Or it could be a load of crap
You said — Or it could be a load of crap
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Well, how music sounds and the “quality” is somewhat subjective, but there are audiophiles who swear that they can “hear differences” in different quality equipment. I probably can’t like some of those people can, but that doesn’t mean the differences in quality don’t exist.
In fact, in reading about the history of QuickTime and its operation on Windows systems, I have read that Apple was able to show Microsoft how to get better quality results (from their audio and video components running on Windows) than the Microsoft and Intel people even thought was possible in the first place. I understand it surprised them.
So, I wouldn’t doubt that some people can actually “hear” the better quality. I wouldn’t claim to be one of those who can hear it though — but as I said — it doesn’t mean that others are not hearing it.