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Curse you, itunes! / Can I really tell the difference between bitrates?

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october1983:
I recently put a load of mp3s I'd ripped from various CDs onto my iPod, and have listened to them a bit for the last few days. For some reason, listening to most of the albums, they seemed a little...off, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Looking on iTunes now, I noticed that for some reason they've all got a bitrate of 96kbps, and I think this might be why. God knows how iTunes ended up with that setting - why would anyone in their right mind rip mp3s at anything less than 128? I'm pretty sure that above that I can't notice a different, but now the 96kbps thing is really bugging me.

I really can't be bothered to rip all these albums again, but I kind of want to. Am I really hearing the difference of a low bitrate, or am I just letting my mind screw around with me?

tommydski:
I can definitely tell anything lower than 160kpbs and my ears are fucked.

I don't think you're imagining it at all. I know a lot of people claim to not be able to tell the difference between 128kpbs and above but I simply don't believe people wouldn't be able to identify 96kpbs. There's a very audible difference in clarity.

october1983:
Yeah, I think you're right. I've set it to 196 now to be on the safe side, and plan to rerip any good albums that I have at 96. As soon as I can be bothered..

Kai:
I can notice when something is 96 kbs. That's roughly it. After that it is not really too important to my ears.

IronOxide:
I rip at V0 when I can because it is a good quality on the off chance I want to do something with the song (mixes, editing, etc.), but it doesn't take as much space as a 320 rip, although I can rarely hear the difference above 192 on my listening items of choice.

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