CD quality?

dannyjo22 · 29 Oct 2006 at 11:06

What bit rate is considered CD quality? I've seen pay sites where you can download varying qualities, which is nearest cd quality?

Thanks

Grrrrr · 29 Oct 2006 at 11:28

Always go for 320 where possible and as an absolute minimum 192. I think it's criminal that some sites (read itunes) charge you 80p for a track at such a crap bitrate

squiffy · 29 Oct 2006 at 11:30

dannyjo22 said:
What bit rate is considered CD quality? I've seen pay sites where you can download varying qualities, which is nearest cd quality?

Thanks

Lossless.

I can tell the difference between original CD and 320kps MP3, on the Hi-Fi with a good recording.
High bit rate OGG is much harder to tell from the original CD.

csmager · 29 Oct 2006 at 12:02

CD Quality is really 16-bit × 44,100Hz = 705Kbps.

Lossless is better though - same end result in less space, lets you store tag info (WAV files don't).

dannyjo22 · 29 Oct 2006 at 13:02

Thanks, so basically I can't download from any mp3 sites true CD quality?

squiffy · 29 Oct 2006 at 13:06

dannyjo22 said:
Thanks, so basically I can't download from any mp3 sites true CD quality?

No because MP3's have thrown away parts of the audio spectrum, converting to back won't get the data back.

If you can download flac files from music download sites. This is lossless so can convert to WAV (original quality) or lossy ie mp3/ogg

SexyGreyFox · 29 Oct 2006 at 13:26

Have a look at these test results I did on MP3's and different bit rates -
MP3 Test Results

bigmouse64 · 29 Oct 2006 at 14:10

I think VBR is a decent quality, although lossless would be ideal.

Grrrrr · 29 Oct 2006 at 15:03

dmpoole said:
Have a look at these test results I did on MP3's and different bit rates -
MP3 Test Results

That's quite interesting actually. I don't suppose you could use the same test .wav to compare 192vbr?

Tommy B · 29 Oct 2006 at 15:45

Grrrrr said:
Always go for 320 where possible and as an absolute minimum 192. I think it's criminal that some sites (read itunes) charge you 80p for a track at such a crap bitrate

Perhaps, but AAC is vastly superior to MP3.

128kbps seems adequate for the sort of songs I buy on iTunes. The "chart" songs are usually awful recordings in the first place. I can't really notice the difference between songs I've bought on iTunes, and the equivalent songs on albums I've ripped to lossless, and my PC is wired to an amp/Hi-Fi.

SexyGreyFox · 29 Oct 2006 at 16:32

Grrrrr said:
That's quite interesting actually. I don't suppose you could use the same test .wav to compare 192vbr?

Chronos-X · 29 Oct 2006 at 17:49

IIRC someone here made a CD image of uncompressed vs. MP3'd sound for proper testing, and all the "i only listen to uncompressed flac

" diehards suddenly went quiet.

Theres a difference there, but some people just want the placebo.

squiffy · 29 Oct 2006 at 17:51

Chronos-X said:
IIRC someone here made a CD image of uncompressed vs. MP3'd sound for proper testing, and all the "i only listen to uncompressed flac " diehards suddenly went quiet.

Theres a difference there, but some people just want the placebo.

Please

most people use PC speakers so you won't notice the difference.

Chronos-X · 29 Oct 2006 at 17:57

squiffy said:
Please most people use PC speakers so you won't notice the difference.

Ah yes m8, you'll need a titanium snake oil-shielded power cable to get the full effect m8

Anyone got the test files?

edit: here - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17565580&highlight=bitrate+test

bledd · 29 Oct 2006 at 19:42

just read through that whole thread

/sticks to eac'd vbr mp3's

james.miller · 29 Oct 2006 at 19:50

are they still results using an old encoder, dmpool? id love to see what the new lame encoder will do

SexyGreyFox · 29 Oct 2006 at 20:57

james.miller said:
are they still results using an old encoder, dmpool? id love to see what the new lame encoder will do

Which is the latest?

james.miller · 29 Oct 2006 at 20:58

3.97

well, it's the newest recommended build. they are on 3.98alpha6 i think now.

SexyGreyFox · 29 Oct 2006 at 21:37

I'm being a bit thick here.
I've downloaded the latest tar.gz file, u rar'd and theres about a 100 files and I'm looking for lame_enc.dll.
What do i do with all these files so they end up in Audiograbber?

james.miller · 29 Oct 2006 at 21:41

http://download.softpedia.ro/software/MULTIMEDIA/AUDIO/lame-3.97.zip

try that link. the lame_enc.dll is in the main directory, but you shouldnt need that

What you'll need to do is extract that into its own directory inside audiograbber's directory. The click on >>mp3 settings >> external encoder >> browse and find the lame.exe.

in the arguments field, copy and paste this:

Code:

-V 2 --vbr-new --add-id3v2 --pad-id3v2 --ta "%a" --tt "%t" --tl "%g" --ty "%y" --tn "%n" %s %d

That *should* be all you need