MP3 Bitrates and Encoding

[VideoTechMan]

Lately I've been recording my vinyl LP and 45 collection to my PC within the last 2 weeks, and now have completed getting them into the computer. I have been using Adobe Audition to do all of the recording at the highest quality possible, so as to eventually put them on CD.

Now my question is, after I do the work on editing the .wav files to prepare for CD, i've been wondering if encoding to MP3 at 192kbps would yield a better result compared to 128? I know its a lossy format, but I would figure that even at 192, you could retain a bit more audio information than you would at 128. I do plan to save the .wav files to CD as well in order to preserve the fidelity and for backup, but with only having a 6-CD changer in my car, an MP3 disc would last quite a long time. The new car stereo I bought several weeks ago is capable of playing MP3 discs from 8 to 320kbps with either CBR or VBR. Any help would be appreciated.

VTM

[steve2713]

I use mostly MPC (high quality playback for the computer) or WMA (for portable) for compression anymore, but when for MP3, I'd suggest that you use 'lame' (lame is the name of the encoder) for your MP3 encoding, and I'd probably use VBR at average bitrates of around 200kbps or so, Joint Stereo. I can EASILY tell the difference between 128 and 192 MP3, but once you get to about 192 and up, it becomes difficult to notice much quality loss difference. I use dbpowerAMP for all of my conversions, it is simple to use but very flexible and let's you use all options available, and you can all different types of codecs. It is very simple to do batch conversions as well. And it's free At the compression settings I suggested, you'll still be able to fit ~130-160 songs per CD.

[freestyler]

I recommend using Lame with the --alt-preset standard. Yields great VBR mp3s.

[LPHYbrid76]

What if you don't want to use VBR? I have used it before and notice a weird sound in the MP3s, almost like a splashing water kind of noise...really weird

[Kurt S]

Asking someone what bitrate to use is a bit like asking what flavor popsicle you should eat. What one person may think sounds great at 128kbps may sound like garbage to someone else. Personally I can't stand listening to anything lower then 192 and even then I can tell the difference between 192 and 320. But some people will argure that anything over 128 is a waste.

I would suggest taking a few songs that you are familliar with and saving them at different bitrates. Then burn them all to a CD and put it in your car. Drive around while listening to them and see what bitrates sound satisfactory to you.

[freestyler]

What if you don't want to use VBR? I have used it before and notice a weird sound in the MP3s, almost like a splashing water kind of noise...really weird

If you don't want to use VBR, use CBR. However, frequences that need a higher bitrate will suffer.

Lame handles VBR very well.

[junkmalle]

I did lots of tests of my own and decided to use 192 kbps. For me that gave the best compromise between sound quality and file size.

Keep in mind that not all MP3 codecs are created equal. Some do a better job than others. From what I've read Fraunhofer and Lame are among the best.

I don't recommend variable bitrate if you're interested in maximum compatibility. Many players, both hardware and software, don't handle VBR perfectly. Espcially things like seeking.