Ripping into mp3 - a little help please

[sandys]

So, after getting my first pair of really nice earphones (superfi5 eb), I want to learn how to rip tracks in all its glory.

1. I know that the best is LAME - I m gonna use it anyway since I basically only use Linux, however for my GF I need a really simple Win-GUI software that (hopefully uses LAME and all the nice settings that are needed).

2. Assuming I use LAME, could you guys post your command line options so that I can use them : I went through an earlier thread that was posted here and this is the most relevant parts of the conversation

Quote:

320 kbps: -b 320 -m j -q 0 --replaygain-accurate (you can change the bitrate) VBR Best ONLY: -b 32 -m j -V 0 -B 320 -q 0 --vbr-new --lowpass 19.7 --replaygain-accurate (you cannot change the "-V" option for to receive smaller bitrate) VBR Best: -b 32 -m j -V 0 -B 320 -q 0 --vbr-new --replaygain-accurate (you can change the "-V" option for receive smaller bitrate) "--vbr-old" forces encoder to use only the specified quality. While at "--vbr-new" the codec does not pay attention on "-V0" an option, and always uses "-V2" or above, depending on specified. This can be checked up for example by means of HEX-editor WinHEX by comparison feature. 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.

3. What is the deal with "-V0"? I have come across a few threads that basically say that it is better and smaller than AAC. If so, is the mp3 that is produced, compatible with *most* mp3 players?

thanks

 

[EnOYiN]

http://jiggafellz.isa-geek.net/eac/

There you go. That should answer most of your questions. EAC is pretty simple after you've installed it if you ask me.

Edit: I don't know what preset you should use because I don't know what you can ABX. -v2 is pretty transparent to most people.

EditII: I am using EAC to extract/compress files to FLAC. Afterwards I convert them to mp3s using Foobar. If you've got the hard drive space I can recommend this method.

EditIII: (i'll just keep going

) The answer to your 3rd question is this: -v0 is a preset which makes mp3s with a variable bitrate. (VBR) Here is an explanation.

EditIV: okies, last one. This ought to be in the computer audio forum.

 

[sandys]

howzzah!!

thanks for a nice explanation.

As to why this was here - head-fi has'nt failed me yet (this post included!)

Let me digest all you have written and get back to you.

Im assuming EAC has clickable boxes for the "-V0" /"-V2" presets.

thanks again

 

[sandys]

Oh.. one more question. I used to rip using Windows Media Player and it had this nifty thing of identifying a CD, querying an online database for track info and append that information inside the tags.

Can this be done for LAME mp3 tracks as well?

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Im assuming EAC has clickable boxes for the "-V0" /"-V2" presets.

I'm afraid it doesn't. You will just have to write it down. It's all in the guide I linked to though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh.. one more question. I used to rip using Windows Media Player and it had this nifty thing of identifying a CD, querying an online database for track info and append that information inside the tags. Can this be done for LAME mp3 tracks as well?

EAC can indeed use freedb to get the trackinfo for you. Obviously it depends on whether the album is quite well known or not.

Luckily that's in the guide as well, so I will let you digest that first. It's quite a lot of information to get through.

Just a small pointer. I am using version 3.98b which is the best version of LAME according to the most people on HydroGen Audio. Better than 3.97 is anyway.

 

[Febs]

The best LAME settings are the presets. Don't try to play around with the presets with additional switches, as it is far more likely that you will make things worse than it is that you will make things better.

Take this line that you posted as an example:

VBR Best ONLY: -b 32 -m j -V 0 -B 320 -q 0 --vbr-new --lowpass 19.7 --replaygain-accurate (you cannot change the "-V" option for to receive smaller bitrate)

The -V 0 setting lowpassess between 19383 Hz and 19916 Hz. There is no need to force it to lowpass at 19.7 kHz. If you do, you may be forcing the encoder to use bits for very high frequencies that aren't going to be audible anyway, at the expense of frequencies that will be audible.

Likewise, the -V 0 preset selects mid/side stereo or left/right stereo on a frame-by-frame basis based on what it most efficient for the content being enocded. (You can confirm this by encoding a mono file. As you would expect, LAME will use 100% mid/side stereo since both the left and right channels are the same.) There is no need to force LAME to use mid/side stereo by using the -m j switch.

Next, the --vbr-new switch has been incorporated as the default in 3.98.

Finally, there is not much of a quality difference between -V 0 and -V 2. The types of problems that create artifacts at these settings generally are not resolved by throwing more bits at them, so -V 0 tends to create substantially bigger files without a corresponding increase in quality.)

So, I would recommend the following settings:

3.98: -V 2
3.97: -V 2 --vbr-new

If you would like smaller files, raise the number following the V to a higher number. For example, I use -V 5 for portable use.

For more information: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=LAME