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Hi Everyone, Following is an invitation to participate in a study being performed by Mark Waldrep to determine whether or not we can actually hear differences between various formats? I know this is an old and tired argument but one in my opinion that really needs to be put to bed and I encourage you to participate. Too may of us are being ripped off by manufactures' marketing hype, and too many potential audiophiles are staying away because we have overcomplicated things by looking for solutions to problems that simply don't exist. It takes courage to participate in these types of tests because you may have to face your biases and long held beliefs. Prior to reading the study please read the introduction to my previous thread on this subject "Some Commonsense" and in particular to John Siau of Benchmark Media's thoughts - it's all about the maths. The HD-Audio Challenge II Dr. AIX I spent the weekend gearing up for the second round of the HD-Audio challenge. Some of you may remember the first iteration of this study (click here). The music industry seems intent on continuing to push their claims that "hi-res audio" is a tremendous advance in the evolution of music reproduction. After being involved with real high-resolution audio for almost 20 years, I'm not so sure it matters. I'd love to demonstrate that hi-res music and hi-res audio are delivering a "better" experience, but the studies I've read have left me unconvinced. I believe that I can contribute to the debate by offering up a catalog of real high-resolution tracks in a variety of formats. You — my readers and fellow audiophiles — can download the tracks and play them to your heart's content. I only ask that you not analyze them to determine which is which. What's the point of cheating? I've selected 20 tracks from a variety of genres and took into consideration suggestions from many of you. I've included solos, small and large ensembles, acoustic and electric, and vocal vs. instrumental http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=6197.The tracks that will be available are listed below: The HD-Audio Challenge II - Track List These are full length tracks not merely samples. I spent all weekend converting the tracks using Sonic Studio's professional software tool PROCESS to do the conversions. I took the native 96 kHz/24-bit PCM masters and downconverted them to 96 kHz/16-bit, 44.1 kHz/24-bits, and 44.1 kHz/16-bits (CD "Redbook" spec). I will also create constant bitrate MP3 versions at 320 and 256 kbps for those interested in compressed formats. Then I converted all of downconversions back to 96 kHz/24-bits so that all of them are precisely the same size. I have been very careful to ensure that they are the same volume. I have uploaded all of the files to a folder in my premium Dropbox account and will "Share" the contents with those interested in participating in the study. The files are randomly named and should provide a rich opportunity for those willing to download them and do some serious listening. The goal is to discover if bona fide high-resolution audio recordings can be distinguished from lower resolution formats. A Preview I will be doing a thorough analysis of each file and providing the spectra and dynamic analysis to participants. I've already done that for a test file by The Latin Jazz Trio. Here's the spectra of all of the formats: The Spectra of "Memories of Rio" in all six formats Sign Up The more audio enthusiasts that participate in this study, the more raw data I'll have and the more valid the results will be. I'm prepared to be criticized for the casual nature of this experiment. Some will insist that using my own catalog is too limiting, others will insist that it be done in a state-of-the-art studio, or with mega buck equipment. I don't believe that any of those things matter. We all have different rooms, systems of differing values, and varying abilities to listen...exactly the diversity that is required to establish whether the marketing claims made by the industry are true. If you want to sign up, you'll have to visit the post on my site and use the form at the bottom of the page by clicking here. This should be fun. I'll leave the files up for a couple of months. I have to report back to my university sometime in early 2020, so you'll have lots of time. Thanks!