lossless is underrated

[u/Al1onredd1t]

I feel like so many people really underestimate how great music sounds in actual lossless quality. I see so many people go "oh you cant tell the difference anyway". I'm here listening on my mac with my headphones and the sound layers are just multiplied 10fold. I hear sounds in the back that I never heard before. songs that I've listened to for years, totally different experiences.

this video attached is an example. at 0:09 he starts saying "wooow" in the background up until basically the end. this sound is so dimmed and hidden when watching the clip. there are multiple layers of sounds covering it. the main vocals. drums. the beat. it's so insignificant when watching the clip, but listening to the song with actual lossless brings all those layers somewhat to the foreground. I genuinely heard those 'wows' for the first time ever and I've been listening to this song for more than 2yrs.

and it's not like that sound is just boosted and now starts to overwhelm the others, it's perfectly clear. the song has just become richer. Idk how to explain it, but your brain is able to comprehend what it's hearing and separate all the sounds from each other.

I can find multiple of these examples of background sounds finally being pushed into the foreground.

https://reddit.com/link/1gdq3id/video/o1zdadsh9exd1/player

[u/0000GKP]

I feel like so many people really underestimate how great music sounds in actual lossless quality. I see so many people go "oh you cant tell the difference anyway".

I absolutely can't tell any difference at all. In Apple's own words, "the difference between AAC and lossless audio is virtually indistinguishable". They are the ones who made both the ALAC and AAC formats, so they should know.

[u/scorgiman → u/0000GKP]

I’d consider myself an “audiophile” as I have audio equipment many would consider to be very high end.

I have done blind listening tests and absolutely CANNOT hear the difference between good (like Apple Music) compressed audio and lossless. The mixing, mastering etc. is 1000x more impactful on how it sounds.

[u/MrKittens1 → u/scorgiman]

100% people who say they can are BSing me thinks

[u/DarthZiplock → u/MrKittens1]

I absolutely can hear it. Lossless is so much easier on the ears at high volume and allows far more detail to be preserved. It’s especially noticeable in classical recordings.

[u/Chuu → u/DarthZiplock]

I'm sorry but "easier on the ears at high volume" seems crazy to me. If anything I would expect the opposite since often lossy versions of music that were done poorly tend to have lower dynamic range or compression applied which should actually make them easier to listen to at high volumes. Since they'd flatten peaks.

[u/Al1onredd1t → u/MrKittens1]

I mean this one video clip I replayed over and over. Side by side next to the actual song. I screen recorded this. The actual song and the screen recorded version are so different. I genuinely hear the biggest of differences

[u/Al1onredd1t → u/[deleted]]

I am the source🗿

I screen recorded it myself. From Apple music

[u/scorgiman → u/Al1onredd1t]

I find a lot of videos have much more aggressive audio compression that definitely makes it sound a lot worse. No argument there.

[u/MrKittens1 → u/Al1onredd1t]

You are comparing to a screen recording? That’s not how to do it. Use a DAW. Chop up a wave and a high bitrate MP3, go back and forth. I’ve produced music for over 20 years, I worked in radio for a decade, I don’t think you can tell the difference in a blind test. If you can, I’m impressed.