[vold]

since V0's bitrate moves up(max being at 320? or somewhere near there) and down depending on the frequency and while 320 CBR stays at 320kbps no matter what. so technically 320 is better than V0 vbr right? please tell me if im wrong and which part im getting wrong. thanks

 

[incognitoedleon]

It'll sound better, but it's really inefficient. You might as well go with a lossless format if space is not an issue.

 

[Sycraft]

In theory yes, it uses the maximum allowable bitrate at all times. In practise, well I challenge you to pick them out in a double blind test. Also just because the bits are there, doesn't mean the MP3 encoder finds a way to make use of them, they can go to waste (that's why you use VBR in the first place). As incog said, if you are that particular just go lossless and forget it. If you really can't swing the extra bitrate for lossless files, at least go with a better lossy format. MP3 is one of the least efficient out there. No surprise, it was a real pioneer and there's been lots of advancement since then. However you'll get better results at a given bitrate with something newer like OGG Vorbis, AAC, or WM-9.

The real answer for high bitrate stuff is just lossless though. As the name implies it is lossless, and not just in an acoustical sense. It is mathematically lossless and reconstructs the original PCM data bit for bit. You can prove it with a simple file diff utility (I did so on Head-Fi at one point, but I'm not sure some people were convinced).

It's not generally necessary to do lossless rips, even on really good gear it's rare you'll find the piece that you can tell the difference between 256k MP3 and lossless, however with disk space so cheap it provides an easy way to make sure that it is as good as it can be regardless of anything else.

 

[K2Grey]

I'm not sure about that. CBR 320 has a higher or equal bitrate for any part of the track, but v0 contains a bunch of additional tweaks and is willing to use as much bitrate as it deems necessary. I'd guess that v0 is actually probably better...

 

[Redo]

Technically, 320 cbr is better than -v 0, but I don't know by how much. There will be "useless data" in 320kbps cbr that -v 0 would have sniffed out and reduced the bitrate.

 

[error401]

Better is pretty subjective. I'd say V0 is better because it more effectively uses disk space. For sound quality they should be roughly equivalent as LAME is smart enough to know when it can't use the extra bits. I expect the V0 preset basically does the same as the CBR encoder at 320kbit and just strips out any extra bits it can't use for anything useful.

 

[pedxing]

I cannot hear a difference between v0 and 320 for the most part. If I had to choose, I take v0. If I was that worried about fidelity, I would use a lossless codec instead.

 

[ericlikeseatin]

my ears cannot tell the difference either. i would suggest listening carefully to take into account the storage space considerations.

 

[Joshatdot]

CBR 320 is a teeny-tiny bit better than V0. Here's a pic showing the difference between LAME vbr's and -b 320

image taken from Hydrogenaudio LAME Wiki

 

[Febs]

In my view, -V0 and 320kbps CBR sound the same, but -V0 produces a substantially smaller file. Therefore, -V0 is "better."

 

[carlosgp]

320 CBR is the maximum quality in mp3 format, period.
Of course all said above is true. The difference in quality is difficult to hear, and 320 is a lot bigger.

 

[vcoheda]

I vote for VBR.

 

[Jigglybootch]

Another vote for VBR. The quality difference (if there really is one, because I can't hear it) isn't worth the increase in file size (in my opinion of course).

 

[Paradigm]

LOL i doubt other than the placebo that in a double blind test you can tell the difference between 256kbs from a CD.

320 = waste

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradigm /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL i doubt other than the placebo that in a double blind test you can tell the difference between 256kbs from a CD.

This has been debated many times, and there are those who can definitely tell the difference.