I think the point is that even most people who are into sound are unaware of the differences in sound “quality.” As an engineer, I have to come up with operational definitions for things all the time – my sanity depends on it.
So what is quality? I would attest that there are multiple elements involved, and all of them require accuracy. You need accurate frequency response and accurate dynamic response. There is some added fun in that different volumes by their nature play games with perceived loudness of different frequencies …

I read quite a few “experts” here with the absolute, unequivocal statement that nobody can hear about 20KHz. First, the human ear is an analog system. There is no 20KHz “cutoff” beyond which nobody can hear. Everyone has a curve of decreasing perception and some point where the curve falls below the level of perception. The 20Khz frequency cited was chosen for two reasons:
1) the vast majority of people cannot hear anything above that frequency (note that I did not say all) and
2) it’s a nice round number. …

This was a very good test. You, sir, picked a very good song for this test (in the sense that it’s very hard to tell the difference). It took me several listenings to pick out the correct one (which i did manage).
Now i want to point out a few things here.
First of all, you didn’t specify how the encoding was done and with which encoder. You see, 128 kbit MP3′s are typically ALWAYS encoded in Joint Stereo by most modern encoders, while 320 kbit MP3′s can often vary between normal …

How exactly does one go about putting together sounds to portray ideas not inherently suited for the medium? For example, what sounds portray the color red or “the birth of an idea”? If you’re the creative type and up for the challenge, take a look at the following sound challenge:
Vancouver Film School is teaming up with SoundCloud to create a contest for creative sound enthusiasts. The Full Scholarship Challenge offers the winner a full-tuition scholarship for Vancouver Film School’s one-year Sound Design for Visual Media program. Open globally to all …

I used to think that audio files were basically a collection of snapshots of a spectrum analyzer with various frequencies at various levels. Then I realized, That isn’t how audio works!
On any given track, all the various frequencies superimpose to have a single oscillating voltage. Think about it: if you have only two frequencies – a very low bass and a high-mid, for example – the speaker will be movinng roughly slowly, but if you zoom in, it is oscillating to the frequency of the higher frequency even as the …