track durations don't match

[Unregistered]

Newbie question....
After converting to mp3, track durations for most tracks don't match those on the cd. I inserted the cd and converted all tracks.

Compression settings for mp3 (Lame):
encoding:voice
min bit rate: 24kbs
channels: stereo
frequency: 12000 Hz
variable bit rate, pre-set quality: voice

Could it be due to the settings I chose? It's a voice recording. Any suggestions what is the best minimal settings?

Thanks
newbie

[xoas]

Re: track durations don't match

I don't deal much with voice recordings and I am not into trying to see how far I can compress a file. So if you are concerned about your track settings (apart from the issue of track length) my best advice would be to let your ears be your guide and to try various settings. My understanding of voice settings is that they are generally best adapted to unaccompanied voice such as a lecture or a reading. If you were recording a singer you would probably want to use higher settings and if the singer had background music or sound effects you would definitely want to use higher settings.

As for track durations not matching those on the cd, there are a few explanations. Often there will be some minor differences between the track length on the cd and track length of the same track ripped from the cd. This may be related to how track length is measured and reported. Tracks ripped at variable bitrate or average bitrate settings may report track lengths that are at odds with the actual track length (eg, the amount of time it takes for the track to play). This has to do with the way track length is estimated.

This is not necessarily a big issue except in a few isolated cases.

If you have other questions, please let us knkow.
Best wishes,
Bill Mikkelsen

[Unregistered]

Re: track durations don't match

Hi Bill

Thanks for your reply.
The duration difference is rather large. In the music converter I have track lengths like 2min 56s but after conversion it shows as 1min 26s (in both Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer). Other track differences are (18min 12 s VS 6min 52s) and (10min 48s VS 3min 35s). What I've also noted is that for some tracks, the end portions are cut-off after conversions.

The cd is a voice recording with some intro and closing music.

I am now trying different compression settings to see if it fixes the problem.
Any tips and suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks
newbie

[ChristinaS]

Re: track durations don't match

Hi Bill

Thanks for your reply.
The duration difference is rather large. In the music converter I have track lengths like 2min 56s but after conversion it shows as 1min 26s (in both Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer). Other track differences are (18min 12 s VS 6min 52s) and (10min 48s VS 3min 35s). What I've also noted is that for some tracks, the end portions are cut-off after conversions.

The cd is a voice recording with some intro and closing music.

I am now trying different compression settings to see if it fixes the problem.
Any tips and suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks
newbie

When you say the track durations are so divergent, can you also say that the converted track is sped up about 3 times? or is it just chopped off 1/3 of the way through?

[xoas]

Re: track durations don't match

I would urge you to use constant bitrate (for a start). This should help with the track length discrepancy.
Next, I would urge you to use a frequency of 44.1 kHz. If you do choose to use a different frequency (and if you are ripping from cd) then make sure that Professional Frequency Conversion is enabled. This is done at your dMC COnfiguration window (Start> All Programs> dBpowerAMP Music Converter> Configuration> dMC Configuration).
Finally, if you are using mp3, I would urge you not to go with a bitrate below 96 kbs.
and I think you would find better quality at 128 kbs or even 160 kbs.

But really you will have to determine what sounds best and how you want to resolve the conflict between high compression and high quality.

Finally, if you really want to look into voice settings, I would recommend that you look at wma v9/9.1 (which has its own speech voice-dedicated settings) or the Speex codec. Neither of these will be as portable as mp3 but at the settings you were trying I am not sure that that mp3 file would be very portable either.

[Spoon]

Re: track durations don't match

The problem is likely Windows explorer not showing the correct length of the mp3 file?

[Unregistered]

Re: track durations don't match

Hi all

Thanks for all your assistance. I fiddled around with the compression settings and finally settled on something that worked. The settings I am using:
Encoding: constant bitrate
Bitrate: 24Kbps
Channel: stereo
Frequency: 22050
Preset quality: no preset

What I also found out - if the settings are "too low or small" the program displays an error saying that the required codec cannot be open or something like that.

Anyway, a big thank you to everyone. Fantastic program this is.

Newbie