Audio Engineering: How Good is Your Ear?

Can You Hear the Difference Between a Cheap and Expensive Violin?

Since that advent of digital music’s CD and mp3 file, audiophiles and discerning sound engineers cringe at what passes for good audio–especially on the internet. Most digital audio produced today is just crap, some experts say, but most people can’t tell the difference. People hear bad audio all the time and they think that’s how it should sound.

How about you? Do you have a good ear when it comes to internet music?

Let’s put your ear to the test.  One of of these violins is a cheap factory-made $28 instrument bought from Amazon.com, and the other three are violins hand-crafted 100-300 years ago, costing between $130,000 and $285,000.

Can you tell which violin is the cheap one?

VIOLIN A

 

VIOLIN B

 

VIOLIN C

 

VIOLIN D

 

Check out the original YouTube video here. (Hint: The video won’t reveal which of these sound clips is the cheap violin).