[miceblue]

I'm confused. I was using the dynamic range meter tool available here:
http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/

And it says it only works for 16/44 files with the offline tool. HD tracks seem to work so I tried out a new album I bought. The Objective DAC doesn't natively decode 24/88 files, but the DR tool did its thing and this was the output:

Spoiler: DR Meter Test for 24/88 Files

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Analyzed folder: /Users/Michael/Desktop/asdf
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 DR9 -0.10 dB -10.29 dB 01 Give Life Back to Music.m4a
 DR9 -0.10 dB -10.83 dB 02 The Game of Love.m4a
 DR7 -0.10 dB -9.06 dB 03 Giorgio by Moroder.m4a
 DR8 -0.10 dB -11.50 dB 04 Within.m4a
 DR7 -0.10 dB -8.96 dB 05 Instant Crush (ft. Julian Casablancas).m4a
 DR7 -0.10 dB -8.72 dB 06 Lose Yourself to Dance (ft. Pharrell Williams).m4a
 DR7 -0.10 dB -11.05 dB 07 Touch (ft. Paul Williams).m4a
 DR8 -0.10 dB -9.37 dB 08 Get Lucky (ft. Pharrell Williams).m4a
 DR8 -0.10 dB -10.25 dB 09 Beyond.m4a
 DR9 -0.10 dB -11.73 dB 10 Motherboard.m4a
 DR8 -0.10 dB -9.22 dB 11 Fragments of Time (ft. Todd Edwards).m4a
 DR6 -0.10 dB -8.47 dB 12 Doin' It Right (ft. Panda Bear).m4a
 DR5 -0.10 dB -8.19 dB 13 Contact.m4a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Number of files: 13
 Official DR value: DR8

==============================================================================================

Okay, that's cool and all. So I decided to go to the DR database and see the different DR ratings for the different versions of the song. The same album from the same website was uploaded already and the numbers differed from mine. I decided to down-sample my 24/88 files to 24/44 since the ODAC can natively decode that. After running the DR tool again, I get this output:

Spoiler: DR Meter Test for 24/44 Files

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Analyzed folder: /Users/Michael/Desktop/asdf
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 DR9 over -10.29 dB 01 Give Life Back to Music.m4a
 DR9 over -10.83 dB 02 The Game of Love.m4a
 DR7 over -9.06 dB 03 Giorgio by Moroder.m4a
 DR8 -0.00 dB -11.50 dB 04 Within.m4a
 DR7 over -8.96 dB 05 Instant Crush (ft. Julian Casablancas).m4a
 DR7 over -8.72 dB 06 Lose Yourself to Dance (ft. Pharrell Williams).m4a
 DR7 -0.00 dB -11.05 dB 07 Touch (ft. Paul Williams).m4a
 DR8 over -9.38 dB 08 Get Lucky (ft. Pharrell Williams).m4a
 DR9 -0.00 dB -10.25 dB 09 Beyond.m4a
 DR9 -0.01 dB -11.73 dB 10 Motherboard.m4a
 DR8 over -9.22 dB 11 Fragments of Time (ft. Todd Edwards).m4a
 DR7 over -8.47 dB 12 Doin' It Right (ft. Panda Bear).m4a
 DR6 over -8.20 dB 13 Contact.m4a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Number of files: 13
 Official DR value: DR8

==============================================================================================

The peak values go beyond the limit on most of the tracks, and yet the dynamic range value increased on tracks 9, 12, and 13.


What happened? The original files were in FLAC format and I converted them to Apple Lossless.

I don't understand. You state up front that only 16/44.1 tracks work and then proceed to analyze a 24/88.2 and a 24/44.1 track?

TT DR Offline Meter 1.1 says in the GUI:


I was just curious how people on the DR database get their values for HD albums and whatnot, so I tried it myself and it worked. I'm not sure what the program actually does.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

TT DR Offline Meter 1.1 says in the GUI:


I was just curious how people on the DR database get their values for HD albums and whatnot, so I tried it myself and it worked. I'm not sure what the program actually does.

Then probably the only valid results are to be obtained by converting the songs to 16/44.1 before feeding them to the DR Meter.

 

[miceblue]

Do you all have golden ears? XD
https://www.goldenears.philips.com/index.html?select

Our unique Golden Ears training program was designed to develop the listening skills of our audio engineers. Their listening expertise ensures we create products of superior sound quality that highlight every musical detail.

Graduates of the Golden Ears program can reliably detect subtle differences in sound based on the following five key attributes.
Timbre
Differences in tone or the frequency of content of music

Details
The lack of treble, distortion, or noise that can mask the fine details

Spatial Impression
The depth and spaciousness of the soundfield

Bass
The quality of low frequencies

Loudness
The perception of sound power, from quiet to loud
...

This online challenge contains the essential elements of our professional Golden Ears training program. There are four difficulty levels: Basic, Bronze, Silver and ultimately, Golden Ears. Each level is divided into short challenges that are designed to develop and test your listening skills. Experience it yourself and see how far you can go!

Philips knows that I only have 1 friend.

 

[limpidglitch]

When your friend is on both fb and g+, doesn't that count as two friends?

 

[uchihaitachi]

Do you all have golden ears? XD
https://www.goldenears.philips.com/index.html?select
Philips knows that I only have 1 friend.

Is this test for real? A partially deaf could do this test...

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Is this test for real? A partially deaf could do this test...

Did you finish up to gold? Most sections are as easy as you say but some sections are really hard

 

[miceblue]

Is there any particular reason why a CD master can sound different from the studio master? I mean, wouldn't it be much, much easier to just downsample the studio master to 16/44?

 

[bigshot]

In a recording studio, they mix each song separately, and the songs sound fine by themselves. But when the songs are sequenced one after another in album order, the relationship between the volume levels and timbre in each song don't match up. So a mastering engineer EQs and alters the volume and compression to make the songs flow as an album. If the mastering engineer isn't good at what he does, he can royally screw up a record. If he's good, he can improve it.

 

[miceblue]

In a recording studio, they mix each song separately, and the songs sound fine by themselves. But when the songs are sequenced one after another in album order, the relationship between the volume levels and timbre in each song don't match up. So a mastering engineer EQs and alters the volume and compression to make the songs flow as an album. If the mastering engineer isn't good at what he does, he can royally screw up a record. If he's good, he can improve it.

Interesting. So when a website sells so-called HD music, is that [in theory] really the studio master? If so, most if not all of the so-called HD music I've purchased sounds pretty good to me...but then again, I'm not a mastering engineer so as a consumer it sounds pretty good to me.

 

[bigshot]

No, it's almost certainly not off the recording master. Anything released to the public would be off the sweetened and balanced master.

 

[miceblue]

Ah, mmk. That makes more sense then.


[rule]I just saw this:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/iphone-5/audio-quality.htm

The near-zero (4.5 Ω) output impedance of the iPhone 5 is much better (lower) than most dedicated headphone amplifiers, even most exotic audiophile amps, and therefore its response is not significantly affected by the headphones in use. Most dedicated amplifiers have about ten times the output impedance of the iPhone 5, and allow about a dB or two of false bass boost with the Ultrasone Edition 8.

What? Since when is 4.5 Ω considered near-zero and since when did dedicated headphone amplifiers have an output impedance higher than that?

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

10ish ohms is widely considered near zero from my experience in engineering but that might be due to our use of kilo-ohm resistors ... 10/10k is insignificant depending on the circuit

 

[bigshot]

I've never seen the need for an amp for any of my Apple products... phone, pad, computer, pod.

 

[miceblue]

Hm, this isn't anything objective, but it's an interesting perspective:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3V6zNER4g[/video]


I've never heard of this artist before.

 

[wakibaki]

Yes, she's profoundly deaf.

4.5 ohms is quite high. Output impedances <1 ohm are readily achievable, and most speaker amplifiers (SS that is) achieve <1 ohm.

nikongod likes higher output impedances, but I don't. Since there's no standard set (none that's adhered to now) my view is that very low impedances are the most likely to be encountered, now and in the future.

w