I'm about to download some mp3s from a pay service, but they offer different qualities to choose from for your mp3s. Codec LAME & Codec Blade. Then within Codec LAME, they offer the choice of Constant bitrate, variable bitrate & quality selection. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between all of these and which I should maybe go with?
as far as codecs, there are several different companies that make encoders. LAME is handsdown the best. So go with LAME. Constant bitrate is pretty much what it sounds like; the entire mp3 is stays at specific bitrate (i.e. 128, 192, 256...). Variable bitrate changes the bitrate per frame of audio to provide the required amount of compression needed for each frame. For example one frame of audio might need 137 kbps, but the next only 62. Variable bitrate is considered to be of MUCH higher quality than constant, because it will provide the proper compression for the various parts of the mp3, not just a constant one the whole time. as far as quality, stick with high. you could go with normal, but if you have the option for high, why not? so the summary is: -lame encoder -VBR (variable bitrate) -high quality for bitrate, stick with either 192VBR or 256VBR. don't use anything lower than 192.
