YouTube audio quality?

[Lossless]

I’ve searched long and hard on the internet for what seems to be a highly guarded secret on the audio quality of YouTube HD music videos and I found very little information if any so........
While streaming music videos in HD 720p or greater I found the audio quality to be one of the better sounding HD audio providers compared to most paid audio only streaming services. YouTube recommends uploading 24bit~48kHz FLAC or linear PCM for music videos. I have an kHz indicator on my receiver

and it’s indicating YouTube is streaming at 48kHz-24bit AAC ,FLAC or PCM of which I’m not sure but sounds very very good. We debate about Qobuz FLAC vs Tidal MQA vs Spotify MP3 vs HDtracks FLAC etc, and as another AK member@DaveVoorhis pointed out,”The real elephant in the room is YouTube.” What are your thoughts of YouTube audio quality what type of threat they may be to other paid streaming services?

 

[tcdriver]

I have found that some YouTube video/music streams sound very good.

 

[PanheadXR290]

I have excellent results streaming from YouTube and the paid service YouTube Music direct from my Samsung phone ,right now I'm trying to find out which tablet or I pad is the best for streaming ,having my phone ring through the speakers while streaming sucks .

 

[dewdude]

A big factor is the audio that was uploaded in the original video. Most people are going to output to some lossy format...so it'll probably go through a transcode process on the YouTube side.

I suppose it's possible if you uploaded the exact audio format they used...the software might detect that and just simply remux; but I don't know.

I ripped this Laserdisc about 7 years ago; I uploaded raw PCM audio to Youtube and as a result...sounds to me like it's only gone through a single lossy compression.

 

[ic-racer]

Cheap-and-dirty way is to look at the frequency spectrum to determine if low-bit-rate size compression has taken place. The graphs on the left only look at from 16 to 20k (1-100 on the X axis). More complex analysis might be needed to compare high-bit rate MP3 with LOSSLESS samples. The sample shown in purple is 320kps MP3.

 

[4-2-7]

 

[4-2-7]

 

[4-2-7]

Also for some really nice vids look at The Top of the Pops channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxjzlr0hdKWfIwK2lY0SvEg

 

[dewdude]

So the first thing...using anything working with MP3 in relation to YouTube audio is only handy as a guide. YouTube is using much newer and more efficient codecs than MP3.

That being said, every lossy codec at most streaming bitrates will have some kind of difference in the spectrum. MP3 is known for it's "16 khz cutoff"....but the format YouTube uses has a sharper cutoff at 20khz.

Lossy audio, unless it's practically lossless; can be usually detected by converting it to a mid/side matrix and listening to the side channel (also cheap vocal remove). The "washy" effects will become apparent instantly.

 

[4-2-7]

I don't know why but if you check out TOTP vids they are supper HD

 

[WillVT]

I have been wondering this as well. I see a lot of videos like all those posted above, which say things like "HD!" and "audiophile!"

I am skeptical. Just because you upload a high def file, doesn't mean that's what people see on youtube. It seems the consensus is that it is all compressed. A lot of people say its 128kbps AAC. Like this blog post from a few months ago.

I'm not as savvy on the technical side of all this, but I am curious. Has anyone here ever tried analyzing a youtube video with something like Spek?

 

[Condorsat]

Well .. if I ever go the route of listening to my music by converting it to a mid/side matrix and listening to the side channel (also cheap vocal remove) .. definitely going all lossless at that point.

That would make Neil happy .. as I would not be listening to his music underwater anymore.

 

[genone]

Youtube sounds great

(try from 2:51)

 

[Lossless]

I think I have found why YouTube sounds better. Modern YouTube high quality videos are encoded in Hi-Res MLP( Meridian Lossless Packaging) or PCM 24bit/48kHz or higher. FLAC lossless is also used. No wonder some YouTube videos sound better than a CD or music streaming services.

 

[OldSoul]

That explains why vinyl needle drops sound so good on there. Where did you find that out?

 

[vonclod]

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[Lossless]

That explains why vinyl needle drops sound so good on there. Where did you find that out?

I first found out on my DAC that indicates bit depth and sampling rate. I further researched it and found several articles pertaining to YouTube bitrate.

This is YouTube’s site official specifications.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6039860?hl=en

 

[WillVT]

I first found out on my DAC that indicates bit depth and sampling rate. I further researched it and found several articles pertaining to YouTube bitrate.

This is YouTube’s site official specifications.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6039860?hl=en

Those are the specs they suggest to upload. Then they say this:

"YouTube transcodes from the delivered format; audio quality is much better when transcoded from a lossless format compared to re-compressing a lossy audio format."

 

[Lossless]

Those are the specs they suggest to upload. Then they say this:

"YouTube transcodes from the delivered format; audio quality is much better when transcoded from a lossless format compared to re-compressing a lossy audio format."

I’m not sure what they further transcode to, but my DAC indicates 24/96 on some videos labeled Hi-Res on YouTube. I have a pretty good ear for high resolution music and those particular videos surely don’t sound lossy.

 

[vonclod]

I’m not sure what they further transcode to, but my DAC indicates 24/96 on some videos labeled Hi-Res on YouTube. I have a pretty good ear for high resolution music and those particular videos surely don’t sound lossy.

The differences between a decent slightly lossy file and high res are slight, depending on system too. I have taken some test to compare both A/B, I had an 80%+ ability to pick out the hi res. Having said that, the difference was slight, had to go back and forth a few times. I could of easily enjoyed the slightly compressed file and not thought about it.
Cheers