Generally, the secret of super-realism seems to be that some recordings
(like those downloadable from the URL in the article) happened to be
close-miked and then MP3-encoded at 160 kbps. However, you could
probably do some of this yourself, if you have decent equipment and
carefully read the article. (Also, the reviewers in the "T.A.V."
magazine often describe other super-realistic recordings, available on
specific CDs, when they use them to test loudspeakers, etc.)
Oh, Bullshit. I can hear the difference between pcm and 160 kbs on speech
alone. It isn't pretty.
The downloadable file has much more than usual cues of that sort, and
they're still there. Since you don't have the live performance to
compare with, the illlusion is amazingly strong.
DanS.