Question...

[Elluzion]

this is about music quality and itunes.

well I just got some beyer DT770 Pro's (the 80)

and a lot of my itunes songs are 128-192 bit rate. How do I get songs or make songs into a higher bit rate?? what do I have to do exactly??

how does this work in itunes... help pls.

 

[Elluzion]

anyone?

 

[g500tec]

For some of the songs that you bought from iTunes, you can upgrade them to 256 kbps by going to the iTunes store and paying a small fee. But it’s not likely that all of the songs you bought from iTunes are upgradeable in this way. For those songs, there isn’t much you can do. For the songs you imported from CDs, you can make them a higher bitrate by just changing the import settings (go to Edit, then Preferences, then Advanced, then Importing) and reimporting the CD.

 

[g500tec]

Good Luck!

 

[appophylite]

You really can't take the files that are 128-192 and improve them. Sure, you can reencode to, say, 320 kbps but that won't change the fact that the source was originally 128-192 so you are gaining no new digital data. The only way to improve them is to download them at a higher kilobit rate (I don't know enough about iTunes to know how high the kilobit rating can go), or re-rip CD tracks at a higher bitrate.

 

[Elluzion]

ok thanks. Yeah I see that when I import i can change the bit rate to 256 which is good. What about the encoding?

it give me a few options for the encoding

Options:
AAC encoder
AIFF encoder
Apple Lossless encoder
MP3 encoder
Wave encoder

WHAT DO THESE MEAN? its on AAC default right now. What should I do??

ALso, what will my DT770 (once I get them) sound best with ? I know higher Bit rates. but what is "good" 192? or higher? 256? 320? for

 

[Elluzion]

^does anyone know what those encoding options mean??

 

[g500tec]

I’m not sure exactly what the difference between all of those encoding options is, but I do know that Apple Lossless is, as the name suggests, lossless. That means that when you encode with this option, you don’t lose any of the music file. It’s therefore the option you should choose if you want the highest possible quality. However, music files encoded with Apple Lossless are very big, so many people choose to encode with another option (such as AAC) at a high bitrate (like 192 or 250). Doing this creates smaller music files.

 

[g500tec]

As for what is a “good” bitrate, only you can decide. I would suggest encoding the same song at a number of different bitrates and then deciding which one you like best. As for me, I can’t tell any difference between 128 kbps (in AAC) and anything higher. But that’s just me. Others can tell the difference, or at least they think they can.

 

[Sherwood]

Here's what I like right out of itunes: good balance of size and sound quality.

AAC is similar to MP3, but it's less universal. It sounds fine, but I don't use it.

Apple Lossless is great, but the files are huge. I don't like it for this reason.

MP3 is a very convenient standard, and everything supports it. I suggest using this.

Next come your settings, and this is where the details come in. I like using 192 kbps, and turning VBR on. According to iTunes, this feature encodes your music at a higher bitrate if the song is more complex, with a minimum of 192. I also set the quality slider to HIGH. This sounds great, and gives me small files. Set your sample rate and channels on AUTO, unless you have some reason to do otherwise.

Not a full explanation, given, but that's the best place to get started.

 

[crazyeyes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elluzion /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok thanks. Yeah I see that when I import i can change the bit rate to 256 which is good. What about the encoding? it give me a few options for the encoding Options: AAC encoder AIFF encoder Apple Lossless encoder MP3 encoder Wave encoder WHAT DO THESE MEAN? its on AAC default right now. What should I do?? ALso, what will my DT770 (once I get them) sound best with ? I know higher Bit rates. but what is "good" 192? or higher? 256? 320? for

Well i know AAC is apples form of MP3 it is a compressed format that does have some loss to it. You have bitrates going from 128kbps-320kbps. There is also a variable bit rate option with AAC, now i have read there is a flaw in the variable side of AAC so i wouldn't use it.

AIFF i have no experience with but i am pretty sure it is an uncompressed lossless format.

Apple Lossless is what i use for all the cd's i import to my computer. Apple Lossless is basically a compressed but completely lossless format. So you get all the data from the cd but you save some space. This will take up alot more space on your hard drive of your computer and on your Audio Player. Also if you have a hard-disk based player lossless will cause the battery life to drain quicker due to having to spin up the hard-disk more often.

MP3 is just like AAC it is a lossy compressed format. some say AAC is better than MP3, like i said if you want to use a variable bit-rate which gives the best compromise of quality/file size when using a lossy format, i would use MP3.

Wave i haven't used either but pretty sure it is a lossless uncompressed format like AIFF.

Hope this helps.

Also a note when importing cd's you want to make sure the cd is actually the origninal quality too not a copy that your friend made you of 128 kbps files off his computer. cause then you are still working with 128 kbps files. it is best to import off the original cd or a cd you know was copied directly from the original.

 

[Sherwood]

Also, sorry to double post, but if you get really serious about ripping your cd's, you will want to look into the LAME encoder. Do a search on here, or on google.

I would recommend this route if you're getting started moving cds over to digital and have a lot of them to rip.

 

[Elluzion]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.. I don't mind having huge files (10mb or more) I can telll the difference with some songs if they have a higher bit rate, you can usually play them at higher volumes without distorting.

will lossless keep the music at a 320 bit rate??

Thanks everyonee

 

[g500tec]

If you encode with Apple Lossless, this will not keep the music at a 320 bitrate. Encoding with Apple Lossless will typically give you a much higher bitrate, like between 600-1200.

 

[Tone Def]

And if your importing from cd, don't forget EAC. It is one of the best rippers out there. You can also configure it to encode to your chosen format.

Personally, I use eac to rip to flac (an open source lossless codec), and then batch convert to mp3 using lame, V0 fast.