Comment by ryankrage77
4 days ago
HiFiMan Sundara headphones, focusrite scarlett 2i2 interface. Although, it turns out the Scarlett is set to 48KHz anyway, and I can't seem to change it easily under linux. Not that it seems to matter for my ears, lol.
EDIT: Did some more ABX testing with a CD-quality track that I'm much more familiar with ('Introduction' from the Mirrors Edge soundtrack, which has been my go-to for comparing audio gear for the last decade). I could sometimes distinguish 128k mp3 this time, though interestingly, I got it consistently wrong rather than right. For some reason the compressed version seems to be my preference. Dropping to 96k mp3, I got it right 100% of the time - though only because there was a very noticeable difference in the stereo positioning of the first sound, rather than a difference in the quality of the sound. I think if it were mono I would still be unable to tell.
Sundaras aren't great, but are sufficient for this. Scarlett series is also good enough.
At 48khz, with a tone generator (not rando Youtube videos or anything), you should be able to clearly hear up to around 16khz (as in, can tell pitch of tone), and be able to tell a tone is being played at all up through 18khz, and hopefully up to 20khz.