[ricmat]

Hi guys!


After reading a lot about this decided to do my own tests, so a few days ago...

...Just got some good recording (DDD Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto #3 Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy Sep. 1986 Decca) and made the rip at lossless for the first movement - mp3 cbr 128Kbps lame 3.97, mp3 cbr 192Kbps lame 3.97 and mp3 vbr 192-224Kbps lame 3.97)

late in the night, no noise at all (anechoic chamber though...

), just plugged my Alessandro MS-1 (30hours old) into my laptop (with realtek high definition audio) did some ABX test and the result was:


@ mp3 cbr 128Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 10/10 (I could differenciate each of them, so I did not proceed longer after 10 rights!)

@ mp3 cbr 192Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 9/14 (I could differenciate 9 out of 14 samples)

@ mp3 vbr 192-224Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 8/20 (totally random, couldn differenciate anymore)

So, those were the results!

(i'm thinking of re-doing this test with 164Kbps...)

Cheers!







__________
UPDATE:


well, i just did some other experiences with the same files - just decided to change the equipment...

so, instead of using my laptop soundcard HP out, I used the SPDIF out and plugged it into my dad's amp SONY QS.


then, ABX with DT880 the results were:


@ mp3 cbr 128Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 10/10 (I could differenciate each of them, so I did not proceed longer after 10 rights!)


@ mp3 cbr 192Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 10/10 (I could differenciate each of them, so I did not proceed longer after 10 rights!)


@ mp3 vbr 192-224Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 10/10 (I could differenciate each of them, so I did not proceed longer after 10 rights!)




and that was awesome for me. all tests were made with the first movement of the concerto again as in the first time (I can even tell you where to look into the piece...).




I guess I'll have more work to try others...

Cheers guys!

 

[facelvega]

You'll want to try the computer as source forum, not this one. You'll also want to try something better than your stock laptop card!

 

[Redo]

At 192 or -V 3 area is about when I can't distinguish well at all anymore as well. But this is meant for the computer forum!

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricmat /img/forum/go_quote.gif and made the rip at lossless for the first movement - mp3 cbr 128Kbps lame 3.97, mp3 cbr 192Kbps lame 3.97 and mp3 vbr 192-224Kbps lame 3.97)

You might consider trying the -V presets. The -V 2 preset will average around 192kbps, but will use bitrates of up to 320kbps as necessary. -V 5 will average around 135kbps and -V 3 and -V 4 will be somewhere in between. These presets are tuned for optimum performance, and you can probably achieve better results with the presets than with other settings.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif You might consider trying the -V presets. The -V 2 preset will average around 192kbps, but will use bitrates of up to 320kbps as necessary. -V 5 will average around 135kbps and -V 3 and -V 4 will be somewhere in between. These presets are tuned for optimum performance, and you can probably achieve better results with the presets than with other settings.

Yes, it's the best idea to always use the -V presets, unless streaming or if you absolutely need to predict the filesize exactly. -b 128 won't sound quite as good as -V 5, as -V 5 will push over 160kbps in parts to keep the sound quality high. Yet it will dip in the 110's and below depending on how complex the music is. -V 5 supposedly averages right around 130kbps, but will sound quite a bit better than -b 128.

 

[ricmat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega /img/forum/go_quote.gif You'll want to try the computer as source forum, not this one. You'll also want to try something better than your stock laptop card!

Yeah, you're right! this was just cause a friend asked me, so i thought about posting the results here just for you guys to see if you liked...

 

[ex0du5]

Ewwww out of the onboard Realtek HD....whenever I plug my headphones into that on my laptop, it feels like my ears are being sucked out of my head. Get yourself a PCMCIA Audigy 2 ZS if you plan on listening to music on the laptop!

 

[ricmat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ex0du5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ewwww out of the onboard Realtek HD....whenever I plug my headphones into that on my laptop, it feels like my ears are being sucked out of my head. Get yourself a PCMCIA Audigy 2 ZS if you plan on listening to music on the laptop!

Really? is that a good one for a laptop?

 

[ILikeMusic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif You might consider trying the -V presets. The -V 2 preset will average around 192kbps, but will use bitrates of up to 320kbps as necessary. -V 5 will average around 135kbps and -V 3 and -V 4 will be somewhere in between. These presets are tuned for optimum performance, and you can probably achieve better results with the presets than with other settings.

Yes indeed. For example, I can usually ABX 128kbps from the source but have a much more difficult time with -V5, even though the average bitrate is similar. At -V2 rates you should achieve near complete transparency.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricmat /img/forum/go_quote.gif @ mp3 vbr 192-224Kbps lame 3.97 vs lossless - result 8/20 (totally random, couldn differenciate anymore)

This parallels my experience with Lame V2 new~vbr. And my night table station, while not high high end by the standards here, is plenty detailed.

 

[lemur]

What ripper did you use?
I cant find any V presets for lame in dbpoweramp.

 

[Hanafuda]

what you need to do is get a program called Exact Audio Copy and then set it up to use the official LAME encoder as a plugin. here's a link to a tutorial. good luck and come back if you don't get it going. I also recommend the -V2 preset - nice compromise.

http://www.teqnilogik.com/tutorials/eac.htm

 

[jmourik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemur /img/forum/go_quote.gif What ripper did you use? I cant find any V presets for lame in dbpoweramp.

See screenprint:

Screenprint

 

[ex0du5]

Well I haven't tried any other solution yet for the laptop. If you want the best music listening experience out of the laptop, you're going to need to use an external USB DAC solution. However for multipurpose, I think the Audigy 2 should fare quite well. All I know is that my Realtek HD, really, really blows.

But since I don't need ultra high-fi sound on my laptop, and I am a gamer, I am just getting a USB headset myself (Plantronics DSP 400). For a hi-fi setup, ask around at the computer-as-source board.

 

[cooperpwc]

I actually use EAC to rip to FLAC images (archived to DVD) and then re-encode to Lame V2 new~vbr in Foobar. Foobar is great for the conversion process and offers the V settings.