mimoid

Probably having too much time to spend, I performed a similar (completely unscientific) test just a few days ago, where I compared the following: 1) CD converted to MP3 @320 2) CD converted to MP3 @192 3) CD converted to ATRAC3+ @256 4) CD converted to ATRAC3+ @192 5) CD converted to ATRAC3 @132 (LP) 6) MP3 @320 transcoded to ATRAC3+ @256 7) MP3 @192 transcoded to ATRAC3+ @256 I used my Sony NW-HD1 (upgraded to native MP3 playback capability) to play the tracks and I used both my Sony EX71's and my Sony MDR-CD780 headphones to listen. EQ was of course set to off. ATRAC3+ @256 sounds the best, by far. I was expecting the MP3 @320 to sound better, but for some reason it sounds "duller" than the ATRAC3+ @256. ATRAC3+ @192 is nearly as good as ATRAC3+ @256. It is not easy to tell the difference between these two bitrates except for some tracks where the 192 displays some slight loss of "edge". MP3 @192 is slightly inferior: some minor "swishing" can be heard in some places and again, a certain loss of treble. I could very easily hear annoying audio artefacts at ATRAC3 LP @132, so I decided not to go further down the scale than this. I next moved over to the transcoded files, expecting to hear quite a sonic degradation. Surprisingly enough, I was completely unable to hear any degradation whatsoever with the transcoded files from MP3 @320 to ATRAC3+ @256. Whenever I heard a difference, the transcoded files sounded better than the original MP3. I know it should in theory not be possible but that is still the case with my equipment. On the other hand, the files transcoded from MP3 @192 to ATRAC3+ @256 were quite easy to pick out, mainly because of a loss of "sparkle". If listened to by itself, I would probably not hear anything wrong with these tracks, but when comparing them to the original MP3's, the loss of definition is fairly obvious. My quality scale goes like this: 1) ATRAC3+ @256 2) MP3 @320 transcoded to ATRAC3+ @256 3) MP3 @320 4) ATRAC3+ @192 5) MP3 @192 6) MP3 @192 transcoded to ATRAC3+ @256 7) ATRAC3 @132 My conclusion is that the either ATRAC3+ is more suited to my ears than MP3, or that my NW-HD1 is in some way biased to be able to play ATRAC files better than MP3 files. Tom