MP3 decoding - does it make a difference?

HI,
If you go from CD to MP3, or from MP3 back to Compact Disc Audio, the compression does bite IMO.

CDA files lack the air of the originals etc, and MP3's at 192kps (which is the compression rate I use) do sound fine on my protable tho.

andy c!

hi,

coincidently I had a play with this last night.

Ripped a track from cd onto my Creative Nomad 3 at 192 kps VBR MP3 and the same track onto an uncompressed .wav file.

Then fired the line out of the MP3 player into my 202/200 and compared with the original played on cdx2.

OK so the original won easily, but the .wav file was not too shabby. The mp3 file was someway off the pace.

Through my headphones however I can't tell much difference between the .wav and the mp3. Nor in the car where I use it most.

Ripping at les then 192kps I can hear the reduction in quality over the headphones.

Ian

Martin,

What bitrate are you ripping the MP3s at ?

I'd suggest trying them on a different player to see if it is a problem with the Panasonic.

My only experience with MP3s to date has been with a Dension in car unit (Disk based CD-changer replacement) and a newly acquired networked Squeezebox that's currently playing through my 82/180/PMC OB1s.

I'm also using EAC/Lame, set at 320k CBR without any other 'special' settings and whilst the quality isn't as good as the original CD in my CDX (and I'd be upset it if was !!!!) it is remarkably good. I settled on 320k because storage isn't a problem for me (80Gb in the car and 250Gb in the house) and I know it's as good as MP3 can be without any niggling questions in the back of my head, so to speak.

Apple Lossless / FLAC etc are 'slightly' better through the 82/180/OB1s but the size of these and the fact that the wireless network doesn't like streaming them uncompressed has effectively ruled them out - and to be honest, I've been sat here working for the past 5 hours listening to the MP3s and not once have I thought 'oooh that sounds naff..'

Do the MP3s sound as 'bad' when played back on your PC ?

Mark

Mark,

ALT-PRESET EXTREME gives a Variable Bit Rate (VBR), but apparently averages around 200kbps (a Jimi Hendrix track I've just checked comes out at 201kbps).

From what I've read, ALT-PRESET INSANE will give a 320kbps CBR, but also optimises other settings to give a better result than simply specifying 320CBR. However, some here have reported "echoey" artifacts in the result, which I suspect may be doen to the replay rather then the encoding.

BTW, the advice seems to be to make sure to use V3.90 or V3.90.3 rather than any earlier later versions. They have substantial improvements in the coding process over earlier versions, and are "known" to sound the best, even over later versions.

I haven't yet tried any proper comparisons playing back through the sound card in the PC (SB Audigy 2 platinum). This actually sounds pretty good playing 24bit 96khz samples off the vinyl, but apparently it's optimised for 48khz rather than 44khz playback.

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.

Martin,

I'm using Lame v3.96.1 which is the latest - interesting to hear about the older versions sounding better but having spent the last 2 weeks ripping CDs I'm going to resist the temptation to try an older copy !

I initially went down the VBR route (can't remember the exact settings) and most of the tracks were coming out at around 200kbps, but to my ears the 'simple' 320kbps CBRs sounded more natural.

Best of luck,
Mark

Mark,

thanks. I'll re-encode using ALT-PRESET INSANE & see how it goes.

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.

Mark,

first impressions - "insane" sounds much less flat than "extreme", and bass is tighter. Very listenable.

I wonder if there's an "alt-preset DBL"?

One thing that's really weird - "insane" codes 2-3x faster than "extreme". I can only assume that there's a lot of extra work involved in deciding what to throw away for VBR.

If you've got any CDs left to rip, then I'd definately suggest you try "insane".

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.

Martin,

Thanks for the update - glad I'm not the only one hearing things !!

Love the idea of the 'DBL' setting, although the 'SVS' setting would take some beating (look here for more SVS info )

I've also been playing at the weekend, trying out Lame, Apple Lossless & Flac again, with WAV as the reference. After several hours of 'blind' testing (Squeezebox on shuffle & repeat modes) I've come to the following conclusion :

1st place - Flac
2nd place - Apple Lossless
3rd place - Lame MP3 at 320kbps CBR

The difference between Flac & Apple Lossless is minimal. The Lame MP3s sounded slightly compressed with the bass being marginally more 'woolly' and the treble slightly harsher. To be fair, the MP3s are more than good enough for general listening, party music etc.

However.... having resolved some performance issues with my wireless network, streaming Flac & WAVs is now a practical proposition. So I've decided to re-rip all my CDs (for the last time !!!!!) to WAV and FLAC - the WAVs get archived onto a Lacie external harddrive and the Flacs are used for the Squeezebox. The Lame MP3s are retained for use in the car. It's a bit of a pain, but at least this way I've got the best of both worlds and I've also got all the WAVs for when the next 'must have' format comes along - no more re-ripping CDs.

I must be mad....

Ah well - at least disk is cheap........

Cheers,
Mark

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkLamble:
I've come to the following conclusion :

1st place - Flac
2nd place - Apple Lossless
3rd place - Lame MP3 at 320kbps CBR

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From my reading on t'internet "alt-preset insane" does quite a lot more than just 320kbps CBR. It might be worth investigating that before making any final decisions.

quote:

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So I've decided to re-rip all my CDs (for the last time !!!!!) to WAV and FLAC - the WAVs get archived onto a Lacie external harddrive and the Flacs are used for the Squeezebox. The Lame MP3s are retained for use in the car.

---

Once you've got the files in WAV, there is a utility available for download which can convert your whole WAV collection to LAME/MP3s in a single batch run (might take a while, though!!!)

Since you're going to have the WAVs available anyway, you might as well take this final step.

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.