Converting .wav to .MP3 and back

[Bstansbury]

I'm looking for a way to archive all my music data on my system (and get back the space) to higer compressed MP3 files. I have Nero and they offer their MP3Pro software plugin for Nero 5.5.10 that seems to do a fantastic job of compressing the orginal .wav audio files. The price is $19 downloaded over the internet, which would seem to be a great price if it will really do the convertions both ways.

Has anyone tried this software. I've looked at all the other MP3 compressors, but haven't tested them. Nero's claims that MP3 will reduce a .wav file up to 6x and that their PRO version will give you 50% of what an MP3 would be. Sounds really great. I did a test on one high quality music CD and could not tell the difference. If this is all true I should be able to store about 180 songs on one CD in .MP3PRo.

Looking forward to suggestions.

[sterno]

I know a little about mp3pro format. I wouldn't spend $20 on it, but I'll tell you what I know and you can make up your own mind.

First, the good. "mp3pro" format has been around for a while (it's not specific to Nero). It usually does sound better than MP3 at the same bitrate when you play it on an mp3pro-capable player, at least at lower bitrates.

Now, the bad. That "50%" claim is just hype. The company that wrote the mp3pro encoder claimed that, but in reality you'll probably need 96k to get the same quality as standard mp3 at 128k. I've also heard that some types of music end up with a lot more artifacts than with standard mp3, but I can't verify that myself and those reports were soon after the initial release of the software - it may have been an encoder or player bug. On top of that, the quality will only be good when you use a player that supports mp3pro, a standard MP3 player will play that 96k file just like a standard mp3 at 96k. I'm not sure if there are any freely-available mp3pro players, but you would get one if you bought the Nero plug-in.

Before you spend the money, look in to VBR encoding with standard mp3 or ogg vorbis (encoders and players for both are freely available). You can probably save about as much space, but you will need to do a little experimenting to find what VBR settings you want to use. You will also be much better off if you always encode from the original CD, converting a lossy format (MP3) to WAV and then back to some other lossy format will cost you quality just like encoding an MPEG movie to another MPEG.

[secretagent]

mp3pro sucks.

[mats.hogberg]

Lame (or BladeEnc) does the job (wav -> mp3) nice and smooth. For the other way, I usually use WinAmp 2.X (file output plugin) or SCMPX which is very fast.

/Mats

[w@rR10r]

I use Cdex which isnt a bad little proggy

[rcb3n474]

I get excellent results from LAME also. I use it in conjunction with Feurio! for ripping and encoding to mp3. You can point Feurio! to the .dll so you don't have to encode separately. Avoid the 3.9x versions as they are incompatible with some players. I have had no compatibility problems with the earlier versions or the latest beta.

Oh, forgot, LAME is free and Feurio! has a fully functional demo but is well worth the $19.95 asking price to register.

[Bstansbury]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I've only done one song as a test. It was ripped off a CD to a .wav file (as all the others I've done) and it is 64 MB. When converted to MP3 it was 16 MB and when I used MP3Pro on it, the results was 2 MB. I can not tell the difference but my wife, who can hear up to 19KHZ can detect less quality but she can't say how,.. it is just not as clear.

I'm am sure if I dusted off all my CD's and reloaded each one and converted from the orginal to MP3 that would be the best quality. However, the current process I use for creating a backup of my Music CD's it to copy it to my Hard Drive as a .wav file, then burn them in EasyCD creator. Of the 100+ I've done, no one, not even my wife has ever mentioned detecting any difference. I have a 5 disk Sony player in my living room, and when guest come over, I play my backup disks, unless I happen to have a brand new CD that I want them to hear. This music plays most of the evening.

The tracks on a orginal CD run typically from 30 MB to 60+ MB. If a .wav file compresses the orginal, it can't be very much. It looks like it is just a digital to digital conversion of format. MP3 is Mpeg layer 2 audio compression format, but I don't know if this is done while it is digital or if once it is converted to analog and then compressed.

I guress if I was a purist, I would forget all the work I've done and just re-do all my CD's. That is a lot of work and time,... since I have about 18 GB's of audio on one of my Hard Drives, all in .wav format. To Archive that data would take 27 CD which is a waste since it is the same size as my orginals. However, if I compress them to MP3, I could get 4:1 more compression, which would get it all down to 1 DVD+R. That is a good Archive for me. If I lose a cd or scratch one so bad that it won't play without skipping, then I can get a "Decent Quality" CD off my archive.

My concern it will I be able to load the "Selected" files back onto my system and convert them from MP3 to a standard CD format.

I will play around with this but would appreciate any comments on this idea. I need to get some of these programs and try them out.

[Don2050]

Bstansbury,

Here is site that contains links to good audio encoders and has a FAQ on the subject:

http://www.inf.ufpr.br/~rja00/programs.html

If you are going with a lossy compression, Musepack or .MPC seems to be the choice of audiophiles, it compresses to about the same as MP3 but is widely agreed to give better results.

But true audiophiles I guess stick with lossless compression...I have used Monkeyaudio for that and it is a bit for bit copy of the original at about a little over half to 2/3 compression.

Some extra reading if you havnt already....

http://mp3.radified.com/lossless.htm

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/ some of the developers are on this forum to answer questions