If you were to log in, you'd be able to get more information on your fellow community member.
While you argue about the inadequacy of 16bit 44khz PCM, people everywhere are listening on their bookshelf speakers to compressed 128kbit/second mpeg layer 3 encodings, piped out through their soundcard that maybe offers 90db SNR at best, over the ambient noise of their hard drive and computer fan.I would like to hear more about what people have done to get a good listening environment at their computer. I imagine an external DAC (for EM shielding), and either tight headphones or all moving parts of the computer located behind soundproofing.
I am very musical but I really can't tell the difference between a CD and a 128kbit/sec mp3, at least when it comes to a typical pop/rock song. Higher quality recordings, even with my loud fan noise, I definitely prefer the CD or even 160kbit/sec. Although no encoders are available yet, an even more efficient compression method, Advanced Audio Encoding (or AAC), is part of the mpeg-4 standard, a...