen to the original sound, buy the master tapes, buy the recording/mixing console the track was recorded and/or mixed on (including the original outboard used), buy the monitors (speakers) the engineers listened on when they were mixing and recreate the room they did this in to immaculate detail. This is how you can listen to the original tracks as they were intended, and digital emulation will not do the trick. However if you want to listen to the tracks as flat as reasonably possible, buy a good pair of studio monitors; they are designed to reproduce sound with as little additional processing as possible, which is required in order to find technical mistakes during the mixing process. Hi-Fi equipment is designed to be flashy and sound good, studio monitors will give you the cold hard truth you expect from Hi-Fi equipment.
...usually meaning generous high frequency and low frequency boosts... That's absolute BS. Only companies shunned by audiophiles do that. Please provide some examples. Most "Hi-FI" manufacturers lists the frequency response of their gear on their website or in the owners manual. Not to mention, audio publications and sites test/measure a lot of Hi-Fi, yet none of them have shown any "Smiley faced" freq responses. BTW, Many consumers brands make studio versions of their gear utilizing the same components such as Dynaudio, Bowers & WIlkens, Focal, JBL, etc. Skywalker Ranch and Abbey Road studios, both use B&W speakers that are readily available to consumers at certain Best Buys. Schools Out!!!! Enjoy the summer.
And, as always, not a single mention to room acoustics. Get the best equipment you can buy (even if it's cheap) and then calibrate your setup for your listening room. All of the the electronics combined can't affect your listening experience in more than 10% (and I would say 5%), leaving those other 90% to your listening room acoustics. Make sure that whatever electrical signal that enters your equipment, gets to your ears as close to the original source as it can in dynamic range, spectrum balance (the energy levels at different frequency points in our hearing spectrum), phase and polarity. It's about spending time to get there, not about spending money.
I think there was a challenge to see if anyone can actually tell the difference between 320 mp3 and flac and no one wasn't able to do it. Honestly, it's bullshit.
3:09, you can absolutely hear the difference between any MP3 track (don't know what Linus means by "high quality MP3") and a hi-res uncompressed track (192KHz/24-bit and 5Mbps+ bitrate) if played back on a good hi-fi system with a proper preamp, a good amplifier and a great pair of speakers. It doesn't make sense to play a track like that on a PC and using its built-in speakers.
Thanks for providing the link. Basically it's a blind test involving two different sources (A) and (B) and a variable one (X). The point is that it's a pretty well known fact that even an increase in bit-depth should be noticeable by the ear, from 16 to 24. Of course, we know the hearing range for humans is established to be between 20 Hz - 20kHz, and a 44.1kHz sampling rate provided by CDs and even streaming services should be enough to cover that. That's true. But a higher sampling rate not only means how many frequencies are being recorded / played, but also how many samples per second are there in a given recording. The more samples, the more detailed and faithful to the analog recording the file will be. Bitrate also plays an important role in the process. I don't know how much of a huge difference hi-res tracks make over standard res tracks or CDs but, it's obvious that to fully appreciate and notice the increased fidelity, a good PreAmp / DAC + Amp and good speakers are required. I hope it will become a widely adopted standard as soon as possible, so everyone will get to enjoy hi-res audio and we'll finally discover the truth about it.
This image should explain the actual advantage of higher sampling rates: sonyglobal.scene7.com/is/image/gwtprod/4c1d2b436b1a46d36a96c32d0aa853c3?fmt=jpeg&wid=580
9 лет назад+5
The comment section is gonna be good *grabs popcorn*
I'm an audiophile, and there honestly isn't much of a massive difference in sound quality. Yea, the music industry is saturated with compression, but the miniscule difference in sound isn't worth the 10x the storage capacity :b
+Frankie Dingleberry Or price + human's hearing abilities degrade over time and the brain can deceive itself into thinking it's hearing something better, especially if you spent a lot on it.
+Biddybalboa yeah dont upgrade whatever yo have now because it sounds just perfect to you.. until you hear something far better.... then you think to yourself.. how could i have liked that before.
+Biddybalboa yer point? just because you're 'old' doesn't mean you can't enjoy good sound, bruh. My old man has some Magnepan MMGs and he's practically inseparable from them. He genuinely enjoys any new audio product that I bring into his shop, it's his hobby, and I respect that. High fidelity ain't a bunch of placebo nonsense. Some stuff is, sure, but saying that, oh, my Hifiman HE-500s sound different from a beyer T90 or whatever is true and can be measured subjectively and objectively. (Not everything can be measured)
+Frankie Dingleberry A FLAC is usually only about 3 times as large as a 320 kbps MP3, it's not that bad. For a lot of music it makes a small but noticeable difference to have the FLAC, but for listening on your phone it makes very little sense to carry FLACs around, especially if you're listening to it in noisy environments.
Çerastes with nice hi-fi speakers, it’s important to note sub bass as well. While our ears can’t discern 320 kbps from lossless well, there’s still info being cut out. Sub 20 Hz is important to a lot of enthusiasts as well
I'm rocking a Marantz PM6003 amp with 2 Jamo J-73 studio monitors right here! Those speakers where from my grandad and he bought them back in the 80's, They still sound AMAZING!!!
I'm happy you 're rocking, but you're not really listening to the creme of the crop. If you're ever interested in investing, get a pair of late 90's Jamo's instead of the old ones. Jamo did some really good stuff more recently. The cornet are dirt cheap and really good. As for that Marantz; Burn it with fire. Marantz stopped making good stuff around 1970. That early. Not sure why people are still using it. Not trying to bash you here, enjoy your stuff for as long as you like, just realize; There's more out there.
Çerastes I disagree. maybe if your listening on cheap headphones or speakers but if you have good hifi gear and speakers or studio gear you absoultey can tell the difference. also depends on weather one is capable of concentrating on certain elements in a recording and is able to listen properly you can be trained and everyone hears differently so there's to many variables
Çerastes its fairly easy to hear the difference actually if you compare one recording in its native 24bit usually 44.1KHz sample rate to the same recording down grade or compressed MP3 for matte they sound similar yes its more of what your not hearing in the mp3 compared to the Original that was recorded to WAV or AIFF or even tape. Now I've heard the differences in all formats and playback methods and I know which ones sound great and which sound like garbage in comparison. If you cant that's fine. but im fresh graduate from my local recording program and i've been a music lover and audiophile all my life not sure about where your history or education / sources in this matter but I've experienced it first hand
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](/img/1.gif)
I think it's quite similar with video.
Once we experience full HD (or even more), it's sucks to go back at 360p or 480p.
**unless it's a good porn.
😂😂😂 true
😂😂😂 Totally agree
Poetry
my boy now pornhub has FREE 1080p vids.... :D
That's right, although I would say it's kinda like going from a 60 Hz monitor to a 144 Hz for gaming. They going back is quite painful.
The biggest disappointment of my life was going to my first rock concert as a teen and it sounded so much shittier than the record.
Shitty sound engineers and venues that cheap out on decent speakers. Zero sound balance. Not to mention the possibility of the singer or band performing like ass because they’re too drunk. It’s hit or miss.
At very high volume (pushing over 130 dB, which is normal for most concerts and not unusual for clubs), even a very expensive gear will start to sound way too aggressive on your eardrums, making the experience very possibly less pleasant than listening at home at a moderately high volume on an average equipment.
Going to a rock concert for an audiophile experience is weird. Symphonic orchestra or an organ concert is better for that.
Wear earplugs when going to rock concerts!
That's just a shit sound engineer. I've heard several concerts nearly identical to the record.
Mack's Hear Plugs. The best thing that happened to going to concerts. They allow you to have a normal conversation but filter out the damaging levels of a concert. They are less than $20 and are very comfortable. I now use them for everything from using power tools to mowing the lawn.
Hi-fi stuff isn't for everyone, but it can be damn addicting and expensive for those who do enjoy it.
320kbps is quite satisfying...
songs in my library in 320kbps and 44.1khz....but my particular fav songs in 24 bit 192khz FLAC...sometimes 24bit 96khz is also okay while finding every songs in HiFi not so easy today...
DSD64(2.8mhz) and DSD128(5.8mhz) on the other hand are out of question...they are not mainstream and way too expensive...
one can not really understand its differences without having proper HiFi sound hardware...
It's fun this video was featured. I just uploaded a video on my channel of a new Hi-Fi amplifier I got. Great stuff, I'm not new in this scene. I have More Philips vintage Hi-Fi hardware refurbished. Just amazing stuff. All my friends say the same. Sounds great!
Or just get stuff that is used in studios as audiophile stuff does not give flat freq response. The flatter freq response- the more accurate to original. Which pro stuff does. HI-fi does elephant husk headphones with polar resistors and is extremely stupid if you know physics and sound processing (which i study). And hi-fi stuff does not aim dor the flattest frequency response (idk what they are doing at this point, as no legitimate sound engineer would ever buy bangs and olfsen dish shaped speaker for 10k to use for making a good mix).
it is .... a tons of money I spend to build my 3 way front system in car by my self and it never stops
@Squall Leonhart well I honestly have no idea who the hell is 'monitor audio' or 'silver 200' as I did not find any graphs for that, but you need to realize that when you are not using monitor speakers (idk about brand, i mean purpose) the sound is going to be coloured. also it is the rooms acoustics that play a huge role in your 'soundstage' or whatever you call your reverbarations. Thing is best OBJECTIVE quality is acheived by flattest possible time dependant frequency responce of speakers and minimized reflections in the room as that plays you music the way it was recorded (and sorry, but math forbids you from getting extra 'quality' aka information than there already is). Oh and obviously listener needs to sit in a sweetspot, sorry to break it but studio nearfield monitors are the best at doing being flat and if you want optimal setup just have them closer if your tv is far (unless you have big ass monitors like deadmau5 for like 50K a pop, approved and installed by dolby which were actually used to mix and master your awesome bluray vienna boy chorus). The perceived awesomeness of extra reverbaration from the cabinets and your rooms response time non-linearity is only SUBJECTIVE better quality. If that makes you feel 'just like in the concert'- great, but objectively thats original record (your room remix) that you are hearing. I hope this helps and spreads awareness that polar resistors, iridium cables for digital signals and extinct animal fur coated speakers are there not for the objective quality, but for ego-uneducatedRichKid-moneywash purpouses only (sorry but sound is just a wave and peer-reviewed physics is king here). Peace out :) i hope it didnt sound offensive as none was intended ^^
Editor: "How many stock images do we need to buy for this video?"
Linus: "Yes."
I think they use shutterstock
Most of the photos are wrong too.
Low Quality Audio is Like:
Dead Pixels
3/2 Pulldown
LCD Light Bleed
Coil Whine
Screen Tearing
Vsync Lag
Mechanical Hard Drives
Non-Native Resolution (looking at you XBone, 900p)
Once you realize how bad it is, You'll pay anything to get rid of it.
bruh, i know the feels when it comes to screen tear. but its also kinda like when you have to use your TV as a computer monitor but it doesnt scale properly so you have to input custom scaling but even tho its @1080p you get weird artefacts and patches of the screen that are lower res than the rest of the screen. thats kinda what low quality audio is like.
less quality audio is more like a TN panel vs a oled or good va or ips panel. And higher sound will be more like Hdr.
But just like in visuals great production is need it to actually bring the right experience along with hardware well tune to the experience
A DVD from a well done movie will look better than a Hdr 8k blogger homemade video
Like a 60hz monitor, it's fine because everyone uses it, but switching to 144hz and you can't go back.
Like FHD and 4k.
David Senatsky that's a great comparison, because for 90% of what people use a screen, surfing the web, watching movies, document writing etc no different between 60hrz and 144 only on high pace video games where a high refresh monitor will make the difference.
Have you ever used a 144 display? it makes a huge difference even on desktop, just try it.
