mp3 to mp3

[Dr Klovernutz]

i have some mp3s athat are 192 CBR stereo

if what I have read is correct then joint stereo at 128 kbps cbr would be of equal quality. So if I want to turn all of my 192kbs mp3 stereo to 128kbs mp3 joint stereo can i go from mp3 to mp3 or would i be better off going from the original flac. In other words the resulting mp3 from a 192kbs to a 128 kbs joint stereomp3 conversion, would it be of the same quality as if i went from the original flac to 128 kbp joint stereo????

[Spoon]

Re: mp3 to mp3

Better off going from the original, but I wouldn't say 128Kbps joint stereo is as good as 192 stereo...

[Dr Klovernutz]

Re: mp3 to mp3

what is the best encoding level then?
here is my situation:
I am converting about 700 CDs to flac (they are of live concert recordings) and putting in metatags, then i am burning the flacs onto DVDrs. then i am converting the flacs to mps (since they are all now tagged) plus mp3s are much more universal (and way smaller)

as it stands now I have almost 1/2 of the collection done and converted to mp3 192 CBR stereo.

I assumed 192 stereo was the best until i read about joint stereo.
VBR is not an option for me since my car mp3 player advises against it.
I would like my mp3s to sound as good as my original flacs but as small as possible. 128 joint stereo seems to be the norm, what do u recommend?


please respond
thanks

[Dr Klovernutz]

Re: mp3 to mp3

any input? I kinda am waiting on my project to see if i should continued in 192 stereo of what other suggestions all have (160 joint stereo??) feedback is appreciated

[Spoon]

Re: mp3 to mp3

Using a lame preset such as alt-preset-standard would be much better (as it uses vbr).

[Dr Klovernutz]

Re: mp3 to mp3

I cannot use VBR since my car mp3 player advises against it (in the instructions it says that it may result in no sound)

is 192 CBR stereo overkill? what would u suggest? (i did some listening comparisions btween 128 joint stereo CBR and 192 stereo CBR and the 192 did sound a bit fuller)

[xoas]

Re: mp3 to mp3

Unfortunately, you will have to answer this question for yourself because you are asking what CBR setting for mp3 will yield the best results for the smallest size and that is dependent upon how well you distinguish between .mp3 at cbr at 192 kbs vs. lower or higher frequencies and under what circumstances.

The best possible quality mp3 would be (as Spoon has pointed out) 320 kbs. I while back, I did a listening test for myself and found that I would note continued improvement in quality of mp3 files (using multiple copies of the same track created at different bitrates) up to around 210 to 240 kbs (I was using vbr at the time). So this is (or was) my optimum level for me. Some users would be more demanding. Others would continue to use and advocate the use of higher bitrates in the event that anything you do later (like adding DSP's or creating copies at lower bitrates for your car or for some other purpose like ring tones) will be less affected by the process if it is higher quality to start out with. Until recently I generally used 192 kbs cbr for cd's of mp3 tracks for my car (which can handle vbr) and for my little portable cd/mp3 player (which cannot). If I am ripping or converting to mp3 I tend to use either alt preset standard or alt preset extreme for listening on the computer.

Bottom line, my advice would be to take several tracks with varying audio properties, convert each to mp3 at (for example) 128 kbs, 160 kbs, 192 kbs, 210 kbs, 240 kbs, 280 kbs and 320 kbs. Compare these copies to your lossless flac copies and see what works best for you.

Best wishes,
Bill

[Dr Klovernutz]

Re: mp3 to mp3

thanks bill
umm, i think i'm gonna stick to 192 CBR (mainly because I already have 3000+ songs already encoded that way)
I just couldn't get over the MB savings between 192 vs 128.......

what about stereo vs joint stereo???

-DRK

[Dr Klovernutz]

Re: mp3 to mp3

oh yeah, i almost forgot, one of the main questions i wanted answered in this topic was>

say i have a mp3 that is 192 kbs and i wanted to make it 128 kbs.
if i went mp3 > mp3 would the resulting file be the same as if I went from the original wav to mp3 128 kps?
if the answer is yes, then wouldn't it hold true that if I went from a 128 kbs to 128 kbs mp3 the resulting file would be the same as the original??

[xoas]

Re: mp3 to mp3

I am not entirely sure about the stereo vs joint stereo from a quality standpoint. My understanding is that they are pretty much equal in quality. Joint stereo allows you to save space and so pretty much everything I have read and seen suggests that joint stereo is superior because it saves space (exactly how much I am not sure).

As for your second question: If you have a track that you ripped to FLAC (or wave or other lossless codec) and you also ripped the same track to mp3 at 192 kbs; and if you then converted both the FLAC file and the mp3 file to mp3 at 128 kbs the two files would be different. The 128 kbs mp3 file converted from FLAC will be better than the 128 kbs mp3 file created from the 192 kbs mp3 file. "Better" in this case is measured by the degree to which the information from the original audio is maintained.
This being said, you may or may not be able to disnguish any difference between the 2 128 kbs mp3 files. You need to check it out for yourself. You are likely to find slight difference at best.

Best wishes,
Bill