[glenmorangie]

why can i only get 245 vbr max? is there a different version i should have?

 

[cooperpwc]

Lame take the osition that there is no audible difference between Lame V0 vbr~new and a 320 bit MP3. So Lame V0 is the highest that they offer.

It's your choice: the best MP3 encoder on the planet (Lame) at V0 vbr~new (245 bit based variable standard) or a different encoder at the 320 bits.

Personally I would go with V0 vbr~new, i.e. best MP3s on the planet. I think that they know what they are talking about and the hard drive space saving is substantial.

 

[glenmorangie]

thanks..i will stick with it then. the results do sound good through headphones and speakers after all.

 

[cooperpwc]

After choosing VO (best quality), be sure to check the box: "fast mode --vbr-new".

 

[glenmorangie]

havent been checking that...what does it do?

 

[cooperpwc]

Faster encoding for sure but considered the best way to use the encoder. Wish I could tell you more but the Lame site isn't very helpful. I just know that --vbr-new is the prefered method. I wouldn't necessarily go back and redo already ripped files but I would use it going forward.

Maybe someone else understands this better than I?

 

[HFat]

-b 320 will make 320kps files. Perhaps there are other ways. You may need to set up a custom encoder in foobar in order to create cbr files.

But if you only want something which sounds good, -V0 is probably a better choice. Actually, -V2 or -V4 for example might sound exactly the same to you and save you even more disk space so you should consider using these settings instead. I usually encode with -V5 myself. Of course, you should use --vbr-new as well.

Check hydrogenaudio's wiki for solid information about LAME and its setting.

 

[cooperpwc]

HFat makes a valid point. V0 is the maximum quality VBR format. With some coding you could probably get Foobar to do a 320 bit CBR format. But that's a ghastly waste of space: encoding everything (including gaps) at 320 bits. The beauty of VBR is maximum quality in the minimum necessary space and V0 is as good as that can sound according to those that code these things.

By way of disclosure, I rip to lossless (archived to DVD) and re-encode to V2 --vbr-new. However new rips are being encoded to VO --vbr-new and I may go back and gradually re-encode everything.

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc /img/forum/go_quote.gif With some coding you could probably get Foobar to do a 320 bit CBR format.

?!? No coding is required.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc /img/forum/go_quote.gif But that's a ghastly waste of space:

It depends on what you want to do.
-V0 is most likely going to be a waste of space as well so why not recommend something halfway sensible like -V2 instead?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc /img/forum/go_quote.gif V0 is as good as that can sound according to those that code these things.

reference?

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif ?!? No coding is required.

Foobar allows me to do up to V0 245 bits. No setting is available for 320 bits. I assume that you could write a component that would unlock the CBR 320 bit encoding - that's what I meant by writing code.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif It depends on what you want to do. -V0 is most likely going to be a waste of space as well so why not recommend something halfway sensible like -V2 instead?

My recommendation was in response to the query as to how to get 320 bits in Foobar. V0 makes more sense. V2 might make even more sense but the op clearly wants the highest quality MP3 - that would be V0. To avoid hypocracy I explained my situation: V2 but moving towards V0. My Ultimate Ears are very detailed. I admit that my aging somewhat less than ultimate ears may or may not hear the difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif reference?

Best source I can find right now here.

This Hydrogenaudio wiki demonstrates that V0 is the highest level of VBR available from Lame and suggests that it is the best choice although leaving open the possibility of some small improvement with 320 CBR:

Quote:

The rule of thumb when considering encoding options: at a given bitrate, VBR is higher quality than ABR, which is higher quality than CBR (VBR > ABR > CBR in terms of quality). The exception to this is when you choose the highest possible CBR bitrate, which is 320 kbps (-b 320 = --alt-preset insane), but this produces very large filesizes for very little audible benefit.

It also suggests that --vbr-new is indeed the way to go:

Quote:

The --vbr-new switch enables the new VBR mode. Lame will encode much faster than the old/default VBR mode. In terms of quality, --vbr-new appears to be better than the old model, but reports of artifacts when using the new model do exist. Despite these possible issues, --vbr-new is currently recommended over the default VBR mode due to both the speed and quality increases afforded by the new algorithm.

I remember that I did read elsewhere that the developers of Lame specifically did not develop a higher level of VBR because the benefits would not justify the size but you can take it as apocryphal if you like because I do not have that source handy.

 

[HFat]

Like I said, you can add a custom encoder and use whatever settings you want. There is nothing to unlock and no code to write.

Your source agrees with me. In fact, I referenced it myself in my first post in this thread.
I don't know why you're trying to spin what it says. It does not suggest any particular setting as "the best choice".

 

[cooperpwc]

I have been reasonable in my responses but you have a serious attitude problem. I'm not spinning anything. End of fruitless discussion. Enjoy your V5 MP3s.

 

[Joshatdot]

From what I read, cooperpwc ment by 'coding' is making your own custom Converter setting in foobar.