Encoding differences between LAME, Xing and Fraunhofer MP3 encoding

ToeJam13

Senior member
May 18, 2004
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All,

I have a Toshiba SD-4700 DVD player that is having problems playing MP3 audio files generated on my home PC. I have done some significant research and have found different levels of compatibility with files generated from different engines.

The player can only handle MPEG-1 Layer-3 files. MPEG-1 Layer-2, MPEG-2 Layer-3 and MPEG-2.5 Layer-3 files do not play. Furthermore, the player is limited to 44.1KHz encodings. 32KHz play too fast, 48KHz play too slow. CBR and VBR are fine from 32kbps to 320kbps.

Of those MPEG-1 Layer-3 files I've generated, those created by Lame (both 3.92 and 3.96) and Nero WaveEditor (FH based encoder) sound distorted. Drum hits sound like somebody is hitting a tuned wood block with a rubber mallet. Other sharp hits in the lower frequency bands also sound distorted.

I have found that songs generated using the Xing engine (the one from AudioCatalyst 2.1 to be exact) sound perfectly fine in CBR. LAME and Nero CBRs both suffer from the distortion. VBR files created from all engines suffer from the problems.

I've tried various padding formats in Nero, along with strict ISO compliance with LAME. Nothing helps.

How do these different engines adhere to the ISO differently? What different forms of padding are used for MP3s? Are the pschyco-accoustic tables static within the standard, or are MP3s generated in a self-contained fashion?