high quality mp3s? (in terms of kps)

[Hayabusa 10+ year member]

M4A and ATRAC3PLUS FTW....

 

[Ayrton 10+ year member]

I think people get way too caught up in the fact that MP3s are a compressed format. Can most hear a difference between an iTunes mp3 and a CD, of course they can. However you would be very surprised the number of “audiophiles” that cannot tell a difference between a proper mp3 and the original CD. Some of you older members may remember when compact disc where first released and people swore up and down that CDs did not sound as good as vinyl records. Plenty of audiophile publications have written articles about this and more than one editor was surprised to find out that they choose the mp3 over the original CD.

All I can tell you is to try it for yourself and see what you think.

Follow the link in my signature and start enjoying the very best mp3s you never thought possible.

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

I think people get way too caught up in the fact that MP3s are a compressed format. Can most hear a difference between an iTunes mp3 and a CD, of course they can. However you would be very surprised the number of “audiophiles” that cannot tell a difference between a proper mp3 and the original CD. Some of you older members may remember when compact disc where first released and people swore up and down that CDs did not sound as good as vinyl records. Plenty of audiophile publications have written articles about this and more than one editor was surprised to find out that they choose the mp3 over the original CD.
All I can tell you is to try it for yourself and see what you think.

Follow the link in my signature and start enjoying the very best mp3s you never thought possible.

eac is as good as it gets for mp3. It is impressive. But in terms of my reference system & the truly hi-fi equipment I use when I feel like some SQ, mp3 will never do. As for as my mp3 setups for daily listening and in my car, eac ROCKS.

 

[AllStar1500bd 5,000+ posts]

If you rip a CD at a higher bit rate than it was recorded, you are just wasting space. That's why it's pretty much standard to rip VBR (variable bit rate).

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

If you rip a CD at a higher bit rate than it was recorded, you are just wasting space. That's why it's pretty much standard to rip VBR (variable bit rate).

There is no such thing as ripping a cd at a higher bitrate than it was recorded.

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

I have an ipod 30 gig, I already cannot fit all my songs on the ipod, and its heartbreaking having to make cuts, but im very into sound quality also, i like using itunes to import my cd's. so i use vbr highest for my favorite CD's, but i have to watch space too so i compromise and use 192kbps on the "other CD's, its fine for most people and systems so if you want to be space concious without having crappy songs, i reccommend 192...its not perfect, but on most systems you cant tell. if you have tons of space, and a plan to get it into your ride, then go for VBR

P.S. VBR turns out to be around 180-250 usually anyway... but i have some that are like 113-WTF???

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Personally I think 128kbps is NOT EVEN CLOSE to cd quality but thats just my opinion. The closest to Cd quality CBR that I've heard is 320kbps. But I prefer VBR by the Ubernet standard to be the closest to CD quality MP3 that I've ever heard.
If you'd like to find out how to encode your own VBR mp3s in this standard you can PM Chris (username: Ayrton) and he would gladly link you to the right place. It's all free software and well worth it.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/member.php?u=22939

My thoughts exactly...

Other than an EAC encoded mp3, anything below 192kbps is not even worth having IMHO...

nG

 

[AllStar1500bd 5,000+ posts]

There is no such thing as ripping a cd at a higher bitrate than it was recorded.

If you rip a CD at 320kbps and it was only recorded at 220kbps, then ripping at 320kbps is rather pointless.

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

If you rip a CD at 320kbps and it was only recorded at 220kbps, then ripping at 320kbps is rather pointless.

find me a cd recorded at 220 kbps. Please.

Most any studio-produced cd will be in its original wav format, producing files 8-12 times larger than most mp3 files, akin (comparable) to 800-1200 kpbs, if not more. This is why mp3 was derived-- to lower the size of these large files into more manageable and still listenable files.

No cd will ever be recorded in 220kpbs. That's medium-grade mp3 quality... laughable. This would be comparable to shooting a major studio film with a sony digicam & some old 8mm tape.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

um, uncompressed audio as stored on a compact disc has a bit rate of 1411.2 kbit/s

 

[headless 10+ year member]

My thoughts exactly...
Other than an EAC encoded mp3, anything below 192kbps is not even worth having IMHO...

nG

EAC doesn't encode (to mp3 or anything else); EAC is exclusively for ripping the audio data from the CD. You can tell EAC about an external encoder on your PC such as LAME but eac doesn't encode to mp3; it tells lame to do it is all. Kinda like how some programs use IE to surf the web embedded style. They aren't web browsers; they use IE to do the rendering. Replace rendering with encoding and you've got the relationship that eac has to LAME...it tells it 'hey i just ripped a file, here it is, encode it to mp3 using the following settings' and lame has at it.

I do agree that 192kCBR is the bare minimum for mp3 quality if you have a reasonable quality stereo.

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

um, uncompressed audio as stored on a compact disc has a bit rate of 1411.2 kbit/s

that's why I said 800-1200 (what I observe with FLAC, a lossless format) or higher (i knew uncompressed rates would be slightly higher.)

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

eac is as good as it gets for mp3. It is impressive. But in terms of my reference system & the truly hi-fi equipment I use when I feel like some SQ, mp3 will never do. As for as my mp3 setups for daily listening and in my car, eac ROCKS.

Well, yes you are correct sir but you have to remember the whole point to compressed audio. It was invented for convenience and for saving storage space on a disc. By no means would I sit down with a glass of bourbon, close my eyes and listen to the subtle nuances of my finest MP3 music. LOL. MP3s have their place and uncompressed high fidelity formats also have theirs.

 

[Black_Jesus 10+ year member]

if it aint 320 it aint worth listening to //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

if it aint 320 it aint worth listening to //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/read.gif.ff512c499c00ed3faae9a20f4b088b29.gif

VBR is by far a much better sound than CBR in ANY bitrate.