I Upconverted 124 Kbps MP3 to 320 Kbps and it Sounds Better. Why?

[pone44]

I downloaded an MP4, then stripped out the audio to an MP3 file. This created an MP3 with 124 kbps bit rate. On a lark, I ran that MP3 through a converter and hard-coded the output to a 320 kbps MP3. Interestingly enough, the resulting sound file sounds much more "spacious". Obviously, it cannot have missing sound details, but what would cause this to sound better?

[Atak_Snajpera]

Your brain.

[Cornucopia]

Drugs.

Scott

[jagabo]

Maybe phase distortion. I suspect you did more than just reencode. Upload samples.

[netmask56]

"Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes, don't look around the eyes, look into my eyes. [click] You're convinced it's better! "

[Hoser Rob]

Simple, our ears and sense memory aren't nearly as good as we think. Especially if you thought there'd be an iprovement. This is known as confirmation bias. It's why hifi sales people always TELL you what to expect to hear when they play you something or change something. One of the oldest sales techniques. I just tell them to shut up.

Encoding to a higher bit rate lossy codec can't put more information in that wasn't there.

[mike20021969]

I ran that MP3 through a converter... the resulting sound file sounds much more "spacious".

What converter?
Perhaps an audio filter, e.g. graphic equalization or compressor, "enhanced" the audio's characteristics.

[pone44]

Okay, you all convinced me this was placebo effect.

[netmask56]

It's the same psychological phenomena that politicians of all shades use to convince us "they" are better than any others. Facts won't alter the predetermined bias of the believer. So we fiddle with our HiFi and sometimes convince ourselves it's better..... I chose my speaker system many years ago at a local Sydney HiFi dealer who had all their speaker systems behind a black lace curtain. So you couldn't see them or know the brand. I ended up consistently selecting what turned out to be Tannoy Reds listening to a selection of recordings including a recording of myself on cello! So I knew what to expect.

[Cornucopia]

Easy to tell if there is a difference using my A/B method (time-based checkerboard).

Scott

[smartel]

DC offset correction , maybe ?