[Nikos]

I have a problem with my MD quality. I tend to make my MDs with my Sony MDS-JE440 digitally with my Cds.

However lately I have downloaded several 320kbps mp3's. My problem is I know MD is already a lossy compression, and that it compresses the CD copy. I also know the Digital Copy is very close to the CD, however when I take 320kbps Mp3s then put them on a CD then digitally copy them onto an MD isnt that like compressing it 5:1 twice which means a 10:1 compression. Which means the MD copy will sound like a bunch of 160kbps mp3's (of course these are comparable stats, I know ATRAC is different from mp3 but still theoretically wont they sound somewhere around 160kbps mp3's since I am compressing twice?

How can I take my 320kbps mp3s and make them sound as best as possible on my MD? Or should I just purchase a portable CD player instead of just of having my SonyMD R70?

Does anyone have any opinions on how 320kbps mp3s sound when digitally transefered to a Minidisc??

This dilemma has concerned me...does anyone know what I should do? Or have any opinions as to the quality of mp3s to MD?

 

[coolvij]

I'd think that the reason that the codecs sound so noticeably different, at least to my ears, is that they emphasize different parts of the sound scale.

At best, u'r having equal amounts of information taking from across the spectrum, so the you aren't missing that much.

Worst would be if the codecs both take out info from certain places.....like, say, highs, which leaves you with lots of artifacts.


Trust your ears........

 

[Vertigo-1]

Why not try it yourself first and listen?

I originally bought into MDs with the entire idea of simply downloading 320k MP3s and sending them over to MDs through the optical out on sound cards. This was back when Napster was in its glory days, and 320k MP3s of literally any song could be readily found. Everything was good. And then Napster decided to go gay and dump just about everything that sounded good, and my plan fell to ruins.

Anyways, 320k MP3s sound very good on MDs. Unless you're really that sensitive to compressed sound, any deformities to the sound should be totally unoticeable in a true portable environment.

 

[Clubkill]

A few things:

1) Assuming a good soundcard, a 320 mp3 over an analogue connection to the MD should be good enough for most situations

2) I think that even if the final result of a digital transfer to MD was a 160 mp3, i think that that to most peoples ears would be great quality for portable use

3) Trust your ears, listen to the md, and then to the same song off the CD source. If there is a substantially noticble difference to you, then go for the portable CD player. MD players are cool but not if they get in the way of your personal enjoyment of the music.

 

[dvw]

Or you can wait for one of these.

http://www.dataplay.com/jsp_files/en...action=details

I don't the size of this player yet but the media is size of a quarter.

 

[thomas]

While in theory compressing the signal twice would seem to degrade the sound a lot, in practice, i find the sound quite good, comparable to about one bitrate reduction in the MP3 (ie, 320>256, 256>192) However, many minidiscs players have better DACs and amplifiers, so the overall sound may be better than from a CDP, even with the extra compression...

Make sure you use a digital output on your soundcard and a good MP3 decoder such as MAD

 

[Vertigo-1]

Quote:

However, many minidiscs players have better DACs and amplifiers, so the overall sound may be better than from a CDP, even with the extra compression...

That's a very good point thomas. Particularly with Sony, their top of the line MD players just beat their top of the line PCDPs all over the playground soundwise.

 

[Nikos]

Hey thomas, I dont use a souncard to record my mp3s onto my mds, I put my mp3s on a cd first then digitally record the cd to MD.

How would you say the MD would sound then?

Also if u had to compare the mp3s on the MD to a normal mp3 how many kbps would u say it would be close to?

thanx

 

[dmcity7]

Hi there:

"..Everything was good. And then Napster decided to go gay and dump just about everything that sounded good, and my plan fell to ruins. ."

Is the word 'gay' above used in a technical sense, somehow explaining some quality of network-based distribution systems? Please explain!

Thanks.

 

[Vertigo-1]

Basically Napster went from providing just about any song at 320kbps to providing just about nothing good at nothing but 128kbps. From there, I had such a hard time finding high quality MP3s anywhere else that I just completely dumped MP3s entirely, and went back to CDs. I haven't listened to MP3s for months now, and do all my demoing in Tower Records. Looks like this is the way it'll be for a while too.

 

[thomas]

Burning the music onto CD's, then recording it to MD will actually give the best sound quality, since it bypasses the soundcard's sampling rate converter (44.1>48khz). All consumer soundcards must do this process, and it adds audiable distortion to the process...

So by burning the music to CD, there will be a slight improvement..

Quote:

Also if u had to compare the mp3s on the MD to a normal mp3 how many kbps would u say it would be close to?

There is no rule for quality reduction by recording, in fact, each song is affected differantly by compression... Some songs are indistinguishable after being compressed, others have very noticable artifacts....

The mp3's on md depend mostly on the original quality, as i said, in general there will be one bitrate reduction- So if you start with 160 k/sec, then the MD version would sound closer to 128k/sec...



Quote:

Is the word 'gay' above used in a technical sense, somehow explaining some quality of network-based distribution systems?

LOL

 

[Nikos]

So Thomas are you saying that going from 320kbps mp3 to CD to MD digitally.....the mp3s would probably not sound worse than a 224kbps mp3?

What would be your estimation for a 320kbps mp3 and 256kps mp3 using my MP3toCDtoMD process?

 

[Mystyler]

Nikos,
Your 320kbps MP3 will sound totally fine on your MD. I know that my stash of 192kbps MP3s sound fine burnt to CD then optical--> MD.

The only way you are really going to tell if they sound "good" or "bad" is by concentrating real hard, and listening with some top-notch cans, which I doubt you'll do if you use your R70 out and about.
They should also sound fine on your JE440.

If you are still wondering, can I point you here.

 

[DavidJr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nikos I have a problem with my MD quality. I tend to make my MDs with my Sony MDS-JE440 digitally with my Cds. However lately I have downloaded several 320kbps mp3's. My problem is I know MD is already a lossy compression, and that it compresses the CD copy. ...snip... This dilemma has concerned me...does anyone know what I should do? Or have any opinions as to the quality of mp3s to MD?

I do this all the time. I have a huge amount of my music library stored on my computer, just so I can record to MD from my digitial output on my soundcard. I actually rip everything at 192k with 22kHz bandwidth. They sound excellent and the record to MD sounding great also. I think if you use a similar approach, and use a digital audio soundcard (even a cheap Soundblaster Value card with a digital I/O daughter card) you should be just fine.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by DavidJr I do this all the time. I have a huge amount of my music library stored on my computer, just so I can record to MD from my digitial output on my soundcard. I actually rip everything at 192k with 22kHz bandwidth. They sound excellent and the record to MD sounding great also. I think if you use a similar approach, and use a digital audio soundcard (even a cheap Soundblaster Value card with a digital I/O daughter card) you should be just fine.

22KHz? Why?