How do YOU MP3? Inquiring minds want to know...

[CUlater]

Just got my wife an MP3 player, and now I've got to fill it up fast before we leave on vacation next week.

Downloaded the CDex ripping software, got all her CDs stacked here by the computer....HELP!

Question is, what should I use for settings? Constant bit rate, or Variable bit rate? 128kb/s rate? 196kb/s? or higher?

There's two quality settings, one apparently for whatever encoding data rate you choose (1-9) and one for the VBR encoding, again 1-9.

Has anyone played around with this stuff, and figured out a good compromise between file size and sound quality? My goal is to get as many as possible of my wife's 100 or so CDs on her 40gb player, so she'll stop losing and scratching the disks... I'd like to keep it good sounding, so if she wants to plug the player into my home system I won't have to leave the room...

Thanks in advance, and apologies if I missed this discussion before. I did do a search of the archives and didn't see the info I'm looking for.

 

[cabinover]

See my thread in the Technology section entitled "Thor, I gotta question."
There is a link in there to dBpower something or other that is a good read.
I used MusicMatch Jukebox to transfer some tunes to mp3 at 160K and it sounds ok, haven't had time yet to A/B them. I do know that at that rate, 1min of song is about equal to 1MB.

The MusicMatch is pretty easy to operate once you figure it out.

Know what makes me mad? My Kenwood CD cassette type(circa early 80's) will play any disc I throw at it including CD-R and mp3, but a Sony that's less than 5 years old just loses it when asked to do the same!!! Sorry for the Rant

 

[THOR]

Use constant bitrate 128kpbs, I have higher quality Mp3's (higher bitrate) and to be honest as long as they are clean rips I can't really tell the difference plus 128 is CD quality and will use less space which means you will get more songs on your player. You will easily fit the 100 CD's on a 40 gig player. Like I said I listen to MP3's thru my main rig and this includes tubes and horns not just SS and my CV's and as long as they are good rips 128 does the job just fine

 

[styler]

apple

iTunes to airport with mew "lossless" encoding. however, i like the looks of the Roku and it has RCA outs and works with iTunes too! love the set up though, when i'm not listening critically, is what i jam thru. i dont find it flat like some mp3 complaints, but then again, lossless encoding really isnt mp3. go for apple, super easy to set up. good sound, good encoding.... plus they got the marketshare and best spin off items!
:thmbsp:

 

[styler]

ooops didnt read bottom post

higher sampling will give better music but bigger file hence less music... sounds better though. is your player comaptible with some of the newer compression technologies? there are better ones than what you are using. simialr to "zip" technology and you can get higher quality music. on the other hand the audible difference between 128 sampling and 196 is miniscule unless you've got really good headphones.
tyler

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

I use cdEx (free download) and encode mine @ 128kb or 196kb depending what mood I'm in.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I think the highest bit rate VBRs sound better, but you'll have to see if her player will play them. VBR won't work right on everything. I realize this is a bit controversial, but I generally find anything under 256 kbps sounds pretty grungy. IMO 360 kbps VBR sounds pretty good with almost all rock, but still sounds edgy with acoustic music (especially harpsichord, cello and massed strings).

This is based on playback on a fairly revealing home setup; 128 might be fine for portable use with cheap headphones. It also it is based on your garden variety MMJB encoder; I know there's better encoders out there that may get better sound at lower bitrates.

 

[CUlater]

Update - Did a quick test with 'Money' off of Pink Floyd's DSOM CD. Using 128k CBR, when I play back in Winamp I noticed that the highest indicator on the 'spectrum analyzer' display doesn't ever move. When I encode at 196k, it does, as it does when I play the original CD. Looks like 128k loses more info...didn't evaluate the audibility of it yet.

 

[Cleve]

There's a significant roll off in high frequency response with lower bitrate MP3's. I've got a bunch of 128 kbps MP3's that I used to listen to on my old stereo (Pioneer 90's pro logic black box receiver and Pinnacle PN8+ speakers) and they seemed just fine. But now I find the sound of those same MP3's on my current system to be intolerable - there's an 'artificial' quality to the sound that I can't put my finger on, but definitely notice with McIntosh amps and Klipsch speakers.

 

[tropicalian]

I've backed up my entire collection of cds to mp3 so that all of my music (minus vinyl) is a few clicks away. After ripping well over 1500 cds, I've got quite the collection going. And it is all obsessively ripped at 320k constant bit rate. This requires a fair amount of storage, but it all fits fine on a 250 gb drive...which right now can be had for .cheap. at $130ish via pricewatch.com. Downloading music just doesn't do it for me because the quality usually sucks. Paying for downloaded music?...no way. No cover art. Bah!
I use CDEX, and love it. Have not had any serious problems/issues with it. Takes only a few minutes for a cd to rip and names all of the tracks...and its a free program.
I make a habit of going through my collection of old cds and trading them back in to the local record shop...get new music
Music has been an integral part of my livelihood, and I intend to keep it close by at all times!

 

[cabinover]

I have a couple of d/l songs here. I can tell you this much, they will not play on my son's mp3 player, but will if burned to a CD. Must be something about the protection.