Bought Hi-Fi headphones to listen to Lo-Fi chill music at RUclips
You are a man of culture 😢
So true
@D.B Cooper I'm a bit dissapointed in Tidal, a lot of music isn't in MQA, just CD quality
Lo-fi sounds good.
Nasi Lemak haha
Children. Don't buy beats.
or Bose
or GAMING headSETS
Grady Klein The beats cable is worth it tho
Agree. Buy Bowers & Wilkins, Sony or Sennheiser instead! :)
Ruud Peeters i got a pair of sennheiser earbuds. when i told me friend he was like "oh. i don't know who that is". :(
Room acoustics will get anyone off to a good start regardless of equipment. So many people with stereo systems don't take the time to properly place their speakers or tame reflections when needed.
Stereo is the king , get some good ass headphones and a proper endphase for them and stereo will blow ur nuts outa your socks
I just bought a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x on sale for a little over a hundred bucks. Coming from a three hundred dollar pair of Beats Studio... I will never make that mistake again.
Lesson learned. I actually heard a pair of 125 dollar beats. They are, literally, as bad as 10 dollar headphones from the dollar store. Honestly, if you want cheap beats, reconsider and get cheap Philipses or Sennheisers. I'm not a Sennheiser fan, but their 30-40 dollar range is actually quite good for the money.
@@rollingtroll the cheap sennheisers suck
Tommy Tindall this made me lol
I'm using a pair of those exact Audio Technica ones now, got 'em second hand for around 70, love 'em !
Overrated bad headphones with nowhere close to flat sound. My sennheiser HD 380 pros are miles better.
Hi-fi sound equipment doesn't necessarily have to reproduce the sound from the source accurately, some can still be considered hi-fi even if it "colors" the sound. "Reference quality" is the term used for gear that's goal is to be as accurate as possible.
Actually "reference" equipment finds its root in the idea of recording studios. The idea was to have a reference to which a system could be tuned to sound best. For example, early hip hop recording studios used a boom box for their reference since that is what the end user would be listening on. Reference has just trickled down now to mean "stare of the art".
Zachary Sims Yea actual reference speakers are now just monitors
exactly what I was thinking
+Leisure Muffin pretty sure I don't want colors in my music
+Blox117 Don't listen to rap music then.
I argue with my friend who owns expensive beats headphones while I use cheap but good IEMs, about sound quality all the time. Most people think price always equals quality, but with most tech these days that isn't true.
Chi-fi
Beats are crap, best headphones I ever owned were Sony MDR V6 many of the radio stations and recording studios used them because of their accuracy and they were $70
Beats headphones are cheaply made break easily and don't sound that good. Sony makes some great sounding ones for half the price
@@donalddeorio2237 nah sony have a TON of expensive shit that sound like garbage, fucking v curve trash. But beats are worse agreed
Anyone that thinks expensive = good is a child. Ignorance is bliss so cant really blame them for wanting to be happy and dumb
Now do audio codecs.
+jpchevron That would be a fun video
jpchevron they have now
With storage being cheap, all you need to know is WAV.
WAV, FLAC and ALAC. Those make up the holy trinity of audio codecs.
@@gixxerfixxer4159 DSD, MQA and PCM would like a word with you.
DandelinusTechTips
😁
+GuardianLords Why do technology reviewers always wave their hands around while talking.
Are they all Italian?
+nameless777 And what do you do while presenting? Perhaps you would benefit from some presentation courses
'cB. Same here but I was years ago hahaa he hasn't changed it
ME: Oh. No ads this time, how refreshi-
LINUS: SPEAKING OF THINGS COMING IN THE FUTURE
Gotta say, as an audio professional.... This was spot on, lol! I'd love to see you guys cover the modern music experience with streaming platforms (spotify, RUclips, etc.. which are all normalizing the listening experience through weighted measurements of the audio tracks and creating a playback gain adjustment) and the fidelity wars in Streaming (Soundcloud is notorious for it's lower quality compression schemes compared to Spotify or Tidal)
Regarding source-quality and MP3/Lossless/FLAC you could have meantioned the significance of the "loudness war" trend.
I hate the loudness war so much, luckily it seems to be ending mostly...
8years later, the loudness war still raging dude.
I'm in the market for new headphones, what color of Beats Studio wireless come with the most Hi-Fi?
Beats suck get something good.
+Ernest Paul lol
+Ernest Paul Well the red ones have more ohms so obviously better
Don listen to this people -___- most prople use their headphones in public so they care about the design which beats usually has the best looking headphones so if you want one, get one.
+Ernest Paul Troll harder, bruh.
Best practice is to crank that bass to 11 so you can hear over 9000 kHz.
+The Hoax Hotel Hahaha maybe it could add harmonic distortion at frequencies that high if you really clipped the shit out of it
+The Hoax Hotel *_What, 9000?!?!_*
+Nontheistism It can't BE!!!! ITS OVER 9000!!!
The Hoax Hotel wwewwaaaasshhhhhhaaasttttt?
that statement makes no sense at all !
Turning up bass would allow you to hear sounds under 1000Hz or 1kHz louder
Range of human hearing is 20Hz -20,000Hz or 20kHz
It will be good that people understand what actually quality sound is. Great video!!!
I came to the conclusion about 30 years ago that most people's ears are not good enough to recognise high quality audio. I hear every change I make in any part of my system. Every part of your system is critical - stands, equipment, cables, room. Cables make a notable difference and are vital. Uncompressed FLAC is very clearly much better than compressed 320kB MP3. I worship hifi and have an immense music library. I have spent substantial amounts of money over the last 3 decades but I enjoy every moment of it. I listen to music for many hours every day. When you get to a level that you are discovering new basslines/extra drums/additional backing singers then you are doing it right. When you just have to listen to that one more track then you are doing it right. When it makes you cry you are doing it right. Music is life.
Spotify/RUclips music 128kbs = 30fps
HQ MP3 320kbs = 60fps
Lossless Flac 1411kbs = 144fps
Not really...It's more like: 128 kbs = 75 fps, 320 kbs = 120 fps, flac = 144 fps.
