Guides · Catch fake-320s and fake-FLACs

🔍 Audio Quality Analysis

FFT spectrum analysis scores every track 1–10 — flagging fake-320 MP3s and fake-FLAC upconverts. Batch process thousands of files, sort by score, and use Smart Upgrade to swap worn-out copies for cleaner versions.

7 guides in this category.

Quality scoring

Discover the true audio quality of every track

FFT analysis catches the fake-320 MP3s and fake FLACs hiding in your library. Batch process thousands of files. No DJ software required.

Quality scoring

Fake Music Detector

The companion explainer page for the FFT-based quality scoring engine.

How-to

How to detect fake 320 kbps MP3 files

Real 320 kbps MP3s have content up to ~20 kHz. Fakes have a hard cutoff around 16 kHz. Music Library Doctor's FFT analysis catches both — at scale.

How-to

How to detect fake FLAC files

A FLAC made from a 128 kbps MP3 source plays back as "lossless" in any player but has the same spectrum cliff as the original MP3. MLD scores them accurately.

For collectors

Streaming vs local: how quality compares in 2026

Modern lossless streaming closed most of the gap. Here's where it still matters to keep a local library — and how to verify yours is actually lossless.

For collectors

Vinyl rip quality check

Digitized vinyl varies from $5000-rig needle drops to lossy MP3 passed off as needle drops. MLD scores every rip and surfaces the difference.

Why is

Why does my MP3 sound bad despite 320 kbps?

Because the bitrate field is a tag, not a measurement. Files re-encoded from low-bitrate sources keep their 320 tag forever — but not their high frequencies.

Other categories

Library Migration · Library Repair · Duplicate Detection · Library Organization · Folder Library Mode · DJ Software Setup

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