Difference between sound quality and sound effects

The so-called sound quality is the quality of the sound. If it is difficult to understand, it can be compared with digital photos.

If the color of a picture is pure, the level of detail is rich, and the light and shade are accurate, we can say that the picture quality of this picture is very good. We can use photo processing software to process photos. We can deepen the color depth, enhance the contrast, sharpen it, or add some artistic effects. So we look like the picture is more beautiful, but in fact the original picture has been destroyed.

Sennheiser IE80

The same is true for the sound quality. We adjusted the equalizer to enhance the high undertone, plus the DFX plug-in and so on, which made us sound more pleasing. In fact, the details of many sounds have been lost.

Sometimes it is indispensable for us to process or modify the sound or the image so that it can be more in line with the personal appreciation needs. However, we do not think that it is to enhance the sound quality. In short, the more processing, the more plug-ins, the more damage to the sound quality.

One more point, many people are now comparing what sound quality of playback software is good. Comparison is not impossible, but you must know how to compare, otherwise you will only give people ignorance.

We generally add plug-ins when we listen to music, but in reality, we only compare sound effects, not sound quality. If we remove the sound effects, we actually compare the playback software decoder, if you use the same decoder playback software, almost can not compare the difference. Even for different decoders, MP3 decoding is basically a mature technology. Despite the differences, it is also very small. For our average home computer, claiming to be able to distinguish itself is only self-deceiving. Or do you not understand that you are comparing only sound effects, not sound quality.