The sound quality of a file at any bitrate also depends on the compression program or “codec” used to create it; some work better than others. In any case, doubling the bitrate from 128 kbps to 256 kbps won't make music sound twice as good, because the smaller file already has the most important information.
128 kbps is not fast, but over good carrier technology, it's serviceable for very light use. You wouldn't stream video over it, but web browsing, maps, and so forth would remain usable, if slow. You certainly don't want anything happening in the background, so disable automatic updates on all your devices first.
The highest quality MP3 has a bitrate of 320kbps, whereas a 24-bit/192kHz file has a data rate of 9216kbps. Music CDs are 1411kbps. The hi-res 24-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz files should, therefore, more closely replicate the sound quality the musicians and engineers were working with in the studio.
A lossless audio file format is the best format for sound quality. These include FLAC, WAV, or AIFF. These types of files are considered “hi-res” because they are better or equal to CD-quality. The tradeoff is that these files will be very large.
64 Kbps for its free service. 128 Kbps for streaming on in-home devices like smart TVs and receivers. 192 Kbps for its premium subscription service.
The audio you hear during a YouTube video will usually be 126 kbps AAC in an MP4 container or anywhere from 50-165 kbps Opus in a WebM container. Changing video resolution (360p, 720p, etc) in the video settings will probably not impact the audio stream, but it is likely that your connection performance will.
The thing is, at 320 kbps you're losing audio information. Subjectively, it may sound good enough for you, but objectively any codec at 320 kbps is a lossy codec. So, in short, I would say the best and optimal quality would be FLAC. And that means that a 44.1 Khz 16 bits stereo FLAC file has the best optimal quality.
128 kbps is not fast, but over good carrier technology, it's serviceable for very light use. You wouldn't stream video over it, but web browsing, maps, and so forth would remain usable, if slow. You certainly don't want anything happening in the background, so disable automatic updates on all your devices first.
The highest quality MP3 bitrate is 320 kbps at 16 bit. You can encode MP3s as low as 96 kbps. MP3s use a compression codec that removes frequencies while trying to preserve as much of the original recording as possible.
Video bitrate affects video quality in several ways. First, it is the key measure of any video file size. Secondly, high video bitrate results in high video quality and low bitrates result in poor video quality. However, using extreme high bitrate is just waste bandwidth.
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) are lossy formats for audio files. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates. This difference in quality is more obvious at lower bitrates.
The "normal" default Spotify streaming quality on your computer is 160 kbps (kilobits per second), with each "bit" essentially being a "piece" of the song. It usually sounds fine, and lets you enjoy the song with decent sound. When you turn on the "high quality streaming" option, the stream opens up to 320 kbps.
Bitrate refers to the number of bits—or the amount of data—that are processed over a certain amount of time. In audio, this usually means kilobits per second. For example, the music you buy on iTunes is 256 kilobits per second, meaning there are 256 kilobits of data stored in every second of a song.
For most general listening 320kbps is ideal. Of course, CD-quality audio that stretches to 1,411kbps will sound better. To determine the best audio bitrate you need to also assess your needs. If storage space is a concern high bitrate files will rapidly eat into your available space.
Spotify is now advertising its 320 kbps bitrate as 'high-quality sound' to its Premium subscribers. Back in 2017, Spotify tested offering lossless audio for an additional $5—$10 cost. That's around the same price services like Tidal, Amazon Music, and Qobuz charge for their hi-res audio content.
FLAC is lossless, while AAC is lossy. Hence FLAC will have a higher sound quality. Transcoding from MP3 to FLAC is just a waste of space and time though.
File formats
Apple Lossless is a lossless format, which retains the full quality of the uncompressed audio, yet uses much less space; generally about 40 to 60 percent less than WAV or AIFF files. AAC and MP3 are both lossy compressed formats. AAC is actually the MP4 standard, the successor to MP3.For music, 64 (AAC)/96 (MP3) kbps is a good general-purpose setting that will sound good most listeners. This is the standard bitrate for podcasts, and it sounds great on most contemporary devices, including smart speakers and mobile devices. If bandwidth cost is a concern, you might consider using a lower setting.
FLAC, ALAC, or FLAC > ALAC and ALAC > FLAC conversions will always preserve the quality of a track. Then, you can get a really good quality MP3 or AAC track by going from FLAC/ALAC >> AAC/MP3. That's a lossy transcode, so yes. You'll lose quality going from any lossy format.
Apple iPhone XS Max
Though it's really not a great look, the iPhone XS Max has to be on this list simply because of Apple's market share. It is not one of the best phones for audio, it is simply the best iPhone for audio.The best way to judge the quality of an audio file—relative to its original, not to its musical or engineering quality—is to look at its bit rate. Audio file bit rates are measured in thousands of bits per second, or kbps. A higher bit rate is better, so a 256 kbps MP3 or AAC file is better than a 128 kbps file.
Bit rates range from 96 to 320 kilobits per second (Kbps). Using a bit rate of 128 Kbps usually results in a sound quality equivalent to what you'd hear on the radio. Many music sites and blogs urge people to use a bit rate of 160 Kbps or higher if they want the MP3 file to have the same sound quality as a CD.
Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio compression. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves higher sound quality than MP3 at the same bit rate. AAC has been standardized by ISO and IEC, as part of the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 specifications.
