Quick Survey for all bar and club goers

[goldenfleece]

I am interested in your opinions about the audio quality of music you listen to in bars and clubs. Please do the poll (just select for YES and leave blank for NO) as I really do need some feedback in assessing what people notice in bars and clubs and what they are not bothered about. Thanks. My interest is really do people NOTICE the sound quality in pubs and clubs at all, or is it just for them or you BACKGROUND music for your social life? Please feel free to comment on this, as I am curious at to the majority view of the audio quality used by DJ's, and indeed if anyone can actually feel they can spot a DJ who uses lossy MP3's or other formats which are not 'audiophile' or HI FI standard.

 

Plus if YOU are a DIGITAL DJ, do you use CD's? FLAC or PCM audio? 320 kbs mp3? Spotify or other streaming music service? Other formats?

Edited May 16, 2016 by goldenfleece

[JohnM]

I DJ on CD and will also download tunes and then burn to CD (as you're not guaranteed 2000s or similar that you can plug in data sticks - and cbfa taking a laptop & controller with me when DJing).

 

I think you can tell the difference between 320 and lossless (WAV/Flac) or CD over a big rig in a club - but over small speakers in a busy friday night bar - it doesn't really matter too much.

[Solomon1]

My head now hurts

[Fudbeer]

I think the key is to have good quality amp and speakers then the difference between cd and mp3 particularly in a pub is virtually undetectable.

 

My set up at home is good quality amp with built in soundcard and hi quality speakers and I find I hardly ever listen to cd's anymore the difference is very small.

 

Don't nearly all dj's use laptops now anyway?I know a few that charge good money and are very good and they all do there is some great software available nowadays.

 

Cd's will be all but extinct in a few years imo and I read an article recently that even downloads are on the decline with streaming being the biggest growth area.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Fudbeer

[goldenfleece]

 

Don't nearly all dj's use laptops now anyway?I know a few that charge good money and are very good and they all do there is some great software available nowadays.

 

Cd's will be all but extinct in a few years imo and I read an article recently that even downloads are on the decline with streaming being the biggest growth area.

 

Yes I use a laptop but I tend to work with only FLAC files which are CD quality, otherwise known as 'loss-less' audio. I dont work with mp3 anymore as I can tell the sound quality difference over a decent PA system, compressed audio simply sounds flat and lifeless to me. CD Quality at 1.1mbs and at a sample rate of 44 khz ETC is the only format I now work with, only using mp3 if I have no higher quality version available.

 

As for streaming music, yes I know a few "Spotify DJ's" but the only way I would ever use streaming music for DJ purposes is from a loss-less source, like TIDAL who stream in full CD quality but cost £20 a month. Anyone streaming with Spotify or other brands are very obvious to me in pubs and clubs, as the sound is flat, lifeless, and with no grunt at the bottom end, plus a rather muddled and fuzzy mid range.

 

Having said that, I have exceptionally good ears, and I prefer to DJ with what I listen to at home, as in full CD quality music. The point of the poll is to see if most people actually notice or care about what they hear in clubs and bars.....maybe people are just out to socialize and drink and really regard music as a background 'distraction' to their life......

 

I am also sure CD's will be all but history soon for many, but they remain at present the ideal medium for storing loss-less quality audio, and do have much longer shelf life than hard drives in general. I used some choice language only last week when I dropped a 2 TB hard drive off a working area onto a hard floor....CRUNCH......2tb of music, about 2,000 CD albums, all a rattling heap of rubbish. Thank ye Lord for BACK UPS and the fact I have all the CD originals...LOL

Edited May 18, 2016 by goldenfleece

[DnAuK]

Yes I use a laptop but I tend to work with only FLAC files which are CD quality, otherwise known as 'loss-less' audio. I dont work with mp3 anymore as I can tell the sound quality difference over a decent PA system, compressed audio simply sounds flat and lifeless to me. CD Quality at 1.1mbs and at a sample rate of 44 khz ETC is the only format I now work with, only using mp3 if I have no higher quality version available.