And people think that Wi-Fi stands for "Wireless Fidelity".
You mean they don't?
danielsjohnson No. The inventer chose the name because he thought it sounded cool.
I always thought it meant wireless frequency interface :P
Wife Fidelity... Imao
It's actually pronounced wee fee. It does not stand for anything.
I feel like there gets to a point where the law of diminishing returns sets in
As in all domains.
Jeffery Jones that happens very very quickly
MASSIVELY
The law of diminishing returns is only a thing if money “is” an object.
Yeh that comes after you get to about the $1000 price point. Or $10 in beats case.
@2:28 "...more premium cables and wires can, in some cases, make a slight difference"
Linus, you are correct, for most stereos. But for a truly well built, high end stereo, the difference that cables make is anything but slight.
@3:05 "...very difficult to hear the difference between a high quality mp3 and a lossless flac"
Linus, ditto my first comment, as it pertains to a true high end stereo.
If you have not heard, for example, a pair of Wilson Alexx, or Vandersteen Seven loudspeakers, with like-quality components, professionally set-up, then you have not heard a system where the differences in cables, or mp3 vs. flac, will be very apparent.
Otherwise, a very good video.
The Sennheiser HE-1 is not $50K, it's $55K. Unless Linus got a discount 😛
Video is 2 years old, inflation hits hard!
Hi-Fi Insider I would never spend that much on a pair of headphones. Maybe $200-750
Only an idiot would pay 50 000 for headphones!
Steven Sims Or someone with more money than they know what to do with...
WE
Li-Fi Asap episode please
lol
lol
lol
yasss bitch yasssssssss
+Ultra Sound sounds like constant accidental disconnections and interference from physical objects, speeds that only PCI-E can make use of, poor range and access points in multiple places in every single room.
Just imagine using the internet on your phone and, oh crap, have to turn around to make the internet work - that'll get tiring quick.
good mp3 is good enough for most people. Lossless can make a difference. But only if you do not listen to it with a potato wired to a watering can.
Note: Potato doesn´t mean bad quality, it is just different.
What I always got from audiophiles. I can literally go from an MP3 to FLAC file of the same song and not hear a single bit of difference in them with my gaming laptop with it's upgraded sound card. If I literally need to get a $500+ audio setup just to hear that little difference, in a song that's already mixed perfectly, then it's just pointless to me 😂
That's because you are expecting instant discernment. It's hard to tell shit with instant A-B tests except for major changes in tonal structure. Try listening to each long term... the differences over time become much more apparent.
Audioquest dragonfly, pair of AKG K141. Thank me later.
As Peter Goldmark (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carl_Goldmark) of Columbia records noted (i'll paraphrase), Americans don't give a S*** about audio quality, it just needs to be loud. Cinema companies, audiophiles, classical and Jazz music fans move audio quality forward.
hahaha
First, a hifi system is NEVER going to sound like the engineer and band recorded it. Room nodes, standing waves and speaker quirks all have an effect. You were right about "HIFI". It means true to the original. Every audio component is designed and marketed to a PRICE POINT. Yes $400 speakers should sound better than $100 speakers. In 1981 Infinity had "Reference Standard" speakers that M.S.R.P. for $20,000!
To me hifi is about the BEST you can AFFORD on your budget. I've been using an equalizer (ADC SS2IC) and a dynamic range processor (Pioneer RG 2) since 1982, to help my system sound better, at least to me! Your video was informative and enjoyable. You are an astute man.
Informative as always. Thanks, Linus!
I love the little images in these videos!
4:57 where the hell did you manage to find a picture of someone trying to feed a speaker
Stock photos
Got it so adding more resistors to a headset makes them more hifi
0:00 Do you have that one friend who sits in corner of the room and...
No, but wait...
That's me
Exactly
:(
These tech quickies are gold and is why Linus Media Group is awesome. Now that i have built all the computers and studied tech for over a decade, it is still nice to revisit clips like this and enjoy the culture.
I think I commented on this video a while back and just thought I would refresh my memory of your opinion on High End Audio and " Hi Fidelity Audio". Actually its a pretty good explanation to what high end audio is and isn't. And typically I criticize those who try and explain what high end audio is when they are not truly educated on the subject. But I have no real criticism or additions that should be mentioned. Yes the main goal of hi fi is to reproduce music as close to the original source and with the highest fidelity. Most people have never heard a truly state of the art music system, and those who have I can account to is its a eye opening and sometimes spiritual experience. That has been one my great pleasures in being a audio consultant for over 40 years introducing those to a higher quality listening experience typically leads to a more emotional connection to the performance. If the system is properly designed, setup and calibrated it can be an amazing experience. But the issue is its not easy. It takes many years of experience to know how to design, setup and calibrate a music system to bring out its full potential. So unless you take many years to learn whats involved ( which I do encourage ) then you will need the assistance of a audio specialist. The best place to buy a high quality music system is at one of the many independent high end audio video stores in your area. These smaller high end audio stores carry the better brands of speakers and equipment, AND most of these stores will have salesmen who have the experience and knowledge to help you design a system properly for your listening tastes, budget, and room.
I could go into where to start and what is the most important parts of a music system but this would get very lengthy. So the one big advice I can give you in going into the process, is that understand that everything in a music system matters and effects the overall sound quality. The better the system the more it will reveal any short comings in the system. So dont think by just buying expensive speakers that is going to give you hi fidelity sound. Everything in the chain matters and actually ( not to say speakers are not important, they are ) but the equipment in front of them is equally if not more important. Understand the detail in the music comes from the recording to the source equipment, preamplifiers, amplifiers, cables, etc. Speakers are only as good as the equipment in front of them. So do not go into this process thinking if I just buy expensive speakers its going to give you high quality sound.
Very very few people can tell a difference between FLAC and 128 ACC , with an ABX test. The test have been done on many many different set ups and cans.
Listen term listening will reveal differences instand A-B tests won't.
