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MP3 Encoding

Discussion in 'Audio' started by techee, Dec 7, 2004.

  1. techee

    techee Member

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    Hi, I've just spent alot of time researching about mp3 encoding and I'm still confused. I want to encode all my audio cd's into mp3 format but I want to make sure I get the best sound and the best compression before I go ahead and convert all of them (about 400 cd's)Currently, I have MusicMatch,iTunes, Exact Audio Copy & Audio Grabber (both with the mp3 pro fraunhofer codec installed)installed. I've got a 10 gig iPod so I want to maximize my music collection to fit as much as I can on the iPod. I am ok with 128kbits/s. Would I notice a big difference if I went with 160 or 192kbit/s instead? Also, I notice that Music Match seems to have a bigger database library when retrieving music database info. In addition it supports Album Art - unlike Audio Grabber and Exact Audio Copy. Is there a difference between encoding with Music Match, Audio Grabber and Exact Audio Copy? I'd like to use Music Match but if the other two are better I'll use them instead and just use MM to get the Album Art. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
     
  2. diabolos

    diabolos Guest

    If you have an iPod and iTunes then use iTunes and go with AAC (Mp4) its better than Mp3. To get the best sound quality using Mp3 your going to need the [bold]LAME 3.96.1[/bold] codec to be installed. LAME is still being developed unlike the Fraunhofer Pro codec. That fact has allowed the LAME codec to surpass the Fraunhofer codec in sound quality and file compression. Also, the only way to get maximum compression while mantianing a good quality of sound is to use a variable bit-rate (VBR) encoding scheme.

    The setting for VBR should be set to maximum to acheve the desired sound quality, typicaly 256 kbps max. If your MP3 player doesn't want to play VBR MP3's then you will have to go with a constant bit-rate (CBR) scheme. Using CBR your encoding settings should never drop below 192 if your an audiophile. 160 kbps isn't bad but you may notice a differnce.


    Link to software including the [bold]LAME 3.96.1[/bold] codec:
    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/127334


    Ced
     

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