Even in blind tests with high end gear, people often mistake 320kbps MP3s as the lossless track. Compression is incredible these days and isn’t inherently a bad thing like it used to be, it saves a lot of space and bandwidth with minimal to no perceivable difference in quality.
And as you point out, not even worth considering with average equipment.
I don’t know, I have a couple of tracks that I love, but could never get them in FLAC. I listen to them on a very high volume and always feel like there are bits that would feel smoother if they were lossless. I am unable to confirm or deny that.
You basically need professional headphones and speakers to notice any difference, my guess is that 99% of Spotify customers have headphones that didn’t cost more than $100, so why would they care? I mean, I have nice headphones and speakers and after some blind tests I couldn’t notice any difference.
Or if there is a noticeable difference, you have to really listen for it. Which if you wanna do that, then fine, but the vast majority of the time usually have music on while they are doing something else and don’t sit listening for every subtle difference, if one exists.
I wouldn’t say its pointless, but it really doesn’t help much considering the quality of your average headset/earpieces.
Even in blind tests with high end gear, people often mistake 320kbps MP3s as the lossless track. Compression is incredible these days and isn’t inherently a bad thing like it used to be, it saves a lot of space and bandwidth with minimal to no perceivable difference in quality.
And as you point out, not even worth considering with average equipment.
Even as an Audiophile, I agree, FLAC is a waste of bandwidth and disk space unless you’re remixing tracks (which most people don’t do!)
I don’t know, I have a couple of tracks that I love, but could never get them in FLAC. I listen to them on a very high volume and always feel like there are bits that would feel smoother if they were lossless. I am unable to confirm or deny that.
You basically need professional headphones and speakers to notice any difference, my guess is that 99% of Spotify customers have headphones that didn’t cost more than $100, so why would they care? I mean, I have nice headphones and speakers and after some blind tests I couldn’t notice any difference.
Or if there is a noticeable difference, you have to really listen for it. Which if you wanna do that, then fine, but the vast majority of the time usually have music on while they are doing something else and don’t sit listening for every subtle difference, if one exists.