Our ‘Pepsi Challenge’ reveals what people really think about hi-res audio

Have you listened to your favourite music via a pair of high-end headphones or $300 Hi-Res Audio licensed Bluetooth earbuds? Do you subscribe to Spotify’s free plan, or are you extra of a premium-tier Tidal listener? Apple has an enormous lossless high quality music library proper now however you most likely don’t have the suitable tools to totally benefit from it. Same factor with Tidal, which is decreasing its costs beginning April 10th, making its high-resolution music extra accessible. Meanwhile, Spotify nonetheless doesn’t supply lossless after asserting “Spotify HiFi” again in 2021.But although the most well-liked music streaming service nonetheless doesn’t supply hi-res audio, is it one thing you truly care about? Could you inform the distinction between the free lower-resolution choices on Spotify and the lossless high quality streams from Tidal, Apple Music, or Amazon Music Unlimited?To really discern the distinction between them, you want the suitable wired tools or the suitable mixture of smartphone, Bluetooth codec, and high quality Bluetooth earbuds/headphones/cell DAC, which help what’s being performed from the telephone.(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)That looks like rather a lot to undergo, however that’s what I did, and I introduced it proper to the doorstep! My “Pepsi Challenge” was presenting a blind “taste” take a look at to the typical smartphone person to search out out if all of this progress, these advances in audio expertise, actually matter.LG made hi-res audio straightforward. RIP to straightforward.(Image credit score: Andrew Martonik / Android Central)Let me take a short second to say RIP to my beloved LG V60 ThinQ from 2020, which featured a Quad DAC built-in and a 3.5mm audio port. That was one of many best methods to get CD-quality audio out of a telephone. Some over-ear or on-ear headphones may be linked to modern-day 3.5mm port-less telephones by way of USB-C or 3.5/4.4/6.3mm connectors and adapters if you use a USB-C cell DAC/Amp. That mentioned, what number of of you studying this contemplate your self an “audiophile” and would spring for each Bluetooth earbuds and over-ear headphones and a DAC (do you even know what that’s)?Did your eyes simply glaze over studying that? So, I ask once more, does the typical shopper care sufficient to determine all of this out to leverage all of that top bit price goodness? To determine that out, I devised a take a look at to get some definitive solutions.Get the most recent information from Android Central, your trusted companion on the earth of AndroidTesting to search out what issues(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)For this take a look at, I selected 10 folks of various ages, ethnicities, and genders and performed low-resolution audio streams, adopted by both lossless FLAC information or high-resolution Tidal streams. Some of the responses I acquired expanded my understanding of what influences folks’s decisions profoundly. I used to be bowled over by a number of the solutions as a result of I hadn’t thought of the context through which some folks take pleasure in music. I arrange the methodology for testing my pattern group like so:Some contributors had extra time than others, so the variety of songs various, however every music they sampled was performed twice. I used a Pixel 7 Pro to play every music as soon as from Spotify, with the audio stream high quality set to “Medium,” after which a second time straight from my Pixel utilizing the USB Audio Player Pro app or Tidal. I had to make use of that app as a result of Android downsamples the audio popping out of that USB-C port to 16bit, 44.1kHz, and the information I used to be enjoying have been larger decision than that. HummingBird Media, who was as enthusiastic about this take a look at as I used to be, outfitted me with the gear for this experiment. For spherical one, I used the wonderful Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 over-ear headphones by way of Bluetooth. In spherical two, the identical songs have been performed by way of those self same headphones however wired now, utilizing iFi’s Audio GO hyperlink USB-C dongle DAC/headphone amp. I had one occasion the place I employed some higher-end tools that Hummingbird despatched, however I’ll get to that in a second.Who cares about hi-res audio, and why?A screenshot the codecs my Pixel 7 Pro used for Spotify and FLAC information (Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)So, what have been the outcomes after my contributors’ listening checks after which subsequent Q&A periods? Most folks mentioned they might hear a transparent distinction. Literally. The commonest suggestions was that the regionally performed FLAC information or streamed Tidal tracks had extra readability. There was extra separation with the devices, which means they might discern particular person sounds higher within the higher-resolution information and streams. Sounds like a straightforward “W” for hi-res audio, proper? Wrong.One tester, JT, a broadcast engineer by commerce, remarked that regardless of the perceived distinction, it wasn’t sufficient for him to pay for something particular to have higher-quality content material. He likened it to 1080P vs. 4K TVs. He informed me that he is aware of 4K is healthier, however 1080P is sweet sufficient for his wants. So, no Tidal and no searching down and buying FLAC information; he’s high-quality with lower-quality music, technically talking. Some different testers had equally nuanced responses. Two testers, whom I’ll name CA and