How much impact does sound quality have?

[warmachine2]

I know that from 128kbps to 320 there is a ton of difference. Would a track in WAV file with let's say 1400kbps make a noticeable difference from 320?

In nightclubs songs with 320kbps work fine, but I don't know if at a concert or festival the results would be the same.

[packzap]

Yes, I think so.  Uncompressed formats like WAV and FLAC deliver truer audio.  Generally, I find the bass is deeper, the highs a little clearer, and the presence more palatable with audio from an uncompressed format (as long as it came from a good source).  Flac is a great uncompressed format with a tighter file size than Wav.  And with today's cheaper storage costs, why compromise quality with compressed formats like Mp3?

There are good discussions about sound quality issues at the Hydrogen Audio Forum. However, it is down right now .  Here is one of their wiki articles you might find helpful, Choosing the best codec.

[FreerunMedia]

Some people say that they can hear the difference between 320kbps and wav. If your stream is MP3, there is no way you can hear that. Use AAC+ yeah it could be but for the far most people it makes no difference. Listening through a phone speaker or laptop and no studio monitors, nobody will notice any difference.

Personally i am switching to WAV because it has a little more dynamic range in comparison with MP3. That is more if you listen locally because as said, on the outgoing stream it's hard to notice any difference. My best result at this moment is WAV, with good audio processing on a stream and make it AAC+. My stream at this moment is 128kbps AAC+ but the majority is MP3 files that are played. You can have a listen at Radio 251 and see how that sounds for you. Keep in mind that processing is doing a lot good but also can do a lot wrong to the sound if not set right. To setup a processing, it's a process