Stereo Gear in the 1970s

Re:Stereo Gear in the 1970s by bananaportfolio on Thursday November 11, 2021 @07:33AM (#29187217)

I once received a 96kbps copy of a very old studio album that became one of my favorite albums ever. I listened to the 96kbps version countless times. It sounded dark and otherwise colored in a way that I felt added to the vibe of the album.

I was travelling and didn't have the album on me, but I wanted to show it to a friend. I downloaded a 256 or 384kbps version, and much to my surprise, I didn't like the way it sounded at a higher bit rate at all! The added clarity made some instruments stand out a bit more than others, and I found it distracting and too lively.

The delta in quality between 384kbps and FLAC (to my concern-worn ears) is narrow enough that I can't really tell a major difference.

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Re:Stereo Gear in the 1970s by stan_rogers on Thursday November 11, 2021 @09:14AM (#29188009)

That probably had less to do with the higher bit rate than it did a remaster. A huge amount of music that was great on the LP/cassette/8-track release, and even on the early CD (if it happened after the very early brick-wall-filtered era), was absolutely ruined by remastering post-2000.

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