I just got some AKG371 cans and a Shanling UP4 portable DAC/Amp and I'm absolutely hooked. I can't wait to put together a proper system for at home listening.
Its not only the sound, its also admiring the technology that produces it. There is even a saying that audiophiles listen to their equipment and music lovers listen to the music.
Cables make more than a slight difference because in many cases you are matching the impedance of the cables and components. It has little to do with the materials however some audiophiles prefer some materials over others. Some shielding will actually degrade the sound because of something called skin effect! The difference in my system between high quality MP3's and full resolution is dramatic. If you haven't heard a high end music system you haven't heard music.
Ooh nice! As a vintage hi-fi enthusiast, I like this topic. Thank you :o))
@mipmipmipmipmip *SPEAKING OF* HIGH TONES...
As an audiophile, I prefer AAC over mp3 as you get more quality and is newer than mp3. Nothing beats a FLAC file though
+Kyōko Toshinō Does it affects in music files stored in SSD tho? since there's no magnetic media to get disrupted in
+Michael Jastrzebski (MikeJ122O) agreed.
The only problem with FLAC is the retrocompatibility with mp3 devices.
Man, even AAC can play in my old Sony Walkman.
+Michael Jastrzebski (MikeJ122O) I prefer Vinyl over lossless audios, it just sounds more generic
+Sharfaraz Ahmed oops lol
+nazo333 Team Speak uses opus, opus is good for extremely low bitrates
I'd like to see more videos like this. One on each component (vinyl, amp, DAC etc) would be nice.
That crisp audio and deep bass is just something I really need for listening to music, if there’s not enough quality... I just switch it off😂lol
320kbs is good enough,they've done tests before and its almost impossible to distinguish between lossless and 320, if you were tested between the 2 you would end up just guessing.
+ethanr24 I doubt it. Can we have a look at these studies? If you have a fairly decent pair of headphones (a $60,- pair of Grado SR60's would work perfectly already) you'll probably easily hear the difference between Daft Punk's 'One More Time' in 320 kbps MP3 or FLAC. It's definitely not equally noticeable in every track, but in some tracks it's really not difficult to hear.
ethanr24 depends on the music You are listening
I actually agree with this, I don't care about 320kbps or a 1411kbps wav either. But WAV can also do 24 bits, 96khz and higher if you want it to. Now that's where the differences get interesting again. Honestly, CD quality just isn't that great or demanding.
Linus, seriously the lighting was ON POINT for this video. Keep it that way.
Coming from beta to today, Hi-Fi is definitely a thing, but the cost is almost directly proportional to the quality of fidelity. Also, the difference between mp3 and lossless (or compressed vs uncompressed) is very noticeable.
Audiophile here, i have listened to many headphones over the years, and sofar the Orpheus is the best sounding headphone to i have heard (and i have heard the entire STAX, HiFiMan, Audeze, Beyerdynamic and most of the Sennheiser lineup, just to name a few). The Orpheus did have one slight flaw, that the SR009 and HD800 did not have, and that is, audio coloration, they slightly colored the sound to a warmer tone then the other 2 mentioned. But that coloration helped the sound. Also, Linus, you forgot the DAC! Also, i wonder how the new senneheiser orpheus is, i will be testing it in a few months..
Buy second hand, you'll get great build quality &"better value
robleake Nah i got a beats cable and it sounds way better than the $5 one i got off ebay
They still build great stuff man, it's just not on shelfs in the store where you also can buy TV's and Vacuum cleaners ;).
Fun Fact: This reel to reel tape player at 1:11 is 1985 Астра 110 стерео (Astra 110 stereo). This player is made in USSR.
Edit: I'm not from Russia :)
I've been exploring a bit the audiophile recently but I'm also a gamer and I really think you can compare both to have a better idea of how it is:
*Entry-Level*
In the audiophile hobby, this means: entry-level sound equipment (usually good pair of headphones and maybe a DAC) + FLAC/ALAC or mp3 320 or aac 320
is equivalent to clean 60fps on mid-high-ultra settings (on preference) in gaming + decent gear
The experience is better than lower specs, some may settle for less, but in general, people enjoying the hobby consider this as a minimum.
*Mid-range*
Flac/wav/alac + CD + some vinyls and mid-range equipment
is equivalent to 144hz on high settings with competitive gear
The experience is substantially better for the trained ear/eye, in fact is not even a fair comparison if you really are capable of noting the difference, however, not all can do this especially those who are more casual.
*High end*
WAV only + Vinyls + cd and very high-end equipment
definitely 240hz on whatever setting and gear best suited for performance (for example some pro gamers may turn on shadows since they are blurry as shit and could be confused to an enemy),
Here every bit adds up, in gaming you may only have 4 ms of input lag per peripheral, but then if you have 4 ms in all your gear and turns out your gear is desynced then you may end up with 40ms delay total, so reducing this to 1ms of input lag per peripheral is already huge!
Same for an audiophile, every electronic piece and every digital piece adds up to the entire sound experience, but while gaming is usually very objective, here in the audiophile hobby, it is super subjective to a point where some may enjoy building huge racks of equipment and end up with concert-like sound experience while others may enjoy something completely different!
I like to listen to music every now and then but the technical stuff goes completely over my head. What would consider entry level headphones?
I Like that even in the new Office You're keeping the old look of tech quickie vids! Keep the style! :D
I am that one friend..... I can’t relate to him saying that might be hard to understand.
Switched from a pc Sound system to 2 canton “budget and compact” hifi speakers today and while watching movies with them you REALLY notice a difference.
Linus, but, but I like Wi-Fi more than Hi-Fi
+THE- REAL-GAMER I thought it was Hi-larious
+Rick Liang good one, take my HI-FIve
+THE- REAL-GAMER you can have hi-fi over wi-fi, you can also have wi-fi inside your hi-fi system.
+Rick Liang Hi-Vi ...anyone?
