I would be most interested if we could some how get a couple of samples of files done with the Audio file version and the processed file version and posted as mp3 to the web. It might be fun and educational to have a couple of set posted as

Jazz 1 and Jazz 2
country 1 and country 2
Blues 1 and Blues 2

And then a votine pole where listeners could Identify which is better version 1 or 2. And when the pole is finished reveal how much difference it made if they were produced from compressed or un-compressed files.

I am not sure how we would or could set it up, or how much work it would be, but it would be interesting and might answer the question better.

The pole might also asked what your musical background is. My assumption is that some one who has been trained and spent a life time mostly working in and around music might have a better ear than the average listener.

And so we might get a double blind assesment of how much difference the Audiophile files make, over all and to specific groups.

For a long time I made wine. It cost me about $1.00 a bottle to make. I typically served it to friends and often with a bottle of store bought. Both decanted and so served without the consumers knowing which was which or what they were. Funny, but almost always my friends showed a preference for my home made wine when compared to $12 to $20 bottles picked up at the store.

Someone pointed out that perhaps my friends were not very knowledgeable about wine and so this test did not suggest that my wine was truly better. I noted that that was true, but also noted that I was only interested in my friends enjoying a meal and a glass of wine, and if their tastes were "wrong", I did not care as long as they enjoyed it. If it saved $11 to $19, that was okay, Perhaps I could put some of the cash aside, and if I had a wine expert I could buy a really good bottle with some of the money I saved.

I would be interested in know if after the mix down can the average person tell that the song was produced for audiofile version or compressed version.

PM