Hi minna!!! I'm newbie in this forum. I would like to ask if somebody could help me with this. I download mp3 at different bitrates, mostly 192kbps, but sometimes 320kbps, & 128/160 kbps. My harddisk doesn't have a lot of space, so it's a little difficult for me to get 320kbps music. - I tried a mp3 converter to get my 320kbps files at 192kbps, only a few times. But I want to know, if you convert a file from 320kbps (highest quality) to 192kbps the quality is the same with less HD space, or the quality decreases??? - Can you improve the sound quality or the quality of the file at 128kbps or 160 kbps by converting it to a higher bit rate??? O the quality decreases??? - Which is the best between VBR and CBR, to get High quality files??? - Which software do you recommend for high quality files conversion?? - I have seen a lot articles about LAME mp3 encoder, about the high quality files you can create. What's is a encoder?? What is the difference between an encoder and a converter?? If you try it, you only can create files from a CD?, or you can improve the sound of the files you already have?. If anybody could reply me, it will be great!!! Sorry if my questions are basic, I'm new on DVD/Audio things. I asked a lot of times this, but nobody knows. Please?? THANKS FOR TALKING A LOOK!
I'll try to clear up the confusion you are having. You really don't need to download at 320kbps. If they offer a choice & Harddrive space is an issue, then go with the 192kbps. That is still a pretty good quality & will cut down on the file size quite a bit. When you convert from 320 to 192 you are losing quality, because you are taking more information out of the file to make it smaller. I have seen some people say it is best to convert to wave format first & then convert to 192kbps. I'm not certain why this is better than going directly from 320kbps to 192kbps. When you have a file at 128 or 160kbps, the converter took out information to get it to that size. So, going from 128 to 192kbps will do you no good because you can never regain that information. VBR will be better than CBR. Because the encoder will use a lower bitrate for soft & slow music, but when the music gets hard & fast there is more information there to process the encoder will use a higher bitrate to insure the quality is kept up. This is putting it in very simple terms. I don't know how to say it any better. Maybe someone else can give you ideas on different converters. I haven't used them very much to know which ones are the best. I think Audacity will convert your files for you. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/ Good Luck & welcome to the boards
An encoder = Ripping the orignal cd format (WAV) into a digital format i.e. mp3, wma, ogg A converter = changing one format into another i.e. wav to mp3, mp3 to wma @Digidave Ripping to WAV first is ok as WAV is the exact same as the original cd files. Once you go mp3 there's no going back. So it's best to encode to VBR if you decide to go mp3. Dont use anything else but Exact Audio Copy http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/mydeneaclame.cfm And to see what encoding rates you need http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/1912
Weazel200, I think you misunderstood aicchuu's question. It was about losing quality when you go from 320kbps to 192kbps. From what I've read you will wind up with a worse file, if you go from 320 to 192, than if you went from CD to 192. So, if you have a file at 320kbps you should reencode your 320kbps file to wave & then encode it to 192kbps. This is supposed to make a better quality file. This will lessen the quality loss. Please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Really thanks for replying my questions!! I will try what you told me, and later will post my results. Another question... Is there a way to improve 128kbps/160kbps files quality???
In a short answer, no. You can only enhance them with an editing program. The information is gone when you compress the file.
Upgrading from [bold]"Anything below 320kbps MP3"[/bold] to [bold]"320kbps MP3"[/bold] is [bold]BAD[/bold] Downgrading from [bold]"320kbps MP3"[/bold] to [bold]"Anything below 320kbps MP3"[/bold] is [bold]BAD[/bold] Upgrading from [bold]"Any MP3 BitRate"[/bold] to [bold]"WAV"[/bold] is [bold]BAD[/bold] Downgrading from [bold]"WAV"[/bold] to [bold]"Any MP3 BitRate"[/bold] is [bold]OK[/bold] Re-encoding from [bold]"Any MP3 BitRate"[/bold] to [bold]"WAV"[/bold] then [bold]"Any MP3 BitRate"[/bold] again is [bold]BAD[/bold] Re-encoding from [bold]"WAV"[/bold] to [bold]"MP3"[/bold] then [bold]"WAV"[/bold] again is [bold]BAD[/bold] I hope this clears up any confusion. The 4th statement is the only you should do.
192 kbs it became the noprmal bitrate, and the acceptable bitrate for a downloaded mp3. you ca't get better sound than 320 kbs, so enything you do is bad. if you have 320 kbs mp3 and try to reencode them into ...anything else the sound will be worse. BUT if you are trying to save some space and don't care about some quality lost, you can reencode them to an acceptable 192 kbs. you can do that very easy with one click of the mouse with CDEX. CDex uses Lame with is the best mp3 encoder around. and you could save some space. in cdex, in the settings dialog, you can try --alt-preset cbr, set the bitrate 2 192 cbs and this is it. if size matters you could also do some mp4 or oggs from your mp3s. see ya
LameENC is a great encoder, but MP3 is now a very outdated format. The new generation of encoders like those of Vorbis are much more powerful. The best quality CD ripper i've seen so far is SmartEncode (http://smartencode.beplaced.com/). Download it and see what I mean.