+Rick Liang but i prefer Sci-Fi
I spend almost an hour heard over 20 headphones in the store, try 50$ to 500$ in different brands. and eventually my ears chose the JBL E55BT Quincy Edition (130$) I recommend everyone to try many headphones and choose what best for you (and for your type of music)
In the last stream I said I don't like your lectures. I was joking, I genuinely love your lectures on your experiences because it gives great insight on the things you've done.
+Tester Test
lol, so you were the one.
Yep, it's hard to communicate tone through mere text
+MeMyselfAndPi Woah..... Weird seeing you here. Hi!
omfg. i finally found a video where i am able to correct - rather than to learn from you dude ;) - Hi-Fi Speakers are cleary NOT created to sound exactly like the signal once recorderd - they're designed to make the most sugar sweet hearing experience possible with a minimal lack of quality. you were talking about full range monitors actually or whole systems of them - which are mostly only used to mix and master such stuff to be able to sound on any - even poorly designed combo devices (cd radios, bluetooth boxes, shit like that) as good as they can. to do so you have to eliminate some disturbing frequencies which sound - in live environment - really great to ensure the full musical experience (you know what im talking about if you ever sat any close to a violin or western guitar virtuoist playin live in front of you without any amplification) but dont fit on the most of common home stereo devices and on the other side - push the frequencies the human ear percepts as some kind of ......... "sweet spots" ;D that make you feel comfortable while hearing. as simple as it sounds - sometimes it's magic. if u like my comment i would love to see one of you guys on my dirty black metal example ^^
CORRECTION: "a Hi-Fis speaker's job is to produce sound exactly as it was originally recorded and received by the MICROPHONE" (not speaker)
CORRECTION: It was implied that tube (analog) amplification is of highest fidelity...but that is not true. Digital recording mediums and digital amplifiers are much truer to capturing the original source than analog components are, such as tape recorders and tube amps.
Also, 1 large part of Hi-Fi that was not discussed here is the ACOUSTICS OF THE ROOM and speaker/listener placement, not just the speaker housing, acoustics which plays a HUGE role in perceived quality.
"digital amplifiers"
Opinion discarded.
You cannot amplify a digital signal, you have to convert it to an analog waveform and then use a variety of methods to amplify it, either by transistors (class AB), chip amps, or tube amplification. "digital amp" is a literal oxymoron.
I think he means amplifiers using DSP. Also it's media* not mediums xD
Get a good DAC's . also helps. I agree with what you said here Brokenhill. Also if it sounds good to you then buy it. You will be the one listening to it. We all like different sounds. I like my HI-FI and good quality recordings. I can not hear anything over 13.8khz . And I do hear more things in good quality recordings. You also need the right gear to play it and know what to listen for.
Bad b8
I'm solo happy that this generation of young people are really caring about the quality of their music, AND actually holding their music via. vinyl, analog tape and hi res audio, my personal favorite, flsc and dsd. if only HiFi equipment would get out of this ultra expensive jewelry phase, and quit worrying about looking more expensive than it sounds.
4:00 haha, "dandylinus" sounds like a type of flower!
I would also love to see a video about cable interference (power/signal). Like how does laying an (unshielded) network cable (or signal cable in general like audio or video) right next to a power cable affect the signals. How much current do you need to run through a power cable to affect/distort the signal in the signal cable?
I think you were just describing me at the start of the video.
you will notice a huge change in bitrate when playing an 196 bkps mp3 over an actual PA system compared to an lossless .wav
I'm still waiting for "How To Download More RAM As Fast As Possible"
Linus you're the last person who should be talking about hi-fi.
You can get a hi fi system or get stoned as fuck and turn your consumer grade system into a hifi system.
+PirateCat 1080p60fps You say that but if you spend 50 bucks a week on (good) weed that adds up pretty fast..
$50,000 can get you your own weed farm man.
+Dingo D. Manhunter Or you can get a hifi system (or hell, just good headphones) and THEN get stoned as fuck
+ColinSSX agreed, if you get baked enough with a high quality system the world can collapse upon itself. close your eyes with a good sound stage and you may even get visual hallucinations.
+Dingo D. Manhunter I prefer both :]
Good quality audio systems are timeless. People still comment how good sound is from my 20 years old speakers. Compare that to 2 years old phone or PC. Nobody cares for them any more.
electrostatic headphones?
Sennheiser Orpheus.
The hifiman shangri la seems to be a good alternative to the Orpheus
+Hitler is actually a cat Actually the Orpheus isn't even that good, it's just really expensive.
+Waffle Wong Yee Ket it's definitely better than your oppo planar magnetic cans
Nice try, I don't even own one.
Kinda weird, since from a professional audio perspective, hifi actually refers to colored sound, usually somewhat V-shaped EQ's, easier to be listened to and studio grade refers to reference and studio monitors and headphones that might not be "beautiful" but they are accurate and flat. Both are great, but serve a different purpose. Hi-Fi is like making your image better with photoshop, studio grade is just the raw image to see what's wrong with it.
My friend is getting a pair of "Beyerdynamic DT-990-Pro-250" for Christmas. Which from what I heard sound amazing.
+troyBORG I got them a couple months ago - they're insanely comfortable (my left ear pinnae gets physically sore after wearing a lot of headphones for hours at a time, doesn't happen with these) and the sound is fantastic quality and clarity.
+troyBORG They sound amazing, as long as you can tame the treble. Depending on the music, it can be very fatiguing. Also, tell your friend to make sure they also have a quality amp and dac to really bring out the details in these very capable headphones.
+troyBORG Their sound is really nice, however, in terms of comfort - if you have issues with round ear cups on other headphones, you'll probably experience them with these as well (despite the ear cups are quite big and soft). That was my deal breaker some years back when I was looking for home-listening headphones. I ended up getting the Sennheiser HD555 and I love them so much that I got the G4ME "gaming" headset by them as well, which is pretty much the same thing in terms of shape and comfort, only with added microphone and a different colour scheme.
Depends, it's color the sound substantially. I'm more used to reference headphones but well mixing music is my job.....
