# Tell me about iPods **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-ipods/307364 "2005-06-07T22:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-ipods/307364/61 "2005-06-13T21:42:15Z")
> [@righto](#): > > Why would I prove a claim I didn’t make? > > What I know is that amongth the audiophiles I know, they can pick out an MP3, even with a high-bitrate, from the source material. I suspect either the MP3 was encoded poorly, or your friends knew ahead of time which was which. A blind listening test is the only way to know for sure whether there really is a noticable difference between the MP3 and the original (or between $100 gold cables and $10 Radio Shack cables, etc.), because many “audiophiles” have a tendency to deceive themselves. ---
**Author:** ![righto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@righto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/righto)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-ipods/307364/62 "2005-06-13T21:45:39Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > I suspect either the MP3 was encoded poorly, or your friends knew ahead of time which was which. A blind listening test is the only way to know for sure whether there really is a noticable difference between the MP3 and the original (or between $100 gold cables and $10 Radio Shack cables, etc.), because many “audiophiles” have a tendency to deceive themselves. I have done blind tests with them, nothing scientific mind you, but a test nonetheless and they nailed all five songs. And the MP3s ranged from 128kbps to 360, I do believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-ipods/307364.md?page=3)