[Backwards_E]

Just wanted to ask what is the best way to get best sound quality mp3 files. I do download alot of music via limewire, and have no clue how to tell good quality songs from not so good. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

If you are concerned about quality then buy them from Amazon or rip them yourself from a CD using the LAME mp3 encoder.

There is a lot of crummy quality mp3 files on the p2p networks. Files that have been transcoded several times over shared by people who have no concern about actual audio quality. It used to be that 128 kbs was all good. Then along came private groups that would only accept 256 kbs or better. But in order to get accepted in the group you need to share out GB of files of 256 kbs or better. But what if your collection was all lower bitrate? Well, just run your collection through Xing and convert them to 256 kbs. Instant 256 kbs collection. Woot! Now 320 kbs is hip and the same kind of transcoding from lower bitrates still goes on.

If you have even an inkling of a concern about audio quality you don't get your music from limewire or any similar p2p network.

 

[Backwards_E]

Thanks for the insight, you gave me another question. I am using an IPOD so there must be a limit to the quality sound an ipod can put out, correct? Can an mp3 download reach the maximum limit for the quality an IPOD, or is ripping from a CD still better? In other words I want to get the best sound quality using an IPOD.

 

[Acrog]

If you want the best quality, use apple lossless or wav rips from the cd. There is a limit to the sound an ipod can put out, it's 16bit 44.1khz, = 1411kbps.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Th iPod will play all standard MP3 files that I have tried. It is possible to make mp3 files that are beyond the mp3 spec (files that are more than 320 kbs, etc.) and the iPod probably won't play them, I've never tried.

LAME MP3 files encoded at -V0, -V1, or even -V2 are considered audibly transparent compared to the WAV files. Those are VBR (variable bitrate) encodes. V0 being the highest quality, V1 a little less, and V2 a little less than that. Next step up would be 320 kbs CBR (constant bitrate) encodes.

If you are really concerned about quality then you go lossless. The iPod supports ALAC (apple lossless audio codec). You can rip to ALAC using iTunes and other tools. It is also perfectly OK to transcode to ALAC from other lossless formats like FLAC or WMA Lossless.

There is more to audio quality on the iPod than just the quality of the music file. Best audio quality out is going to be had by getting a line out signal from the docking port at the bottom of the iPod and connecting the line out signal to an external amp (either a home amp or headphone amp). The audio from the headphone port on the iPod is not the best sound that the iPod is capable of delivering.

 

[euphoracle]

Rip it yourself, lame it -v1 or -v2. Don't listen to web trash if you care about SQ. You won't be able to tell the difference (most of the time) with -v1 or -v2 on a portable, unless you're listening REALLY hard and comparing cymbal hits or something.

 

[Backwards_E]

Would hate to cary a headphone amp around, but thats just me lol. So it is possible to make a normal 128kbs mp3 file better by encoding using Xing.

I just bought some Monster Turbine's so all I'm really trying to do is maximize the quality of sound from the IPOD and those headphones (without buying an amp, or upgrading the line out, maybe later)

So i guess right now Im looking at CD's encoding them to Apples lossless format, as the best way to do that, or is that overkill?

 

[Jeff Guidry]

For archiving purposes, it is better to start with ALAC files and then convert those to smaller files to put on your iPod, so you can have a perfect file to base everything off of. But IMO ALAC is total overkill for the headphone out of your iPod, plus it will cause the battery to be eaten up MUCH faster than a smaller file would.

I run 128 kbps VBR mp3's from my iPod, which is plenty for on the go, but that is me. If you will frequently sit and listen to your music in quiet environments, then a higher bitrate might satisfy you better but I would think no higher than 256 kbps without amplification or RedWine mod...

 

[Ham Sandwich]

You can't re-enencode a 128 kbs MP3 and make it better. Any re-encoding is just going to make it worse. Going from one lossy format to another lossy format is a bad thing. The 128 kbs MP3 is stuck at what it is.

My comment about Xing was a jab at that encoder because it is not very good. But many MP3 files out in p2p land are encoded with Xing.

I use LAME VBR MP3 files that have been encoded at V0, V1, or V2. That works just fine on the iPod. And the iPod is able to play those files gapless if the tracks are part of a gapless CD (like Dark Side of the Moon).

If you have an eye for the future you can rip everything to a lossless format like FLAC and also to MP3. Keep the FLAC versions archived away. They'll be there if you ever decide to re-encode to a different format later or decide that you'd rather listen to lossless than MP3.

 

[Backwards_E]

Ill take that advice, thanks for all the input, I've probably learned more reading this thread and other articles than I would in one of my 3 hour lectures.

 

[Skin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acrog /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you want the best quality, use apple lossless or wav rips from the cd. There is a limit to the sound an ipod can put out, it's 16bit 44.1khz, = 1411kbps.

unless you're throwing away your CDs at the same time theres no reason to rip in WAV. Thats just a waste of space.

 

[deaconblues]

Even if you're throwing your CDs away there's no reason to rip to WAV when FLAC and ALAC offer the same quality while taking up less space. Then there's also the fact that WAV doesn't have the tag support of the newer formats, which can create an organizational nightmare.

As for wasting space... space is cheap these days

Newegg.com - Fantom G-Force GF1000EU 1TB USB 2.0 / eSATA External Hard Drive - External Hard Drives

 

[krmathis]

Rip CD's yourself, then encode to MP3 using a regarded encoder. Example LAME.
Thats probably the only you way you know for sure what you have.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I should probably explain about the lossy to lossy transcoding and why it is bad.

Compare it to JPEG images. Start with a nice JPEG image and recompress it as a JPEG (use a lowish quality level so the effects will be more obvious). There should be a visible loss in quality. Now take that JPEG and recompress it again, and again, and again. Each generation will get worse.

There is no way to take one of the old generation images and get back to the original. All the needed information in the image has been lost and you can't get it back. That's why JPEG is a lossy compression format.

The same happens with audio when you compress with a lossy format like MP3. You can't take a 128 kbs MP3, recompress it at 256 kbs, and get any new quality. In fact, you'll just make it worse while making it bigger.

 

[LFF]

It really comes down to mastering quality and the encoders. I use an mp3 encoder that sounds lossless at 128kps cbr but this only because the encoder is a great one. FLAC is another great option especially with a rockboxed ipod.