 

As for streaming music, yes I know a few "Spotify DJ's" but the only way I would ever use streaming music for DJ purposes is from a loss-less source, like TIDAL who stream in full CD quality but cost £20 a month. Anyone streaming with Spotify or other brands are very obvious to me in pubs and clubs, as the sound is flat, lifeless, and with no grunt at the bottom end, plus a rather muddled and fuzzy mid range.

 

Having said that, I have exceptionally good ears, and I prefer to DJ with what I listen to at home, as in full CD quality music. The point of the poll is to see if most people actually notice or care about what they hear in clubs and bars.....maybe people are just out to socialize and drink and really regard music as a background 'distraction' to their life......

 

I am also sure CD's will be all but history soon for many, but they remain at present the ideal medium for storing loss-less quality audio, and do have much longer shelf life than hard drives in general. I used some choice language only last week when I dropped a 2 TB hard drive off a working area onto a hard floor....CRUNCH......2tb of music, about 2,000 CD albums, all a rattling heap of rubbish. Thank ye Lord for BACK UPS and the fact I have all the CD originals...LOL

 

I have experimented with FLAC files for a while now, on both PC and phone. With a good amp / speakers and decent set of headphones respectively. And in my car audio system. I found it extremely hard to differentiate between FLAC and 320 mp3. Until I added an aftermarket DAC to my PC in the form of a professional sound card. Then you could tell there was a difference. But not enough to justify the couple of hundred quid outlay in order to perceive it.

[Solomon1]

We ever get to bottom O this?

[goldenfleece]

I have experimented with FLAC files for a while now, on both PC and phone. With a good amp / speakers and decent set of headphones respectively. And in my car audio system. I found it extremely hard to differentiate between FLAC and 320 mp3. Until I added an aftermarket DAC to my PC in the form of a professional sound card. Then you could tell there was a difference. But not enough to justify the couple of hundred quid outlay in order to perceive it.

 

I must have bat ears or something else. Whatever I listen to mp3 and flac on, I can always tell the difference. The KEY difference is the spatial awareness in the music. The precise positioning of any instrument from the stereo stage left to right, but not only that, the relative position forwards to back in the mix. I find this spatial awareness is missing from mp3's, there is no discernible depth and no clear stereo separation in the same way. But then I am a bit of an audiophile and probably therefore, very very fussy about my music.

 

But of course none of this will apply to music heard in club or a busy bar, you would struggle to hear any stereo balance as most clubs switch to mono output anyway so they blanket the venue with the same sound for everyone, left to right, certainly there would be far too much ambient noise to appreciate the spatial dimensions in the music.

Edited May 19, 2016 by goldenfleece

[DnAuK]

I must have bat ears or something else. Whatever I listen to mp3 and flac on, I can always tell the difference. The KEY difference is the spatial awareness in the music. The precise positioning of any instrument from the stereo stage left to right, but not only that, the relative position forwards to back in the mix. I find this spatial awareness is missing from mp3's, there is no discernible depth and no clear stereo separation in the same way. But then I am a bit of an audiophile and probably therefore, very very fussy about my music.

 

But of course none of this will apply to music heard in club or a busy bar, you would struggle to hear any stereo balance as most clubs switch to mono output anyway so they blanket the venue with the same sound for everyone, left to right, certainly there would be far too much ambient noise to appreciate the spatial dimensions in the music.

 

Well it could be that you are comparing to lower quality (128?) mp3 - or that your system just has a good DAC in it to begin with.

 

Something I've always found amusing is that people will spend £200 on a pair of 'Beats' headphones and plug em into a phone which has a DAC costing a tenner! Doesn't matter how good the source material, or the end listening product, is if the bit that translates sound between them is pants.

[the_wicker]

If the space you're playing the music in isn't acoustically treated/is completely unsuitable and working against you then it might not make much difference if you're playing FLAC/WAV or mp3 files. I'm no expert on this. I read an article the other day that you might be interested in:

 

https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/1588

 

Sitting in front of some fairly low cost speakers at home I can still tell the difference between the formats; I've DJed in some spaces where the acoustics were terrible (sounds bouncing back etc) and I don't think it would have been worth spending extra on FLAC files