Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

[kiltman67]

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, tried searching and I couldn't think of any specific search terms so ended up with a mass of results, none which seemed to give me an answer.

I've recently changed to a new machine, on my previous one (CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2600+ and RAM: 224MB) I couldn't rip or encode anything faster then 11.0x and I always put that down to the computer itself. Now my new machine has one of the new Intel Conroes along with 1GB of RAM and while I was expecting a significant improvement in rates all I got was it going up to 12x, occassionally hitting 13x. I'm not using any DSPs and trying to encode at 128k MP3. Can anyone tell me what might be wrong that I'm getting similarly slow rates inspite of such a significant increase in computer power.

[LtData]

Re: Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

The limit is probably the CD drive itself. If your using the PowerPack, open up Audio CD Input and click the Rocket icon. Make sure "Rip to RAM" and "Rip & Encode at the same time" are both checked.

Also, the conversion speed is limited by what format you are ripping to and what settings you are using. For instance, MP3 160kbps will rip faster than a FLAC file. Changing the sample rate from 44100Hz could also adversely affect your speed.

Also, be aware that dMC r11.5 isn't dual-core aware. dMC r12, currently in alpha, is dual-core aware.

For a test of raw speed, try ripping your CD to WAV and see how fast it encodes.

[kiltman67]

Re: Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

I have Rip To Ram checked and set to Auto and Rip & Encode is checked too.

While I can rip at x30+ the encoding still can't get past 13x. It encodes at the same rate when converting files.

I tried ripping from CD to Wav and across one album it peaked at 33x

[LtData]

Re: Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

Are you using the built-in LAME encoder in dMC? What settings are you using?

[kiltman67]

Re: Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

I'm using the only LAME encoder which I can see available in dMC so I'm guessing that's the built in one.

Encoding at 128k, stereo, 44100Hz, no quality presets and constant bitrate.

[Spoon]

Re: Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

If you want speed try the Helix Mp3 encoder (in the beta section of this forum).

[kiltman67]

Re: Possibly Slow Encoding Rate

The Helix encoder is definitely faster (almost 4 times) but I'm unable to jump further into the tracks with it so the finished file isn't of as much use as a LAME MP3.