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What mp3 format to use??

post #1 of 9
11/28/04 at 3:03pm
Thread Starter 
I just purchased shure e3cs and I want to know if I should re-rip my music before they arrive. I currently use dbpoweramp music converter to convert my mp3's to 198kb. Should I change formats or even rip them higher? If so what program should I use. Don't worry about it being time consuming, I have plenty time and if it will make a noticeable difference I'll do it.
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post #2 of 9
11/28/04 at 3:09pm
If you are going to re-rip them from the original source and then encode them to MP3 I would suggest Easy CDDA Extractor and the LAME encoder [v3.90.3]. Use --alt-preset standard for pretty much everything. If you can tell a difference from the original source then use --alt-preset insane. There is an 'extreme' preset as well, but I find it to be useless.

If you have MP3's and you want to transcode them... dont bother. You cant get better quality by re-ripping them at a higher bitrate.
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post #3 of 9
11/28/04 at 3:12pm
If you're stuck with MP3 (as oppose to AAC, Ogg, MPC, FLAC, ALAC, etc.) make sure to use the LAME encoder and it's usually recommended to use a VBR preset (--alt-preset standard/--alt-preset fast standard or --alt-preset extreme/--alt-preset fast extreme or --alt-preset insane). All of which should produce better sound than your 192 kbps files.

What are your compatibility issues (do you have a fave program or portable device)? I'm currently using ALAC (home) and 256 kbps AAC (iPod).
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post #4 of 9
11/28/04 at 3:19pm
Thread Starter 
I'm using a mini ipod. I just want to have the best quality possible for it. I'll download easy cdda extractor to check it out.
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post #5 of 9
11/28/04 at 10:52pm
I'm currently playing with MP3 formats and haven't settled on one yet. I'm leaning toward Apple Losless or 320k constant bit-rate but I still want to try some others out. Regardless, I did have some advice that might save you some time in the future.

1. Get a big hard drive.
2. Use Exact Audio Copy to rip everything to your hard drive in fully uncompressed .wav files.
3. Use LAME or any any other encoder to make whatever music files you want for your portable music player but don't delete the .wav files.

This way you can do a batch coversion to whatever file format you want to try out without having to reinsert every CD you own and babysit the entire process. It also gives you a perfect digital backup copy of all your CDs in case they're ever damaged or lost.
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post #6 of 9
11/28/04 at 11:12pm
Nice to see you here Sixerfan!

blessings gave some good advice, VBR's (to me) using the alt-preset-standard sound better than 192kbps mp3's to me, and I've A/B'd them before. Not only do they sound great, but they are small in size, so you can pack more music onto your Mini.
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post #7 of 9
11/28/04 at 11:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by number1sixerfan
I'm using a mini ipod. I just want to have the best quality possible for it. I'll download easy cdda extractor to check it out.
The highest quality you can achieve on your home system AND iPod mini is using ALAC. The thing is the iPod minis already small battery life is going to suffer. Using Apples recommended 9Mb limit per song for 'optimal' battery life, that would put the normal popular music genres 4-5 minute song length up to 224 kbps. That means either up to --alt-preset extreme/--alt-preset fast extreme LAME MP3 or 224 AAC QT/iTunes (unless you want to give Nero AAC a try). If you have a reason to keep compatibility outside a computer and iPod mini combo go MP3. If not I'd go AAC for encoding speed.

Another option (if you have the space ... and ears and equipment to matter) is to go with a lossless and lossy copy of each. Rip every album in iTunes to ALAC, then 'convert' to AAC. You can do the same (if with slightly more steps) with FLAC and MP3. I went this route (lossy & lossless), but I'm debating about going with one or the other for space.
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post #8 of 9
11/29/04 at 1:52am
I've said it before and I'll say it again... there is no point in using EAC unless your disk is scratched. A program like Easy CDDA Extractor will do the same job much quicker.

As for 320kbps CBR... you might want to give VBR a try. In my experience APS beats out 256kbps CBR... and I would not think there is much of a difference between 256kbps CBR and 320kbps CBR on most systems.

If you do have an iPod though, I am with blessingx... use some of the better formats. I'm only sticking with MP3 for compatibility reasons.
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post #9 of 9
11/29/04 at 11:17am
AAC is a damn fine format and my file type of choice, as long as you won't want to play on other audio players that MAY not support AAC. The higher the bitrate the better, although I would stay at 224 or above.
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