In addition to good hearing as Bob mentions, you will also need good playback equipment and a decent listening environment. High-frequency hearing helps a lot, and although I'm well above 50 (and 60) I still have one ear that does the trick nicely.

I was one of those who did some of those early tests in 2008, and could easily hear the difference when audiophile files were first provided. The difference is more pronounced on certain instruments, like a solo acoustic guitar or a cymbal sound. However, for the last several years, there seems to be less of a difference, and I think it's because of the Elastique algorithm used now.

Also, the audiophile files did not need to be uncompressed so they used to load a bit faster, but again, that difference has mostly disappeared with faster machines and technical improvements in the program.

Bottom line: if you want to produce commercial backing tracks, you probably want the audiophile version. Otherwise...




BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors