Burning mp3 CD's

[Hal_396]

I might be alittle behind the times here but I have a question about transferring my normal music CD's to a MP3 CD. What bit rate do I use? I made one @128kbps. Will this give me enough clarity or do I need to go higher?

I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet on a MP3 compatable stereo.

 

[SoCalDude]

I might be alittle behind the times here but I have a question about transferring my normal music CD's to a MP3 CD. What bit rate do I use? I made one @128kbps. Will this give me enough clarity or do I need to go higher?

I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet on a MP3 compatable stereo.

128 is just okay. For music, 160 or 192 is better.

 

[D'Ecosse]

A lot depends on how good your audio system is and how discerning your ear is.
My recommendation would be to try burning the same track (pick something really bright) at a variety of bit rates & determine which one you feel you really need. You or your system may not notice much difference - I certainly can on mine & in fact rarely play MP3's.
If you have a lot of music then you want to use the most efficient bit-rate you can stand; but if not concerned about the total space required, then use a high rate.

 

[johnny010]

what programs are you using to make the mp3's?

 

[TURBO2GO]

I agree, 128 is just too low... I think 192 is a minimum. I can easily hear the differences.

That reminds me of a question for you guys, is all that is available through the apple store 128? I have bought a few songs and they all have come through at 128 with no choice (that I saw) for a higher bitrate.

 

[SoCalDude]

what programs are you using to make the mp3's?

I use iTunes. Free and easy to use.

 

[Hal_396]

what programs are you using to make the mp3's?

Sonic Stage

 

[Sockeye]

you can use the windows media player if you desire to convert from wave's to mp3. I also believe wave files sound cleaner on a nice stereo system. You sure can pack a lot more music on a disk mp3 style though:tongue:

 

[NRG]

I highly recommend this software:

Easy CD-DA Extractor

It's very easy to use....stick your music CD in..and push a couple of button...and wahlaaaa...mp3 files are ready...you can convert them to other format as well. What I like about is that if you have an option for one single 60 minutes non-stop mix song that you wish to keep it as a non-stop, then this software allows you do that even when the original has track listing in them.

 

[Hugh]

Without question the best sofware for ripping MP3 is EAC available at http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

And without question the best codec to use is LAME available at http://www.free-codecs.com/Lame_Encoder_download.htm download version 3.96.1 - Stable

Install EAC then download Lame and put the Lame DLLs into the EAC folder.

If you're really computer illiterate and need a nice pictorial guide go here: http://www.music-reviewed.com/guides.php

Personally I can't listen to MP3s. They suck even when ripped with the best software available which I just told you about. What really boggles my mind is that people pay 99 cents per song to download that crap. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Hugh, whats your source for downloading music then? itunes has anything I have ever looked for. Thats the plus, but they only do 128 which is rather pathetic.

 

[jimmycinla]

what programs are you using to make the mp3's?

I have used this program for years and years.
It Rips your CD's directly to Mp3 format.
It's free and they don't load you with any BS, which is rare these days... Click here.

-j-

 

[johnny010]

Personally I can't listen to MP3s. They suck even when ripped with the best software available which I just told you about...

Is there a certain type of music you listen to that is affected by the ripping process more? I have listened to a few mp3's and never really noticed much degradation.

 

[Hugh]

Hugh, whats your source for downloading music then? itunes has anything I have ever looked for. Thats the plus, but they only do 128 which is rather pathetic.

Call me old fashioned but I still buy CDs. If I want to listen to something before deciding whether or not to buy it there are plenty of ways to do that. if you want to download MP3s of higher quality then go to www.allofmp3.com
It is a Russian site and it is technically legal because they pay royalties under Russian law. You can download in just about any format you choose with the bitrate that you choose. You can even download in lossless formats. You pay them by the bandwidth you use so the higher the quality of the download, the more it costs.

Here is some very good information regarding the legality of using allofmp3.com in the U.S.

Wikipedia also discusses allofmp3 in great detail.

Here is a great comparison chart of the current legal music download sites.

 

[D'Ecosse]

They have some really good stuff on there though

They even have your theme song Hugh :tongue:

(one of my top 50 list - Southern Culture on the Skids)

Seriously impressed by their available listings - couldn't come up short with all the things I looked for.

 

[Hal_396]

I just found out this little tid bit of info I thought I would share with you concerning mp3 files:
Q: How does MP3 audio quality compare to CD?
A: A well-encoded MP3 file has what is called "near-CD" audio quality. Like the ATRAC compression used in MiniDisc recording, MP3 reduces file size by selectively removing information that is beyond the frequency range of human hearing or that is "masked" by more prominent sounds that occur simultaneously. Music compressed with MP3 at good quality (128 kb/s) requires 10 times less memory than it would in the uncompressed CD format. That means downloads are 10 times faster and MP3 players can hold 10 times as much music in the same amount of memory space. When compared side-by-side with the original CD, an MP3 file sounds very good, and for many pieces of music the sound quality will approach or be perceptively equal to the original CD recording.

 

[TURBO2GO]

I just found out this little tid bit of info I thought I would share with you concerning mp3 files:
Q: How does MP3 audio quality compare to CD?
A: A well-encoded MP3 file has what is called "near-CD" audio quality. Like the ATRAC compression used in MiniDisc recording, MP3 reduces file size by selectively removing information that is beyond the frequency range of human hearing or that is "masked" by more prominent sounds that occur simultaneously. Music compressed with MP3 at good quality (128 kb/s) requires 10 times less memory than it would in the uncompressed CD format. That means downloads are 10 times faster and MP3 players can hold 10 times as much music in the same amount of memory space. When compared side-by-side with the original CD, an MP3 file sounds very good, and for many pieces of music the sound quality will approach or be perceptively equal to the original CD recording.

I think one of the side effects of being a computer geek and never having kissed a girl is hearing loss. :biggrin:

Hal, if a 128 MP3 sounds even REMOTELY close to a "original" CD recording like the article says, then I will eat my floormats.

 

[flaminio]

I encode most of my mp3s at 192 bits. I find that it strikes a good balance between file size and sound quality.

MP3s will generally sound worse than CD quality, but if you're listening in the car, the engine and road noise will override any sound quality issues. My MP3 disks on my new CHA-S634 sound just fine.