FYI: Here are some encoder comparisons based on publicly performed double blind listening tests - this week there'll start a new test by the way, comparing different AAC encoders at 128kbps bitrate (or corresponding VBR settings).

What do you want to use these mp3s for - Listening on PC only or do you play them back with a portable/car mp3CD/ DVD player? For PC only (HDD space is cheap) and maximum possible quality you might want to use lossless formats instead of mp3 like Wavpack, Flac or Monkey's Audio.

Quote: Originally posted by Music Fanatic I agree. And as long as I am willing to limit my listening to matches being lit and the like, I should be all set. Only if I want to listen to music am I likely to be stymied. What are you trying to say? - 'Binaural recordings are hard...

commando - the thread (on-topic part) is hard to follow ... in case you haven't solved the problem yet: Here I've summed up information about extracting audio from 'damaged' CDs. Some additional information: - Nero ASPI dll is wnaspi32.dll, copy to EAC folder and change EAC options ->...

As those of you who've listened to binaural recordings know, sound through headpones can come from (or be perceived as coming from) any direction. So for 'head-fi people' 2 channel binaural recordings (or binaural mixes) additionally should be all they need. BTW: ASDFer's has coded a...

I, as a 'customer', wouldn't buy a DVD-A or SACD but DVD-V with high resolution audio like e.g. Chesky sells them. If there's good old redbook CD on the other side, even better - makes e.g. creating mp3s for car mp3 CD player much easier than with plain DVD-V. If this one will be a big...

Stephonovich, thanks for taking the time to answer. Quote: Originally posted by Stephonovich Geez, you better have at least 5 ABX runs and everything perfectly documented if you don't want to get flamed... <snip> If you want nitty gritty, go to HA. I hope you didn't get the...

Stephonovic: Seems like your results are quite interesting. You say you've ABXed. Does this mean you have performed ABX tests successfully ('Probability you are guessing' <= 0.01 / 1%) in every single case you mentioned? If yes - what did you ABX? - Original vs. aps - Original vs. aps...

Quote: Originally posted by kelesh is the difference noticable between aps and ape? In all cases where I was able to ABX aps, I could also ABX ape. In a part of these cases, ape was better. About the difference between original and aps/ape there are 3 cases for...

Since you'll get an ipod - why don't you use AAC instead of mp3? It has no issues like pre-echo that can't be avoided with mp3, no matter what encoder/settings used and should give comparable - better quality at the same bitrate. Recommendable Encoders are Nero's and Quicktime/Itune's...

Quote: Originally posted by cellophane AHHHHHH!!! . . . HELPPPPP!!!!!!!! TIA Compression options should look like this (important: correct path to LAME, if there are spaces in path names use e.g. "c:\my downloads\lame.exe"):

On Case's site there's Lame encoder. I haven't tried this though. I use foobar2000 installed with Case's special installer. Lame encoding is integrated and works like this: [list=1]Highlight the tracks you want to convertRightclick -> Convert -> Settings ...Output format: mp3 (LAME); Settings...

Quote: Originally posted by Music Fanatic Read further on in that thread. Not necessary. The 1st post will be edited if something important changes.

Geek, do you use replaygain or something comparable (lower volume in fb2k's volume control) to avoid clipping? Especially resampling of loud (overcompressed) material can lead to clipping - maybe this is a reason for the 'graininess' you hear with some CDs (as English is not my 1st language I'm...

I use foobar2000 for this purpose (can also handle lossless image + cue sheet -> separated mp3 files). dbPowerAmp should be able to do that too. If lame --alt-preset standard is too slow for your needs, try --alt-preset fast standard, for even higher speed some CBR setting like --alt-preset 192.

lame 3.90.3, not 3.90.2 is the version recommended by hydrogenaudio.

You can do this to copy the effect: Create a .wav file containing silence (e.g. 1 second) and 1 single click (1 sample with value +32767) in the middle of it, using a wave editor. Play back this file in WMP with the DSP enabled and use something like total recorder to record the output. Now...

What convolver does: case 1: mono IR left output channel = left input channel * mono IR right output channel = right input channel * mono IR case2: stereo IR left output channel = left input channel * IR left channel right output channel = right input channel * IR right channel...

Quote: Originally posted by blessingx Best software crossfeed is the Canz3D VST plugin, but it's unfortunately OS X only. In case you still have/use it: Could you please create an impulse response from it with your favourite settings? Just in case - how to do it: Generate a...

Quote: Originally posted by slunk007 Do you know of any better software solutions? I would be interested. Here I've posted a comparison of crossfeed-like winamp/foobar plugins I know. You might want to read ASDFer's posts. He has coded a HRTF plugin for foobar2000. It uses impulse...

Quote: Tigre, would you suggest getting a revo instead? The thing that got me interested in the RME was the very low jitter and all the raves it got here. It depends on the DAC you use. If it's sensitive to input jitter, the lower the soundcard's jitter, the better (theoretically). A...

If you use *digital* out and connect to a good external DAC, the cheapest available soundcard (internal or external) that doesn't resample should do the job as well as the most expensive one.

Good DACs have some sort of buffer (e.g. RAM) and don't slave their clock to the input's clock but use their own stabilized clock for D/A conversion. This way jitter in input is "filtered out" and won't affect the DAC. Here's ome more information about this .

Ripping impulse responses of any DSP is easy. Just run a single click through it, record the output using e.g. totalrecorder and cut 0 samples in the beginning and the end. To combine DSPs run the 1st IR through the next DSP and do the same ... etc. A nice tool to generate impulse responses...

You might want to consider Terratec Aureon Sky (5.1) or Space (7.1) as well. Both are 24/96 and comparable to m-audio revolution sound-quality wise. Surround sound for gaming is supported. Only weak point: drivers are not as good as m-audio's (yet).