1. Amandine Pras et al., "Subjective Evaluation of MP3 Compression for Different Musical Genres" (Audio Engineering Society 127th Convention, 2009) 1
- Design – 13 trained listeners (9 recording engineers, 4 professional musicians) took double-blind A/B preference tests. Each excerpt (pop, metal-rock, contemporary classical, orchestra, opera) was presented in the uncompressed 44.1 kHz/16-bit version and five MP3 bit-rates: 96, 128, 192, 256 and 320 kb/s (LAME encoder).
- Key 320 kb/s result – For 256 kb/s and 320 kb/s the panel showed no statistically significant preference for the WAV over the MP3. Only the most experienced engineers (≥7 years studio work) could sometimes identify the 320 kb/s file, and even they performed just above chance.
- Take-away – In controlled ITU-style tests even trained ears could not reliably distinguish 320 kb/s MP3 from uncompressed audio across all five genres.
2. Hendrik Böhne et al., "Subjective Audibility of MP3-Compression Artefacts in Practical Application" (University of Hamburg, 2013) 2
- Design – 21 musicology students compared 12 musical excerpts (electronic, rock, classical, jazz) at 48, 96, 128, 192, 256 and 320 kb/s MP3 against the original WAV using a double-blind A/B/X procedure.
- Key 320 kb/s result – At 320 kb/s none of the listeners reached the 95% significance threshold in the binomial ABX statistics; detection scores clustered around chance.
- Take-away – With semi-trained listeners the 320 kb/s files were perceptually transparent relative to the uncompressed originals.
3. Stuart Cunningham & Iain McGregor, "Subjective Evaluation of Music Compressed with the ACER Codec Compared to AAC, MP3, and Uncompressed PCM" (International Journal of Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, 2019) 3
- Design – 100 listeners (mixed expertise) rated noise, distortion and stereo field for five formats, including MP3 320 kb/s and 44.1 kHz/16-bit WAV, using double-blind 7-point scales.
- Key 320 kb/s result – Statistical analysis (Wilcoxon signed-rank, α = 0.05) showed no perceptible difference between the uncompressed reference and the 320 kb/s MP3 for either artefacts or spatial impression.
- Take-away – For a large, heterogeneous listener panel, 320 kb/s MP3 was indistinguishable from lossless PCM under blind conditions.
- Methodologically correct (AB or ABX, double-blind, ITU-R BS.1116/MUSHRA style) tests that include the highest MP3 setting consistently show transparency at 320 kb/s for the vast majority of listeners.
- Expert-only sensitivity appears at 320 kb/s in some material, but hit-rates remain just above chance and never approach perfect discrimination.
- Results hold across multiple musical genres and on both loudspeakers in treated rooms and high-quality headphone playback.
If you need a single, citable study comparing exactly WAV/CD to 320 kb/s MP3, the Pras et al. AES paper is the standard reference; the two later studies confirm its conclusions with larger or different subject groups.
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