Knowledge

High-resolution audio

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71: 146: 310:"...music professionals with access to first generation data have widely reported subjectively better sound, and a meta-analysis of previously published listening tests comparing high resolution to CD found a clear, though small, audible difference that significantly increased when the listening tests included standard training (i.e., with experience in listening)."—Journal of the 138: 377:
audio from CD quality audio "was only slightly better than chance". However for perspective, the same is true of blind tests between lossy compression (mp3 or equivalent) and lossless CD quality audio, which are widely accepted as audibly different but dependent upon the playback equipment and listening skill (training) of the participants.
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audio capable of reproducing the full spectrum of sound from recordings which have been mastered from better than CD quality (48 kHz/20-bit or higher) music sources which represent what the artists, producers and engineers originally intended." Previously, the Japan Electronics and Information
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In 2014, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) announced a specification and accompanying "Hi-Res AUDIO" logo for consumer audio products, administered by the Japan Audio Society (JAS). The standard sets minimums of 96 kHz sample rate and 24-bit depth, and
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performed a meta-analysis on 20 of published tests, saying that trained listeners could distinguish between hi-resolution recordings and their CD equivalents under blind conditions. Hiroshi Nittono pointed out that the results in Reiss's paper showed that the ability to distinguish hi resolution
304:"The claimed main-benefit of high-resolution audio files is superior sound quality 24-bit/96 kHz or 24-bit/192 kHz files should, therefore, more closely replicate the sound quality that the musicians and engineers were working with in the studio."— 98:
Technology Industries Association (JEITA) in March 2014 and the Japan Audio Society (JAS) in June 2014 published definitions, requiring at least 96 kHz/24-bit with the inclusion that a “Listening evaluation process is required by each applicant.”
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suggests that caution is in order with regard to high-resolution audio: "There is reason to be wary, given consumer electronics companies' history of pushing advancements whose main virtue is to require everyone to buy new gadgets."
1109: 891: 59:. It commonly refers to 96 or 192 kHz sample rates. However, 44.1 kHz/24-bit, 48 kHz/24-bit and 88.2 kHz/24-bit recordings also exist that are labeled HD Audio. 514: 93:, DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, and The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, formulated the following definition of high-resolution audio in June 2014: " 277:"The DSD process used for producing SACDs captures more of the nuances from a performance and reproduces them with a clarity and transparency not possible with CD."—The 1101: 1157: 322:"If cared about sound quality in the first place, they would make all of the releases sound great in every format they sell: MP3, FLAC, CD, iTunes, or LP."— 62:
Research into high-resolution audio began in the late 1980s and high-resolution audio recordings started to become available on the consumer market in 1996.
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have shown that musicians and composers are unable to distinguish higher resolutions from 16-bit audio at 48 kHz. One 2014 paper showed that
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codecs. Sony reaffirmed its commitment towards the development in the high-resolution audio segment by offering a slew of Hi-Res Audio products.
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allowed by higher sample rates. This reduces the energy spread in time from transient signals such as plucking a string or striking a cymbal.
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in the release – thus many comparisons of CD to these releases are evaluating differences in mastering, rather than bit depth.
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He'll have some competition. Already, services like HDtracks.com have seen triple-digit growth in downloads of top-notch digital files
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Most early papers using blind listening tests concluded that differences are not audible by the sample of listeners taking the test.
1125:"A Suggested Explanation For (Some Of) The Audible Differences Between High Sample Rate And Conventional Sample Rate Audio Material" 78:
High-resolution audio is generally used to refer to music files that have a higher sampling frequency and/or bit depth than that of
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Following the rise in online music retailing at the start of the 21st century, high-resolution audio downloads were introduced by
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Whether there is any benefit to high-resolution audio over CD-DA is controversial, with some sources claiming sonic superiority:
90: 864: 515:"High Resolution Audio Initiative Gets Major Boost with New "Hi-Res MUSIC" Logo and Branding Materials for Digital Retailers" 1131: 736: 114: 1149: 228: 200: 118: 608:
HDCD is capable of higher quality sound reproduction because HDCD encodes the equivalent of 20 bits worth of data
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for analog processes, 40 kHz. The related "Hi-Res Audio Wireless" standard additionally requires support for the
657: 334:"A solution to a problem that doesn't exist, a business model based on willful ignorance and scamming people."— 192: 126: 343: 195:
in 2013. Competition in online high-resolution audio retail stepped-up in 2014 with the announcement of
122: 1041:"High-frequency sound components of high-resolution audio are not detected in auditory sensory memory" 623: 1056: 776: 596: 388: 30:"High definition audio" redirects here. For the Intel specification for personal computer audio, see 681: 485: 157:
in 1995, an encoding/decoding technique using standard CD audio. This was followed by two more
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Rectangular unshaped dither, rather than the industry-standard triangular or shaped dither.
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Further attempts to market high-resolution audio on optical disc followed with Pure Audio
56: 868: 593:"Home Technology eMagazine - Classic Home Toys Installment #19 The Final CD Format: HDCD" 1060: 984: 1177: 1077: 1040: 298: 290: 268: 170: 162: 137: 106: 70: 1171: 940:"Audibility of a CD-Standard A/D/A Loop Inserted into High-Resolution Audio Playback" 545: 400: 17: 985:"The Audibility of Typical Digital Audio Filters in a High-Fidelity Playback System" 405: 373: 305: 286: 252: 220: 216: 158: 1124: 921: 381: 256: 224: 206: 52: 1068: 740: 363: 352: 196: 174: 74:
Approximate dynamic range and bandwidths of some high-resolution audio formats
1102:"Audio Quality Quiz Results: You Did Slightly Better Than Guessing Randomly" 1024: 1007: 682:"Universal Music bets on consumer longing for quality with hi-fi Pure Audio" 466: 449: 370:
using outdated methods produces audible artifacts in blind listening tests.
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High-resolution files that are downloaded from niche websites that cater to
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Official logo for products meeting JEITA/JAS's "Hi-Res Audio" specification.
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in 2000. These formats offer additional benefits such as multi-channel
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Some technical explanations for sonic superiority cite the improved
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have options to enable the playback of high-resolution audio files.
248: 205: 1008:"A Meta-Analysis of High Resolution Audio Perceptual Evaluation" 835:"What's up with Neil Young's Pono high-resolution music system?" 323: 102: 777:"What is hi-res audio and how can you experience it right now?" 153:
One of the first attempts to market high-resolution audio was
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File formats capable of storing high-resolution audio include
709:"How Neil Young's Pono Music Raised $ 2 Million in Two Days" 144: 136: 641: 983:
Jackson, Helen M.; Capp, Michael D.; Stuart, J. Robert.
1150:"MQA Time-domain Accuracy & Digital Audio Quality" 502:
High-resolution audio is a new industry marketing term
567:"High-resolution audio: everything you need to know" 865:"24/192 Music Downloads and why they make no sense" 519:
The Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA)
450:"High Resolution Audio: A History and Perspective" 82:(CD-DA), which operates at 44.1 kHz/16-bit. 892:"Music Snobs, Neil Young Has a Product for You" 161:formats claiming sonic superiority over CD-DA: 658:"Norman Chesky of HDtracks and Chesky Records" 644:) pioneered high-resolution audio via download 328:"Impractical overkill that nobody can afford"— 177:, none of these achieved widespread adoption. 48:) is a term for audio files with greater than 8: 966:"We tested ... the music in high definition" 561: 559: 443: 441: 1076: 1023: 546:"Japan Audio Society - Hi-Res Audio Logo" 479: 477: 465: 87:Recording Industry Association of America 1012:Journal of the Audio Engineering Society 540: 538: 536: 454:Journal of the Audio Engineering Society 69: 618: 616: 437: 417: 1137:from the original on 28 November 2009. 821:this album is available to buy on SACD 811:from the original on December 31, 2013 760:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( 753: 867:. Xiph.Org Foundation. Archived from 624:"Definition of:high-resolution audio" 7: 1160:from the original on 10 March 2023. 269:Super Audio CD § Sound quality 1018:(6). J. Audio Eng. Soc.: 364–379. 460:(5). J. Audio Eng. Soc.: 246–257. 355:listeners often include different 155:High Definition Compatible Digital 25: 1112:from the original on 9 June 2015. 448:Melchior, Vicki R. (2019-05-03). 801:"What are the benefits of SACD?" 486:"What Is High-Resolution Audio?" 91:Consumer Electronics Association 89:(RIAA), in cooperation with the 1006:Reiss, Joshua D. (2016-06-27). 898:. BLOOMBERG L.P. Archived from 1148:Robjohns, Hugh (August 2016). 1123:Story, Mike (September 1997). 1100:Fischer, Tyler (9 June 2015). 964:Nicolas Six (21 August 2015). 861:Christopher "Monty" Montgomery 1: 27:Audio exceeding CD capability 656:Lander, David (2014-10-21). 484:Aguilar, Mario (June 2013). 775:Cohen, Simon (2021-05-18). 32:Intel High Definition Audio 1194: 1069:10.1038/s41598-020-78889-9 707:O'Malley Greenburg, Zack. 595:. HomeToys. Archived from 266: 80:Compact Disc Digital Audio 29: 312:Audio Engineering Society 1039:Hiroshi Nittono (2020). 241:music streaming services 193:High Fidelity Pure Audio 1025:10.17743/jaes.2016.0015 642:http://www.hdtracks.com 467:10.17743/jaes.2018.0056 896:BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK 573:. Haymarket Publishing 344:Bloomberg Businessweek 279:Mariinsky record label 211: 150: 142: 75: 55:or higher than 16-bit 841:. CBS Interactive Inc 209: 148: 140: 73: 42:high-definition audio 38:High-resolution audio 18:High resolution audio 389:anti-aliasing filter 314:, Volume 67, Issue 5 125:(the format used by 1061:2020NatSR..1021740N 987:. J. Audio Eng. Soc 945:. J. Audio Eng. Soc 928:. 4 September 2013. 833:Guttenberg, Steve. 805:Mariinsky Label FAQ 688:. Globalcom Limited 550:www.jas-audio.or.jp 1156:. Sound On Sound. 1045:Scientific Reports 890:Brustein, Joshua. 341:Business magazine 235:Streaming services 212: 184:starting in 2008. 151: 143: 76: 926:Production Advice 902:on March 17, 2014 863:(25 March 2012). 807:(Press release). 239:As of 2021, some 16:(Redirected from 1185: 1162: 1161: 1154:soundonsound.com 1145: 1139: 1138: 1136: 1129: 1120: 1114: 1113: 1097: 1091: 1090: 1080: 1036: 1030: 1029: 1027: 1003: 997: 996: 994: 992: 980: 974: 973: 961: 955: 954: 952: 950: 944: 936: 930: 929: 918: 912: 911: 909: 907: 887: 881: 880: 878: 876: 857: 851: 850: 848: 846: 830: 824: 823: 818: 816: 797: 791: 790: 788: 787: 772: 766: 765: 759: 751: 749: 748: 739:. 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Following a 171:surround sound 141:Super Audio CD 134: 131: 67: 64: 26: 24: 14: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1190: 1179: 1176: 1175: 1173: 1159: 1155: 1151: 1144: 1141: 1133: 1126: 1119: 1116: 1111: 1107: 1103: 1096: 1093: 1088: 1084: 1079: 1074: 1070: 1066: 1062: 1058: 1054: 1050: 1046: 1042: 1035: 1032: 1026: 1021: 1017: 1013: 1009: 1002: 999: 986: 979: 976: 971: 967: 960: 957: 941: 935: 932: 927: 923: 917: 914: 901: 897: 893: 886: 883: 871:on 2018-07-21 870: 866: 862: 856: 853: 840: 836: 829: 826: 822: 810: 806: 802: 796: 793: 782: 781:digitaltrends 778: 771: 768: 763: 757: 743:on 2018-12-01 742: 738: 732: 729: 725: 714: 710: 703: 700: 687: 683: 677: 674: 663: 659: 652: 649: 645: 643: 629: 625: 619: 617: 613: 609: 599:on 2014-03-18 598: 594: 588: 585: 572: 568: 562: 560: 556: 551: 547: 541: 539: 537: 533: 520: 516: 510: 507: 503: 491: 487: 480: 478: 474: 468: 463: 459: 455: 451: 444: 442: 438: 431: 421: 418: 411: 407: 404: 402: 401:High fidelity 399: 398: 394: 392: 390: 386: 383: 378: 375: 371: 369: 365: 360: 358: 354: 349: 346: 345: 337: 333: 331: 327: 325: 321: 320: 319: 313: 309: 307: 303: 300: 297:, that sells 296: 292: 288: 284: 280: 276: 275: 274: 270: 262: 260: 258: 254: 250: 246: 242: 234: 232: 230: 226: 222: 218: 208: 204: 202: 198: 194: 191:in 2009, and 190: 185: 183: 178: 176: 172: 168: 165:in 1999, and 164: 160: 156: 147: 139: 132: 130: 128: 124: 120: 116: 112: 108: 104: 99: 96: 92: 88: 83: 81: 72: 65: 63: 60: 58: 54: 51: 50:44.1 kHz 47: 43: 39: 33: 19: 1153: 1143: 1118: 1105: 1095: 1048: 1044: 1034: 1015: 1011: 1001: 989:. 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Index

High resolution audio
Intel High Definition Audio
44.1 kHz
sample rate
audio bit depth

Compact Disc Digital Audio
Recording Industry Association of America
Consumer Electronics Association
lossless
FLAC
ALAC
WAV
AIFF
MQA
DSD
SACD
Super Audio CD
DVD-Audio
High Definition Compatible Digital
optical disc
SACD
DVD-Audio
surround sound
format war
HDtracks
Blu-ray
High Fidelity Pure Audio
Neil Young
Pono

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