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High Quality MP3s - How To
StoreTags: mp3, how to, high quality, encoding
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In anticipation of mixing down my wavs to mp3 for an upcoming release distribution, I've been doing some research. While there's a lot of good information out there, most has been bad. Thus, I thought I'd share what's worked for me. Sure, mp3 isn't ideal, but you can't argue with mp3 as the de facto standard.
First off, mix down to wav in your host application (and dither that wav if you're mixing down to 16 bit). Yes, you can usually dump to mp3 but dedicated mp3 encoders have been doing better encodings for longer. Mix to an uncompressed wav and get it out of your host.
Get LAME [ link ]
Get RazorLame [ link ]
Then read this [ link ] to find the proper settings for your project. I like to use one of the four "high quality" strings under the recommended encoder settings. 320's usually overkill (for the vast majority of listeners) and anything less usually takes too much out of the original to please the artist/producer.
Additionally, unless you're encoding at 320, don't use cbr (constant bitrate). Vbr (variable bitrate) gives you higher bitrates when necessary at certain points in your tracks - a vbr at 192 could encode half your track at 220, reserving a, say, 120 for when you're not using the entire audio spectrum.
Happy encoding!
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Comments
06/25/07
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collapsicon
Ok how about encoding for myspace? I've heard they all end up 96 but do they use vbr?
I want to encode to the format they use so there converters dont.. re-convert, it any tips?
06/25/07
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mrk087
For my releases ive always used 128kbps, although im thinking of up-ing that to 192.
I've always have had problems encoding my mp3's to a Variable Bitrate (VBR), because i upload my music to places that are strict about their mp3's (must be 128kbps, 44.1khz) and VBR always tends to have it off by a little bit (even though i encoded them to 128kbps VBR).
iTunes/iPods and some other mp3 players has also had problems with VBR. For some reason, the player reads the tags correctly, but doesn't display them correctly, i'll occasionally get some track time thats about 30 minutes when the song is really about 5 minutes.
I haven't had a problem with CBR, thus, they have a greater chance of playing correctly in a majority of portable players.
I use dbPoweramp to convert most of my music, since my exported wavs come out at 48khz.
06/25/07
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stringedthry
@mrk
yea, most places online only accept cbr - that's an unfortunate reality.
@collapsicon
myspace? no idea.you should be able to track down that information through a few google searches. but, like mrk brought up, they probably require cbr.
06/26/07
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thehydrax
doesn't myspace convert to some kind of Flash audio? which is why it sounds like ass
06/26/07
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nagrom
for me, anything less than 256kbps is unlistenable. Period.
I encode all of my music at 320kbps mp3, or 256kpbs AAC.
06/26/07
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energygiant
could you explain why skippy?
06/26/07
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nagrom
The difference is glaring to me.
The guide in that wikipedia entry calls 175kbps VBR transparent? No way.
A good metaphor is this: treble is supposed to sound like ice. Compressed (below 256kbps) treble sounds like snow, or ice-cream. Really compressed treble sounds like a snow-cone.
Compression is nearly unnoticeable for me at LAME encoded 320kbps though.
btw, LAME for iTunes: link (I do all my conversion in iTunes).
06/26/07
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deltasleep
LAME is the encoder used by my sequencer- think there'd be any difference?
06/26/07
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RogerRoger
mrk087 said: "iTunes/iPods and some other mp3 players has also had problems with VBR"
I encode everything with LAME 320kbps vbr and have never had a problem with any player except windows media player, which Winamp replaces in every respect for audio.
Expanding on Morgan's comments, I find that certain very noisy and dynamic sounds, like claps and loud snares, will sound like tape warble with anything less than 256kbps. Also even with the LAME settings I use, the cymbals in alot of Jazz tend to sound like their running through an triangle LFO modulated LP filter. It's like the encoder has some db threshold to activate its filtering.
06/26/07
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deltasleep
I agree, roger. I don't know if anything is as murdered as tambourine, though! I have a Herbie Hancock CD with a tambourine in a place that sounds like that without being compressed, though... maybe thats just a digital thing in general?
I find that nothing gets cymbals quite as right as vinyl.
06/26/07
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stringedthry
roger, at 320, you're better off going with cbr.
delta, you're probably okay. what sequencer do you use? also make sure you're using the most recent stable version of lame - 3.97, i think.
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