Sample Rate - Blind Test
These two blind tests follow the first in our video series on using higher sample rates.
The goal is to check how much the different sample rates affect the perceived audio quality.
In these tests you will listen to two clips at a time without knowing what sample rate was used.
You will then have to indicate which of the two files seems to have the higher sample rate (96kHz in the first test, 192kHz in the second one) or whether you think they are the same by choosing from four possible answers:
- A
- B
- Neither
- Both
Your answers will help us better understand how sample rate affects the listening experience and whether the benefits of higher sample rates are audible to the human ear.
Thank you for your participation and happy listening!
To discover the test results, continue to follow our YouTube channel.
The first blind test consists of 10 questions and can be taken entirely online.
To correctly perform the blind test, it is essential to immediately switch between the audio files. For this reason we have created an audio player that allows it: by clicking on the player icons, you can switch from one file to another while maintaining synchronization.
We also recommend listening to the audio files with a good monitoring system or good headphones.
For browser compatibility reasons, the files played in this test are all in MP3 format, although they retain their differences in sample rate.
To try the test with high resolution wave files you can do the second test further down in this page.
Most devices (computers, tablets and cell phones) are unable to play files above 96kHz.
For this second test you will therefore have to use a DAW and an audio interface that supports a sample rate of 192kHz.
From the following link you can download the individual audio files and import them into a 192kHz session, making sure to keep them aligned with each other.
To carry out the test, start playback in the session, alternating listening to files A and B, then answer the questions in the following form.