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HSK test audio quality

#1

I have recently tried a couple of HSK 1 and HSK 2 practice tests (e.g. from the digimandarin site) and have a question about the audio recordings for the listening parts of the test.

I find that the audio quality of the mp3s is not very good. Certainly not up to the excellent audio quality of the Chinese Pod dialogues and lessons. My question for those who have actually taken HSK tests is: is the quality of the audio used for the actual tests any better than that used for the freely downloadable practice tests, or are the practice tests a good representation of the real tests?

Poor quality audio doesn’t help when you are still trying to become familiar with the sounds of chinese speech. Having said that I think I did OK on the HSK1 and HSK2 practice tests. 37/40 right on the HSK1 and 51/60 on the HSK2. I guess this puts my level at around HSK2?

#2

Looks like I’m a bit late noticing this! I’ve never used the digimandarin site, but the practice tests posted on chinesetest.cn are an accurate reflection of what you’d hear on the real HSK. On my personal blog, I’ve posted links to some practice tests: http://www.keepingupwiththewangs.com/2018/08/12/hsk-practice/

Yeah, absolutely nothing like the quality long-time ChinesePod users are accustomed to. The first time I took the HSK 6, an entire classroom of headphones was being run off a single cassette tape. The sound was pretty awful!