+Grimmie XII I have these as well sometimes my ears get extremely warm and I have to take a break other than that they are great
Higher impedance doesn't necessarily mean more "power hungry" at all, it simply means a different voltage / current ratio but effectively handling the same amount of Milliwatts, also multiple phones in parallel doesn't lower the impedance of a individual set of phones but lowers the "collective impedance" (Z-eq) seen by the amplifier.
Just got my AKG K553 pro's from the recent drop on massdrop! Perfect timing.
It's all too complicated for most people. my first system was back in the early eighties . Polk SDA-1
speakers with Carver M-1 amp and parasound pre amp.
Now sit down and get ready for the source .
A sony walkman pro . When i told the dealer he tried not to laugh . anyway it turned out to be a spectacular combination . I have not heard anything i liked better since . My advice is listen to three or four speakers after reading a bit on the subject , get an amp that the dealer says is adequate for your speakers and go home and enjoy some music . For those that want to make a hobby out of hifi , be prepared to save your money , your going to need a pile of cash.
"High quality MP3" always sound thin to me.
The reel-to-reel shown on the image at 1:10 is an Astra (Астра) 110 stereo which was produced in USSR. And there's supposed to be a model printed on the head cover :)
I was wondering what that was. Also it's threaded wrong :D.
*Audiophile: lemme get that fresh True to the sound studio recording.*
*Me: How would you know? You wern't even there...*
*Audiophile: Uummm...*
lol I found this really funny
Love your videos Linus, keep up the good work!
Impedance is not resistance. Well, it involves resistance, but it's in combination with reactance. Sorry, being in a third year electrical technologist program, can't go on without making a comment.
Actually we had this shit in middle school so, you're not in the wrong. Linus should have known better.
Impedance is resistance of sorts but to AC signals as you should know if you are studying.
I own a Sony STR-DH550 amp paired with 2 3 way speakers and a subwoofer from a Sony HCD-RG495. This setup blows me away with quality. It's not about how well it reproduces every tiny frequency, it's about how good it sounds to you. Although that set-up is the only one able to make me hear all the small details in any song
Low Quality audio: $
Standard Quality audio: $$
"High Res" audio: $$$
"Beats" Audio: $$$$
"HIFI/Audiophile" : $$$$$$
“Low Quality Audio” sounds better than Beats Audio...
I like to think the amp is more important than the speakers. I delivers the signal which the speakers translate into the forwards and backwards movements which make sounds.
I`m Hi deaf so i don`t give a shit...
Thanks.
When I was younger I didn't bother and didn't know about hi fi. Now that I tried it, I cannot get back, and indeed hi fi does exists and is very easy to understand a low quality recording or a bafd recording from a fine one. The mistake many people think is that a mp3 sounds bad and a flac file sounds better or a vinyl record etc..... Wrong, all is about recording copy quality even it is a CD.... And of course having a good setup of reproduction machines (amp speakers and so on)
Why do things have fi at the end?
Wi-Fi
Li-Fi
Hi-Fi
Sci-Fi
fidelity?
+TOM OLI science fidelity?
Hi-Fi; High Fiction? Sounds like something Snoop Dogg would write.
Wi-Fi means nothing. It was only for marketing reasons. The real name of Wifi is just some code. So because people already knew hi-fi they decided on wifi. Wireless Fidelity doesn't make sense
What's Li-Fi?
m.2 port differences (for wifi cards and storage), its different keys and (for storage) explaining mechanics of sata interface and pci interface, and what to look for to make those and mobo's compatible
Im thinking about the hifi quad dac of LG smartphones😬
I have the V30+
But still using the LG earbuds😅
How to get a cheap but useful hi-fi experience.
1. Get an LG V Series phone, they have a built in dac which the high impedance headphones will help out.
2. High impedance open back headphones.
3. CDs transferred to flac files using EAC for the computer then transfer to phone.
4. Download Poweramp app for android and use and tune the eq to your liking.
*DONE*
I'm sitting here watching this video with my $30 Logitech speakers. :P
You are a fucking Luddite, sir.
I surely hear quite a big difference between FLAC and quite high quality MP3. I use a quite old Yamaha V800 6.1 Receiver combined with a Boston Accoustics MCS100 5.1 speaker set. I use Optical Digital Toslink connectors to connect my gear to the receiver. It may be a little older but it still sounds really good.
"So the point of Hi-Fi then is to get as close to to the original recording as possible". How ironic. Hi-Fi equipment is built to sound good, usually meaning generous high frequency and low frequency boosts (commonly known as a smile-curve on a graphic EQ), and some saturation/distortion on higher-end equipment. Hi-Fi equipment doesn't make the original recordings sound original, but makes them more pleasing to the ear. If you want to listen to the original sound, buy the master tapes, buy the recording/mixing console the track was recorded and/or mixed on (including the original outboard used), buy the monitors (speakers) the engineers listened on when they were mixing and recreate the room they did this in to immaculate detail. This is how you can listen to the original tracks as they were intended, and digital emulation will not do the trick. However if you want to listen to the tracks as flat as reasonably possible, buy a good pair of studio monitors; they are designed to reproduce sound with as little additional processing as possible, which is required in order to find technical mistakes during the mixing process. Hi-Fi equipment is designed to be flashy and sound good, studio monitors will give you the cold hard truth you expect from Hi-Fi equipment.
...usually meaning generous high frequency and low frequency boosts... That's absolute BS. Only companies shunned by audiophiles do that. Please provide some examples. Most "Hi-FI" manufacturers lists the frequency response of their gear on their website or in the owners manual. Not to mention, audio publications and sites test/measure a lot of Hi-Fi, yet none of them have shown any "Smiley faced" freq responses. BTW, Many consumers brands make studio versions of their gear utilizing the same components such as Dynaudio, Bowers & WIlkens, Focal, JBL, etc. Skywalker Ranch and Abbey Road studios, both use B&W speakers that are readily available to consumers at certain Best Buys. Schools Out!!!! Enjoy the summer.
