Noise as a test signal for audibility

[John Kenny]

Sorry, I thought it was shared - try this link

I forgot to answer this - the WAV file is 16/44

 

[fas42]

Sorry, I thought it was shared - try this link

Okay, got it - but I'm confused as what people are calling hiss: there's faint, very faint tape hiss - but at a certain point the brushes come in, by the drummer - which, as in real life, have a "hissy" sound. In the YouTube clip the treble is severely curtailed, so that instrument, the brushes, are very low level and not that noticeable. Hence, very different sound ...

 

[amirm]

Did a test on a 1080p and 4K video and both had 128 kbps audio. So that seems to be the cap indeed.

 

[John Kenny]

Okay, got it - but I'm confused as what people are calling hiss: there's faint, very faint tape hiss - but at a certain point the brushes come in, by the drummer - which, as in real life, have a "hissy" sound. In the YouTube clip the treble is severely curtailed, so that instrument, the brushes, are very low level and not that noticeable. Hence, very different sound ...

That tape hiss is noticeable when you listen at a reasonable volume on a good quality system. Yes the brushes are similar sounding to the hiss but as I said, with the USB isolator, the hiss perceptibly drops in amplitude & the drum brushing becomes more textured & less hiss-like

Yes the Youtube's SQ is curtailed

 

[fas42]

Okay, so the USB isolator is doing the "correct" thing - improving the perceived quality. I'm just using laptop speakers, which do a decent job of allowing one to discriminate between clips, etc - but I certainly can't call them resolving, unless I go to quite some effort to "tune up" the laptop environment. Transferring a signal so that I can hear it on the decent system is messy, at the moment: the NAD CDP does not like CDRs at all, unless they're exactly "right"; the result is worse than an op shop LP to hear, it skips like crazy

 

[John Kenny]

Okay, so the USB isolator is doing the "correct" thing - improving the perceived quality.

Yes, it's doing the right thing.

 

[NorthSky]

That's the theory - the reality at the moment is that above 720p the quality is 128k, at least for me. Bizarre ... I actually uploaded an effectively 4k video, which didn't help - 720p is the "magic" setting.

Your PC's (laptop) screen resolution Frank; 1080p or 720p?
The highest res that I can get from youtube is 1080p (but my laptop's screen is only 720p).
The new Samsung Galaxy S7 (Android with a 5.1" screen) res is approximately 3K.
→ http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-review
"QHD panel with a 2560 x 1440 resolution."

♦ Some laptops now have 4K screen resolution. ...More $

As for audio; I don't know in 2016 the max res you can get from youtube. ...128 kbps

 

[fas42]

Bob, it's got nothing to do with the screen you watching on - the computer always scales, sizes the video part to match the window size you're watching in - but "asking" YouTube to send a clip to you at a certain resolution determines the quality of the picture, before any local scaling. The higher the quality the faster the web link needs to be, otherwise the playback will break up. And selecting a particular res also, automatically, selects the audio quality.

If the audio part is what's important, always use 720p, if available.

 

[NorthSky]

I'm on [Auto] ...automatic mode.

 

[fas42]

Bob, just click the Quality line in the settings box, and it pops up a list of what's available - and click 720p if it's there. The settings wheel will have a little HD icon overlay if it's 720p or over, while playing.

 

[NorthSky]

Yeah, when I watch a youtube video it comes automatically...1080p.
If not, I select the next highest, but I'm on [Auto].

The thing is the hiss present from the WAV (16/44) file, but not from youtube. Use headphones, or connect amplified quality speakers to your laptop...you'll hear.

The USB isolator is a new toy to me, first I've ever learned about was right here, in this thread from Audio Science Review.
Talk about making new scientific audio discoveries! And on Saturday Easter of the year 2o16...tomorrow's Easter Sunday.
That's why I like this new site; I am discovering.
___________

Can you hear hiss on this: