Sound Quality Question

[zenotic 0]

Dear friends,

 

I am current planning to get a pair of iem but am wondering if I should rerip my music collection so that I can maximize the potential of the new phones. Am using a normal dap and storing the tunes in mp3, 128kbps format. How much difference in quality will a 320kbps sound compared to a 128 ?

 

Also if I were convert my collection, how much will it differ in terms of capacity, compared to my current one ? Thanks in advance !

[rkivie 0]

i say it really depends on the individual. for some 192 is enough, for others they will die without FLAC. if you have the time, i suggest you do some sort of test on yourself - rip a few songs at the various bitrates and hear for yourself. identify the point at which the tracks become more or less undistinguishable from CD quality.

 

for instance, in the comfort of my own home, where it is much quieter and makes for a better listening environment, i felt i had to go up to 256 kbps; anything under that makes the sounds feels constricted and narrow, like it's just not coming out.

 

but when i'm on the go, 192 is quite enough to keep me happy. for some recordings, even 128 will do. haha i certainly do not have golden ears.

 

i have a track that is 5:30 min long - at 128 kps it's 5.1MB, at 192 it's 7.6 kbps, at 256 it's 10.2 MB. when encoded in Apple Lossless it is 35.5 MB, in AIFF it's 55.7 MB.

Edited July 4, 2006 by rkivie

[feather 0]

Comparing 128 kbps with 320 kbps is like comparing mono radio with THX. As the bitrates increase, the gap in sound quality closes. Minimum would be 192 kbps. Strangely enough, not all 192 kbps sound the same either. I feel that 256 kbps is a better compromise than 320 kbps; but these days I am also quite happy with VBR encoding (as opposed to the aforementioned CBR encoding).

[Guest joi-ful]

I second feather in going with ripping mp3 in VBR, u get the best SQ to file size ratio.

 

[kehyi 0]

Some guy did a fairly rigourous test on some audio compression formats and bit rates:

hifivoice

 

you can go have a look at what he has to say.

 

 

of course, the best is to try yourself lah.

[zenotic 0]

Wah, thank you guys so much for the comprehensive explanation. Much appreciated ! Think I'll go do some testing and see how it sounds to me first. I'll most likely rerip my jazz, new age and other acoustic tunes. Thanks again !

[nakedtoes 0]

Well some are contended with 192KB... for me even 320KB/S sucks.. but for portable acceptable..

[palestofwhite 0]

Use LAME for Mp3 with VBR. I used LAME with iTunes and it sounded much better than stock ripped itunes Mp3s.

[zenotic 0]

Use LAME for Mp3 with VBR. I used LAME with iTunes and it sounded much better than stock ripped itunes Mp3s.

 

Hey, is there a windows version of LAME for itunes ? Think iTunes - LAME only MacOS have .....

[ralli`fto 0]

Try EAC with LAME?

I'm using it to rip at 320kbps.

[Kube 0]

I also happen to use EAC with LAME. I say, if you have the storage for it, rip at 320kbps. Doesn't hurt to be sure, lol.

[rkivie 0]

btw iTunes-LAME actually uses an older LAME version. to update it for 3.97 you have to go through many complicated steps (at least to me haha). so i'm using another program called MAX for that.

[palestofwhite 0]

Yeap i upgraded LAME for iTunes and yes i'm actually using a powerbook. EAC+LAME should work well for the windows platform. I used the default preset which already gives a reasonable quality for my Mp3s.

[koljaho 0]

lAME

[Psychoacoustics 0]

Dear friends,

 

I am current planning to get a pair of iem but am wondering if I should rerip my music collection so that I can maximize the potential of the new phones. Am using a normal dap and storing the tunes in mp3, 128kbps format. How much difference in quality will a 320kbps sound compared to a 128 ?

 

Also if I were convert my collection, how much will it differ in terms of capacity, compared to my current one ? Thanks in advance !

 

well this depends on your own pair of ears dude. Whatever sounds good to you may not sound good to another. Experiment with all the formats and see which one suits you well.