There is a significant difference between 192 kbps and 256 kbps audio quality. While some people may not be able to tell the difference, others will certainly be able to hear the improved quality of a 256 kbps file. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at what separates these two bitrates and which one is best for you.
Difference
The main difference between 192 kbps and 256 kbps audio quality is bit depth. A higher bit depth results in a greater dynamic range and more robust sound quality. For this reason, many modern music releases offer both CD and DVD versions of their albums at different prices.
The difference between 192kbps and 256kbps vs 320kbps is not easy to hear. It comes down to a difference of 16000 samples per second if played at 44100 kHz (44100 x 16000 = 705600). If you are recording sounds through your sound card with any application that has an output then you can test this yourself using Audacity or something similar. Record a short snippet at both 192 kbps and 256 kbps, play it back on your computer within an audio player next to each other for comparison.
What is bit depth?
Bit depth uses the number of bits available to store data in a digital audio file. A higher bit depth yields greater dynamic range and more robust sound quality. For reference, CDs are 16-bit files while DVDs are 24-bit files. The difference between CD quality (16-bit) and DVD quality (24-bit) is most noticeable with very low bass frequencies; for this reason, many modern music releases offer both CD and DVD versions of their albums at different prices.
What is bitrate?
Bit rate indicates how much information the file contains per second that passes through your sound system or speakers – it expresses how big or small each file size will be as a result. In other words, bit rate tells you how detailed the sound quality will be. The higher the bit rate, the more information your file contains and the better sound quality you’re likely to hear.
What is MP3?
MPEG Audio Layer III (commonly referred to as MP3) is a patented digital audio encoding format that uses a type of lossy data compression. It reduces bandwidth and storage requirements without reducing the fidelity of the encoded audio. Most music websites use some form of MP3 format for their downloadable files so they can accommodate as many people as possible with different internet connection speeds and computer configurations.
A CD-quality uncompressed file has a bit depth of 16 and a sample rate of 44100 Hz (44100 samples per second). This translates to a bit rate of 1411 kbps. An MP3 file with the same audio quality would have a bit depth of 16 and a sample rate of 44100 Hz, but would have a bit rate of approximately 192 kbps, depending on how much audio data is removed during compression.
The higher the bit depth and sample rate are, the bigger your files will be in size, but they will also sound better overall. The lower the two are, the smaller your files will be in size, but they won’t sound as good or have as much detail.
Why does it matter?
Most people can’t hear any difference between 192 kbps (or even less) and lossless (CD-quality) audio. However, if you’re an audiophile or someone who is particular about your music’s sound quality, it’s worth upgrading to 256 kbps files. The difference in quality will be most noticeable with low bass frequencies and at high volumes.
192 kbps is a more common bitrate for streaming and downloading audio files, while 256 kbps is generally used for higher-quality files such as lossless FLACs. If you want the best possible audio quality without having to sacrifice too much storage space on your computer or phone, 256 kbps is the way to go.
