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Sound format question....

Since stepping up to a pretty good Reference grade Audiophile set up (Set up and configured for music only) There's been only one downside... My ears have become fine tuned enough to immediately notice the difference in sound format. So much to the point where I don't like even the best MP3 music. It's so noticeably lacking in range, depth, and feel. Question? Like many, regardless of wide variance in sound I do like Pandora, but why is it that from random song to song on Pandora I am hearing "ok that track sounds pretty good" or "Why does this Pandora track sound like ultra compressed garbage? It's about 50/50 and regardless of new or old song will vary so much in terms of sound quality.

Could this be an issue with my sound source? I'm using an Oppo BDP-105 and piped in Analog. No digital.
pigchild
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,424 posts
 
What version of Pandora are you listening to? The free version is low bitrate MP3. Even Pandora One (premium version) is only 192kbps MP3, not high quality except by comparison to the free version.

I do not know what the rest of your system is but, judging from the fact that you have a BDP-105, it is likely that it is good enough that you are hearing the limitations of the source material. You need to find another one.
rlwainwright
1,901 posts
 
IMHO, services like Pandora are for use as background and/or occasional/desktop listening. I would never expect them to rival your CD/SACD/DVD-Audio sources. If you do you will be sorely disappointed...

-RW-
martykl
3,563 posts
 
My understanding is that all streaming music services will offer tracks that are streamed at various bit rates, depending on the source files available to them. As Kal noted, Pandora (and IIRC Spotify) are capped at a pretty low rate. OTOH, Beats Music streams most material at 320 kbs and IMO generally sounds better. It's not going to rival the best SQ available on disc, bot you might check it out.
theo's avatar
theo
2,331 posts
 
I agree with Rlwainwright. I use Sonos and stream Pandora for "task" music as background. I am using a Rega Dac coupled with Kimber AGDL coax. I have subscribed to Deezer and they claim to be streaming at 44.1 and I do hear a noticeable increase in SQ over Beats. But I still play my Ayre C5xe when I want the best, in my realm, SQ from digital. I do listen to Deezer quite a bit (no pun) for the sheer convenience of relaxing and selecting music.
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