Lossless Audio Does Not Sound Better Than MP3 To Most People

Stack of vinyl records with a pair of wired headphones resting on top

Apple, Amazon, and Tidal offer “lossless audio,” claiming users can “hear the exact same thing” an artist created in the studio. However, it’s a myth that lossless audio objectively sounds better than MP3, and most users can’t hear a difference at all.

The main difference between the lossless audio and MP3 is file size. “Lossless” means it’s the same size as the original track created in the studio, and it’s usually stored as a WAV file.

Even if you are listening to lossless audio, your music is still getting compressed if you’re using Bluetooth.

So, certainly if you are using Bluetooth headphones, you’re likely wasting your time with lossless audio files. I suppose a lot of the hype around lossless audio formats is that some companies also charge more for them, and listeners think they’re getting better quality audio.

Even real audiophiles would be searching very carefully to actually hear any differences, and in a very quiet environment.

See https://gizmodo.com/lossless-audio-does-not-sound-better-than-mp3-1851341155

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