CF, mentioned they’d each pay, however in numerous contexts. CA might hear the distinction in readability however was solely prepared to pay the one-time value for the $59.99 iFi GO hyperlink dongle DAC. He wasn’t prepared to fork over the additional dough month-to-month for a premium music service.CF already pays for Spotify as a result of she doesn’t like advertisements, so she can also be prepared to pay for the distinction she hears between the 2 streams. But she would develop on that and say that it wasn’t price it in her automotive, and she or he’d solely wish to benefit from paying for premium streaming or upgrading to extra premium tools just like the Sennheiser Momentum 4 and iFi GO hyperlink for lively, leisure listening at residence.Some folks might be able to inform the distinction between low-resolution and hi-res audio, however that also may not be sufficient to justify the additional value typically related to it.Hearing, or “audition,” as it might even be referred to as in neuroscience circles, is very subjective. It’s as a lot about notion as it’s in regards to the technical facets of the sound supply, and as such, it shouldn’t be a shock that two of my testers didn’t hear any distinction in high quality. This additionally implies that they’d no incentive to pay for something greater than what they’d already used. Hi-res doesn’t matter to both of them.One of these testers can also be an avid music listener. She cooks with music on and does chores with it on. When we get within the automotive, the very first thing she does is activate the radio and hit her favourite Spotify playlists on her telephone. It’s my spouse, so I do know these items.Since I had extra time to check my spouse, I had her take heed to one of many take a look at tracks a 3rd time, “Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes,” by Paul Simon. Only this time, I employed iFi’s spectacular GO blu HD Bluetooth DAC and streamed within the Hi-Res LDAC codec at 96kHz, 32bits via that DAC right into a pair of audiophile-grade Sennheiser HD 660S2 open-back over-ear headphones. If you don’t know, these are like seeing a film in IMAX, the place the Momentum 4 can be viewing that very same film on one of many normal massive screens. Both are satisfying, however the 660S2 is extra dynamic.With the 660S2, my spouse was capable of hear a barely discernable distinction from the lower-resolution music, however it nonetheless wasn’t important sufficient to affect any motion on her half towards the higher-resolution expertise.(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)The two most profound Q&As touched on notion and introduced up questions of neurodiversity, which I hadn’t thought of earlier than. One of my testers most popular the lower-resolution music due to a phenomenon I truly take pleasure in. High-resolution music information paired with high-end headphones make me really feel like I’m really immersed within the music. At its finest, it feels just like the music will not be enjoying at me however that it’s truly in my head. It feels prefer it’s throughout me, or extra exactly, I’m in it. I’m on stage, sitting in the midst of the band.She didn’t like that feeling, initially saying it was too loud although I checked to ensure that the tracks have been enjoying on the identical perceived loudness. This made me suppose of people that have processing sensitivities, these for whom sure stimuli might result in sensory overload. I noticed that in that context, hi-res audio performed via earbuds or high-end headphones could possibly be “bad,” and the decrease decision, much less dynamic streams, “good.”Then there was SK. He heard and articulated the distinction in readability, however to him, an avid Spotify person, the distinction within the higher-resolution tracks sounded too “digital.” He mentioned the Spotify streams have been “familiar, comfortable.” For him, the enjoyment was within the acquainted, and the perceived distinction took him out of that place of consolation and made it much less satisfying.Final conclusions: What actually issues(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)At the top of my experiment, I’ve come to 2 conclusions:Almost all of my testers hadn’t listened to music enjoying in one thing they’d contemplate “high-end” headphones. They all remarked on how superb the Sennheiser Momentum 4 sounded. So, a part of answering my preliminary query requires first asking, “Has the average user even heard high-quality audio played through high-quality audio gear to know if Hi-Res audio matters?”There isn’t any “average” person. There are quite a few contexts and causes for smartphone customers to care or not care about Hi-Res audio regardless of it being “better” on paper, and all of them are proper.At the top of the day, expertise will hold shifting ahead, and as issues progress and wi-fi applied sciences are higher capable of deal with lossless information, folks will simply have entry to them, which can turn into the norm, very like how Apple made its complete library out there in its lossless ALAC format.Those with causes and contexts for not liking it’ll discover the companies that work for them if there isn’t any choice to retain the lower-resolution variations of the songs they take heed to. The relaxation seemingly received’t even acknowledge that they’ve been “upgraded” as a result of they don’t have the dearer, higher-end listening gear, which might make that improve actually pop just like the Sennheiser and iFi gear I used right here. They’ll proceed to purchase the earbuds whose focus is on value and have set first, and Hi-Res dynamic vary audio second.