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320MP3 To 320M4A VBR?

post #1 of 12
8/17/11 at 9:49pm
Thread Starter 

Every since Ive gotten my Iphone I have been converting my 320 MP3's that ive downloaded in to 320 M4A VBR. Just a quick Question is this the right choice to do and the reason I do this is because the file becomes smaller after conversion.

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post #2 of 12
8/17/11 at 10:04pm

The reason for smaller size is because m4a is mpeg4 encoded, so it is more compressed than the mpeg1 encoded mp3 files. But the bad news is, any time you are doing a transcoding from lossy to lossy format, you are losing some detail in the music, though you might not hear the difference. Well, if you can't tell, I guess it is no big deal.

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post #3 of 12
8/17/11 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 

TBH I hear no difference, so I guess that is ok? :)

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post #4 of 12
8/17/11 at 10:10pm

For practicality POV, yes, you are fine. But for long term, it is better not to transcode lossy format.

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post #5 of 12
8/17/11 at 10:22pm

Only do this if you are suffering from space limitations because you are lowering the sound quality of your whole library as ClieOS has pointed out. On better sound gear you probably could hear the difference.

 

If you must transcode, it would probably be less harmful and more space saving to encode to a VBR mp3.

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post #6 of 12
8/17/11 at 10:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wulvy View Post

Only do this if you are suffering from space limitations because you are lowering the sound quality of your whole library as ClieOS has pointed out. On better sound gear you probably could hear the difference.

 

If you must transcode, it would probably be less harmful and more space saving to encode to a VBR mp3.

 

So should I convert everything back? What should I do from now on?
 

 

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post #7 of 12
8/17/11 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc222284 View Post

So should I convert everything back? What should I do from now on?


That will just cause further damage.

 

Keep everything you have as it is. From now on, rip to a VBR codec, or lossless if you have space on your computer. Don't re-encode a lossy file to anything.

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post #8 of 12
8/18/11 at 5:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc222284 View Post

Every since Ive gotten my Iphone I have been converting my 320 MP3's that ive downloaded in to 320 M4A VBR.


why did you do this? itunes/ipods/iphones play mp3 just fine. confused.gif there was never any reason to convert to m4a.

never convert lossy to lossy unless you have to. i know i couldn't hear the difference but just knowing would make me feel all dirty. biggrin.gif

the only time i think it's acceptable is when you have a lossy format and hardware that won't play it. for example, i had a sansa clip and that wouldn't play m4a files that i'd bought from itunes. i had no choice but to convert it. obviously i kept the originals for use on my computer.
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post #9 of 12
8/18/11 at 8:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc2003 View Post



why did you do this? itunes/ipods/iphones play mp3 just fine. confused.gif there was never any reason to convert to m4a.

never convert lossy to lossy unless you have to. i know i couldn't hear the difference but just knowing would make me feel all dirty. biggrin.gif

the only time i think it's acceptable is when you have a lossy format and hardware that won't play it. for example, i had a sansa clip and that wouldn't play m4a files that i'd bought from itunes. i had no choice but to convert it. obviously i kept the originals for use on my computer.
 


I dont have enough space on my computer thats why.

 

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post #10 of 12
8/18/11 at 9:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc222284 View Post

I dont have enough space on my computer thats why.


eek.gif

 

Is it a laptop or a desktop? Storage is cheap, buy an external (or internal) drive if you're using a desktop.

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post #11 of 12
8/18/11 at 9:32am
you don't have room.... for files that already exist? biggrin.gif

if you're running out of room and need more space for future rips/downloads, compressing your existing lossy collection really is not the answer. just out of interest, how much space did you save? i can't imagine it being a very long term solution....
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post #12 of 12
8/18/11 at 11:08am
Thread Starter 

Problem is fixed! I Just redownloaded all of the files so now my Itunes is all 320MP3 and Purchased Itunes Songs and WAV! :)

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