Dead end

[mace]

Is there a way to make mp3's smaller. Normal bit rate is 192 is there a way to get the bit rate smaller with out loosing sound quality?

[neilthecellist]

Re: Dead end

No. Lossy is lossy. If you try to go lower on a bitrate, you will lose sound quality for sure.

Bit Rate - measurement in bits per second, or 1000 bits per second (Kbps) of compression, higher bit rates yield higher quality sounding music as opposed to lower bit rates, but the higher the bitrate the larger the filesize. Remember that audio quality can never be recovered, so converting a 128Kbps file to 320Kbps will result in a file with the same quality as 128Kbps. Also each time a lossy format is compressed a little quality is lost, so if possible re-rip from the original CD to get the best quality.

[ChristinaS]

Re: Dead end

Is there a way to make mp3's smaller. Normal bit rate is 192 is there a way to get the bit rate smaller with out loosing sound quality?

The resulting file size of a compressed file is directly proportional to the bitrate and the numebr of channels it has.

There will be loss of quality as you encode to lower bitrates, that's true. But what is not necessarily the case is that you actually notice that loss of quality. A bitrate of 128cbr for an mp3 is defined as near cd-quality and most likley you won't actually hear the difference (Neil's claims to the contrary notwithstanding :p ).

You can achieve almost 50% extra compression and no additional loss of audio quality if you change from 2-channel stereo to joint stereo and halve the bitrate. This will occupy just a little more space than a mono version of the same file (with half the bitrate), but the stereo effect is recreated by the joint stereo feature.

So it can be said that a a file at a bitrate of 96kbps for a joint stereo audio file is the same audio-wise as a file at a bitrate of 192kbps as 2-channel stereo, but it occupies only about half the space.

One thing to remember though is you should strive to perform all conversions starting with a lossless format: ripping from teh audio cd, or converting an uncompressed wav or any other lossless format . Conversions between lossy formats result in further loss, and you cannot go up in quality, only down.

[neilthecellist]

Re: Dead end

I stand firm by what Christina knows of me.

When I listen to anything in mp3 format under 224 kbps, even without seeing the bitrate on the screen, I notice and start complaining. "ACK!!!! MUFFLED MUSIC! CYMBALS SOUND LIKE MASHED POH-TAY-TOES!"

In other words, stick with higher bitrates. Don't go lower than 192 kbps, that's so low already.

[LtData]

Re: Dead end

However, each person has different tastes and hearing abilities that decide how low of a bitrate they can go to before they have to hold back the urge to destroy the speakers/headphones. It also depends on the quality of your source file, speakers, and soundcard. Experiment with various bitrates to figure out how small you can go and still not tell the difference from your source file.

[gameplaya15143]

Re: Dead end

low bitrate mp3..
note: this doesnt work very good with the newer versions of lame.exe

using lame 3.90.3:

~135kbps
lame -q 9 -V 9 -k input.wav

~96kbps
lame -q 9 -V 9 --lowpass 16 --nspsytune input.wav
^^ (change it to -q 0 to lose anoter ~5kbps)

[Hyrize]

Re: Dead end

i found that using joint stereo mode for lower bitrates helps things

of course the real question is why arn't u using a superior codec like ogg vorbis?:smile2:

[neilthecellist]

Re: Dead end

Yep, in my opinion, the best codec around, but it hurts my ears at medium-high volumes....Treble is overpowered in Ogg Vorbis mode.

[ChristinaS]

Re: Dead end

Not all players can play Ogg Vorbis.

[Hyrize]

Re: Dead end

Not all players can play Ogg Vorbis.

actually these days most half decent players will.
struth! even WMP does thru direct show:shocked:

same goes for portable players (*cough ipods suck *cough </2 cents>)

[ChristinaS]

Re: Dead end

The term "half-decent" is very subjective. Not everybody is willing to buy the latest "in" thing either, nor top of the line. I'm not :D

[neilthecellist]

Re: Dead end

Rio Karma is not "in". It's old, came out a bit after the iPod, and the iPod had 3+ generations to implement the Ogg Vorbis codec, but they never did...Stupid Apple Corporation... (same with M$)

[LtData]

Re: Dead end

But the Rio Karma is also unavailable except for refurbished models. I still have mine and love it immensly.

About the only other modern players that support Ogg Vorbis are most iRiver players.

[neilthecellist]

Re: Dead end

But it wasn't a question of whether or not the products are available now or not, it was a question of whether or not "in" players support / supported Ogg Vorbis.

[Hyrize]

Re: Dead end

well the ipod is definatly the 'in' player and i don't see support for vorbis there

just 'cuse it's the most popular player doesn't make it the best tho