Take my MP3 Challenge

Back in June, I challenged readers to see if they could tell the difference between the CD and MP3 versions of various audio samples. I created the test in response to people who insist that MP3s are audibly inferior to their CD counterparts. I wondered, if presented samples in a blind test, could people really hear a difference?

So far, only two people have gone on record with their guesses -- a former sound engineer named Tyler who identified two of the six songs correctly and another user who couldn't tell a difference.

But how about you?

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TAKE THE MP3 CHALLENGE!

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Can you tell the difference between an MP3 and its CD version? Try this test to see.

Of course, even the highest bitrate MP3 -- a compressed audio format -- doesn't offer the lossless (that is, uncompressed) audio quality of an original CD track. But can you hear the difference?

The samples below reflect a variety of musical styles and recording (actually, production) quality. Click on each link to hear the samples, which are randomly ordered, or right-click on each link and use "Save Target As" to download the file. Compare them, and then post a comment telling me (1) which selection is a 256kbps MP3, (2) which is a 320kbps MP3 and (3) which is the original CD file for each sample. You should be able to play the files directly through your computer. But you can also connect your computer to play through a home stereo, listen using headphones or download the files and burn them to a CD for scrutiny.

(All of the files are in the lossless WAV format. I edited each ~30-second sample as a WAV file. Then I saved that file at both MP3 bitrates. Then I saved those MP3 files back to WAV format, preserving the audio quality of the MP3 version while creating the blind test of seemingly identical files. )

This should be easy, right? Try it and see. I'll post the answers at some point later.

1. CONTEMPORARY POP
"Hollaback Girl," Gwen Stefani
Here's a 2004 recording from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. that all the kids should know.
Sample A
Sample B
Sample C

3. ORCHESTRAL
"Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture," Mikhail Glinka (Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Reiner made many classic recordings for the esteemed RCA Living Stereo series. This 1959(!) performance is taken from the 2004 SACD remaster.
Sample A
Sample B
Sample C

4. CONCERT BAND
"Rocky Point Holiday," Ron Nelson (Jerry Junkin conducting Dallas Wind Symphony)
This concert-band gem was recorded in 1996 for Reference Recordings, a high-end classical label that also has several Minnesota Orchestra releases.
Sample A
Sample B
Sample C

5. JAZZ
"Freddie Freeloader," Miles Davis
This is from the trumpeter's classic 1959 album Kind of Blue, as remastered a few years ago for a DualDisc release.
Sample A
Sample B
Sample C

6. SPOKEN WORD/INSTRUMENTAL
"The Eve of the War," Richard Burton
This is taken from the opening of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, one of the first 48-track recordings. The 1977 album was remastered for SACD several years ago, the source of this sample.
Sample A
Sample B
Sample C