converting 128 kbps MP3 -----> 320 kbps = better quality?

[RKAltimas01]

I've had some mixed opinions from my friends about this issue. From what I heard, converting 128kbps MP3 to 320 kbps does nothing to audio quality. Am I correct?

 

[Nothinman]

MP3 is a lossy compression, once you compress it once you can't compress it again and gain anything back.

 

[cjsketchy]

The file will be bigger but it'll sound exactly the same.

 

[bsobel]

Actualy, the file will be bigger and won't sound as good. MP3 is, as was stated, lossy. You can't reencode 'up' and retain 100% of the original data. You'd need to reencode from the real original data (e.g. the original wav file) to get the improvement.
Bill

 

[Zenmervolt]

<< Actualy, the file will be bigger and won't sound as good. MP3 is, as was stated, lossy. You can't reencode 'up' and retain 100% of the original data. You'd need to reencode from the real original data (e.g. the original wav file) to get the improvement.
Bill >>

Bingo. Every time you encode an MP3 you lose data. When you encode the WAV to a 128kbps MP3 you lose a lot of data. When you encode from 128kbps to 320kbps MP3, you still loose a little bit of data, which will make the file sound worse. Also, you cannot get better quality by going 128-WAV-320 because when you go from 128 to WAV you have a WAV file that has no more data than the 128 MP3, it's just bigger.

ZV

 

[BScott881]

OK .... I've heard all this. Tell me, what is the best quality file and what is the best quality (small, simple) way to keep it??

 

[DaveSimmons]

<< OK .... I've heard all this. Tell me, what is the best quality file and what is the best quality (small, simple) way to keep it?? >>

If you own the CD, rip it at 256 kbps to begin with for very-very near-CD quality, or 192 kbps for almost-always-near-CD-quality.

If you're getting files off the net, it's too late, you're stuck with whatever encoding the person "sharing" the file decided to use.

If it's a CD you like enough to listen to more than 1-2 times, why not buy it and enjoy it the way it's supposed to sound, instead of an FM-radio quality version?

 

[Becks2k]

Very reasonable size vs quality with no thinking = lame + --r3mix

www.r3mix.net

 

[PliotronX]

<< I've had some mixed opinions from my friends about this issue. >>


Please slap some sense into your friends who believe transcoding to a higher bitrate with lossy compression yields better quality. They're the sort of people who are spreading transcoded 320Kbps files from 128Kbps or lower on P2P apps. It's just a pet peeve of mine...



<< OK .... I've heard all this. Tell me, what is the best quality file and what is the best quality (small, simple) way to keep it?? >>


For MP3s, do not use any other encoder besides LAME. The developers are most active in its development, and it is being improved all the time. LAME is a command-line based encoder, which means you can compile it for many different platforms, but in order to have a GUI you will need to use a frontend. Among the best for Windows is RazorLAME. The interface is very easy to use, and straightforward.

The best quality you can get out of MP3 is LAME 3.91 using the command line --alt-preset insane. This uses 320Kbps CBR, but the quality is superior to anything that MP3 has ever put forth in the audio world. For best filesize/quality and archival use, the command line --alt-preset standard will almost always yield better quality than 256Kbps CBR files, and will end up in the 200-230Kbps range (depending on the complexity of the music). --r3mix is pretty antiquated, it hasn't been improved since 3.89 because AFAIK r3mix (Roel) got a new job and began working hard so he had little time to work on LAME (sad ). So after Roel was pretty much OOC, a guy named Dibrom started a new line of preset switches under the --alt-preset (formerly known as --dm-preset) switches. You can get a lot of information about these preset switches by opening a command prompt and running lame with the command line --alt-preset help. --AP switches include settings for VBR, ABR, and CBR. If you need further information, take a visit to the forums at r3mix.net and Hydrogenaudio.