MP3 gurus

[joe shmoe]

ok, so i read somewhere that not only is the bitrate at which the song is ripped at important, but also the software used. seems like 128 kbs is 128 kbs, but somehow the quality on one could be better than another.

now i'm using Audiocatalyst(i got it free). is this a shit program? whats the best? i want really good quality MP3's. i normally rip at 128 because i couldnt really hear a difference between this and 160 or 192. besides, i like having 180 songs on a CD for my car(this is where i want the quality) and at 128, i can get more on my memory card for my portable unit(sound quality not too important here).

Audocatalyst has different settings:
ASPI
MSCDEX
ANALOG.
does this mean anything?

thank you...have a nice day

[NEU]

Joe
click here
http://download.com.com/sort/3120-20...tml?qt=ripping

this is all the free downloads from download.com, and sorted by the best rated.
Quintessential Player 4.1 is the best rated.

CNET.com has tons of info if you want to read more and learn about the quality of ripping and whatnot.
lata
~NEU

[thick]

thanks for the link. I am going to try that one out today

Originally Posted by NEU

Joe
click here
http://download.com.com/sort/3120-20...tml?qt=ripping

this is all the free downloads from download.com, and sorted by the best rated.
Quintessential Player 4.1 is the best rated.

CNET.com has tons of info if you want to read more and learn about the quality of ripping and whatnot.
lata
~NEU

[pcycle]

stop the presses! I hope I got here on time! I had somewhere a website that have all the details of the art of the perfect, best way to encode mp3's. I'll find it. wait a sec..

also, just so you guys now, you should not use fixed bitrate. If you use let's say 192 fixed bitrate, it will use 192 throughout the hole song, even though i might have needed some more for some high frequencies and might have wasted bitrate on lower frequencies. The best way to encode, regardless of the encoding program, is variable bitrate, wich smartly allocates enough bitrate according to the wave frequency. However, the encoding program does matter, as a better coded program will do a better job a distributing the bitrate in a variable bitrate encoding, and that's why I want to find the goddam website that explains everything, it is extensive.

Other thing, even though you might not hear the diference between a 128 and a 192 kbits encoded song, you can feel it. I you do stick to fixed bitrate (which is a mistake) use at least 193 kbits per sec.

I'm out to look for the website....

[pcycle]

I found the program...it's called "Exact Audio Copy". It's the shit, will even rip some protected cd's. You will need to read on the website though to learn to use it.
I still have to find the website I spoke of before.

To get EAC go to
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

[pcycle]

found the site

it is
http://mp3.radified.com/

dig through and you shall master the art of audio encoding.
Also check out the forums at hidrogenaudio, link is on the above mentioned website.

LAter,

Pcycle.

[joe shmoe]

thanks pcycle. thats alot of reading, but i'll get to it.

have a nice day

[thick]

thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by pcycle

found the site

it is
http://mp3.radified.com/

dig through and you shall master the art of audio encoding.
Also check out the forums at hidrogenaudio, link is on the above mentioned website.

LAter,

Pcycle.

[pcycle]

no prob guys. It is a lot of stuff to read, but once you understand what's going on there, you won't have to think about it anymore, you'll just have a setup that will work for everything.

LAter.

Pcycle.