This is Scientific American's 60 Second Science.

I'm Christopher Intagiyata.

Jay-Z's title platform promises listener's CD quality streaming music

in all of its 44.1 kilohertz 16 bit glory.

Much better they say than compressed files like MP3s.

But why stop there?

Neil Young's Pono Music Store sells music that's even better than CD quality.

In a YouTube video for the service, Young compares MP3 listeners to scuba divers,

muddling around on the sea floor.

You know, you're walking around in the murk and there's big fish down there.

That's kind of like listening to an MP3.

CD listeners, they're underwater too.

And the only way to rise to the top, he says,

is to dial up sample rate to over four times that of CD

to 192 kilohertz.

But when you make it to 192, you actually break through the surface and your breathing air,

and the feeling is different. Actually is a visceral relief. You feel good.

But how good? What researchers, record producers, audio files, sound engineers want to know is

is C.D. Compact disc enough.

Joshua Rice, who leads audio engineering research at Queen Mary University of London.

The argument seemed to be never ending.

Rice took a stab at settling the argument with a meta analysis, a study of studies, on whether people can really perceive better than CD quality sound.

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