"as flat as reasonably possible, buy a good pair of studio monitors" - ROFL. most of your so called "studio monitors" are far from
flat
No, you are wrong.
And, as always, not a single mention to room acoustics. Get the best equipment you can buy (even if it's cheap) and then calibrate your setup for your listening room. All of the the electronics combined can't affect your listening experience in more than 10% (and I would say 5%), leaving those other 90% to your listening room acoustics. Make sure that whatever electrical signal that enters your equipment, gets to your ears as close to the original source as it can in dynamic range, spectrum balance (the energy levels at different frequency points in our hearing spectrum), phase and polarity. It's about spending time to get there, not about spending money.
The proof isn't in the pudding. That's not a thing.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating is a thing.
(very late here) But the proof of the chef's abilities are indeed in the pudding. Assuming they were attempting to make one, of course.
1:58 Is that the Terran's Radar sound in Starcraft?
I think there was a challenge to see if anyone can actually tell the difference between 320 mp3 and flac and no one wasn't able to do it. Honestly, it's bullshit.
3:09, you can absolutely hear the difference between any MP3 track (don't know what Linus means by "high quality MP3") and a hi-res uncompressed track (192KHz/24-bit and 5Mbps+ bitrate) if played back on a good hi-fi system with a proper preamp, a good amplifier and a great pair of speakers. It doesn't make sense to play a track like that on a PC and using its built-in speakers.
Explain what ABX means and then I'll respond you.
Thanks for providing the link. Basically it's a blind test involving two different sources (A) and (B) and a variable one (X). The point is that it's a pretty well known fact that even an increase in bit-depth should be noticeable by the ear, from 16 to 24. Of course, we know the hearing range for humans is established to be between 20 Hz - 20kHz, and a 44.1kHz sampling rate provided by CDs and even streaming services should be enough to cover that. That's true. But a higher sampling rate not only means how many frequencies are being recorded / played, but also how many samples per second are there in a given recording. The more samples, the more detailed and faithful to the analog recording the file will be.
Bitrate also plays an important role in the process. I don't know how much of a huge difference hi-res tracks make over standard res tracks or CDs but, it's obvious that to fully appreciate and notice the increased fidelity, a good PreAmp / DAC + Amp and good speakers are required.
I hope it will become a widely adopted standard as soon as possible, so everyone will get to enjoy hi-res audio and we'll finally discover the truth about it.
This image should explain the actual advantage of higher sampling rates: sonyglobal.scene7.com/is/image/gwtprod/4c1d2b436b1a46d36a96c32d0aa853c3?fmt=jpeg&wid=580
The comment section is gonna be good *grabs popcorn*
I'm an audiophile, and there honestly isn't much of a massive difference in sound quality. Yea, the music industry is saturated with compression, but the miniscule difference in sound isn't worth the 10x the storage capacity :b
+Frankie Dingleberry Or price + human's hearing abilities degrade over time and the brain can deceive itself into thinking it's hearing something better, especially if you spent a lot on it.
+Biddybalboa yeah dont upgrade whatever yo have now because it sounds just perfect to you.. until you hear something far better.... then you think to yourself.. how could i have liked that before.
+Biddybalboa
yer point? just because you're 'old' doesn't mean you can't enjoy good sound, bruh. My old man has some Magnepan MMGs and he's practically inseparable from them. He genuinely enjoys any new audio product that I bring into his shop, it's his hobby, and I respect that.
High fidelity ain't a bunch of placebo nonsense. Some stuff is, sure, but saying that, oh, my Hifiman HE-500s sound different from a beyer T90 or whatever is true and can be measured subjectively and objectively. (Not everything can be measured)
+HowdyDoody Dave "Expensive" is completely subjective term though.
+Frankie Dingleberry A FLAC is usually only about 3 times as large as a 320 kbps MP3, it's not that bad. For a lot of music it makes a small but noticeable difference to have the FLAC, but for listening on your phone it makes very little sense to carry FLACs around, especially if you're listening to it in noisy environments.
mp3 is not hi fi, it nice, but it leaves stuff out.
It technically is way better than hi-fi. This video isn't about hi-fi, it's about high-end audio. Hi-fi is an industry standard :)
Çerastes with nice hi-fi speakers, it’s important to note sub bass as well. While our ears can’t discern 320 kbps from lossless well, there’s still info being cut out. Sub 20 Hz is important to a lot of enthusiasts as well
I'm rocking a Marantz PM6003 amp with 2 Jamo J-73 studio monitors right here! Those speakers where from my grandad and he bought them back in the 80's, They still sound AMAZING!!!
I'm happy you 're rocking, but you're not really listening to the creme of the crop. If you're ever interested in investing, get a pair of late 90's Jamo's instead of the old ones. Jamo did some really good stuff more recently. The cornet are dirt cheap and really good.
As for that Marantz; Burn it with fire. Marantz stopped making good stuff around 1970. That early. Not sure why people are still using it.
Not trying to bash you here, enjoy your stuff for as long as you like, just realize; There's more out there.
"A high quality mp3?"
Audio Saurus I guess he means 320 Kbps
lol ikr
no such thing !
Çerastes
I disagree. maybe if your listening on cheap headphones or speakers but if you have
good hifi gear and speakers or studio gear you absoultey can tell the difference.
also depends on weather one is capable of concentrating on certain elements in a recording and is able to listen properly
you can be trained and everyone hears differently
so there's to many variables
Çerastes
its fairly easy to hear the difference actually
if you compare one recording in its native 24bit usually 44.1KHz sample rate to the same recording down grade or compressed MP3 for matte
they sound similar yes
its more of what your not hearing in the mp3 compared to the Original that was recorded to WAV or AIFF or even tape.
Now I've heard the differences in all formats and playback methods and I know which ones sound great and which sound like garbage in comparison.
If you cant that's fine.
but im fresh graduate from my local recording program and i've been a music lover and audiophile all my life
not sure about where your history or education / sources in this matter but
I've experienced it first hand
i have my friend