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Topic: Transcoding MP3 - MPC (Read 7006 times) previous topic - next topic
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Transcoding MP3 - MPC

I wanna transcode my Mp3 collection (only MP3 with bitrate 192 and higher) to MPC --standard --xlevel (MPCEnc 1.14)... what do you think about that? (I mainly want to save some space - 25GB of Mp3 is too much...) What with quality will be more worse?

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #1 –
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I wanna transcode my Mp3 collection (only MP3 with bitrate 192 and higher) to MPC --standard --xlevel (MPCEnc 1.14)... what do you think about that? (I mainly want to save some space - 25GB of Mp3 is too much...) What with quality will be more worse?

I wouldn't even consider that. Better buy a cheap 5400 rpm 80 GB hard disk and keep your MP3s as they are. Quality of the usual 192 CBR stereo MP3s -> another lossy encoding run with MPC, that's bound to fail. If you don't mind quality loss, use a low Ogg Vorbis -q setting (2?), it will have a *much* bigger effect on filesize and will maybe still sound "listenable" if you're desperate.

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #2 –
So what should I do with some OGG -q 6 files? Can I transcode them to MPC ant this will be better than transcoding mp3 192 to MPC?

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #3 –
Never, never, never Transcode Lossy Files to another Lossy Format, the resulting file is going to sound worst than the first one
Made in Portugal

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #4 –
Argh... stop transcoding and re-rip the CD's. Or buy them, if you don't have the originals.

Transcoding should only be done if you need to make a, second copy for a portable player that does not support the first copy's file format (e.g. mpc -> mp3) and you're too lazy to re-rip the CD, or you don't care too much about quality. On a PC, where you can play any format, and storage is cheap, it's just silly to transcode.

I'm not accusing anyone here, but it seems in many cases those who want to transcode the most are those who download and share a lot on P2P networks, and those people should be the LAST ones transcoding because it will make life miserable for others who download their transcoded files, and it can harm the delicate reputation of fledgling file formats.

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #5 –
cpu:

Quote
So what should I do with some OGG -q 6 files? Can I transcode them to MPC ant this will be better than transcoding mp3 192 to MPC?




That's double-senseless, because you could end up with some of the transcoded MPCs actually being bigger than the original files!

TRANSCODING IST DEATH.

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #6 –
It all depends on the transcoding method used.

IMHO, an mpc obtained by Mp3Gain'ing a 192 cbr mp3 to max noclip level, then decoding it to wav using the MAD decoder, then encoding it to mpc using --quality 6.0 --xlevel, then Replaygain'ing it using --auto, sounds FAR better than the original mp3.

While re-ripping is of course the best option, transcoding as above is well worth the trouble if the only available source is mp3, again IMHO.

Regards,
Madrigal

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #7 –
Quote
IMHO, an mpc obtained by Mp3Gain'ing a 192 cbr mp3 to max noclip level, then decoding it to wav using the MAD decoder, then encoding it to mpc using --quality 6.0 --xlevel, then Replaygain'ing it using --auto, sounds FAR better than the original mp3.

No, what you are doing is just changing the loudness. The MPC will have less quality than the MP3 after transcoding, that's simply a fact. You should rather apply MP3gain with 89 dB to your MP3s.

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #8 –
I know this is redundant, but you can never stop driving this point home:

[span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%']DON'T TRANSCODE[/span] 

There are few exceptions, such as the aforementioned encoding a lossy format to MP3 for use in a portable MP3 Player. (I encode from Ogg q6 or MPC xtreme to ABR MP3 at around 112-128 kbps)

Also, transcoding from AC3 to MP3 or Ogg (for use in OGMs) is still acceptable, AC3 tracks being too damn large for those 1 CD DVD rips everybody is using 

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #9 –
lossy transcoding means low quality.

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #10 –
There was a song which someone made about transcoding from lossy to lossy formats. It was really funny. Anyone have a link for it?

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #13 –
Quote
Quote
There was a song which someone made about transcoding from lossy to lossy formats. It was really funny. Anyone have a link for it?

http://pajamacrisis.net/music/heehee.ogg

YEATH!! gr8 shit! nothing more nothing less!

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #15 –
Never transcode unless the original is from a lossless format, or from a Musepack source. The latter being worse case.
flac > schiit modi > schiit magni > hd650
 

Transcoding MP3 - MPC

Reply #16 –
Big, slow hard drives these days are dirt cheap - buy a couple of massive ones and store all your music in lossless compression (I like Monkey's, myself...) - then I can transcode from lossless to whatever lossy format is de jour - I've been using lame --alt-preset extreme for my iPod and that works beautifully!

Somebody should write a "Ten Commandments of Computer-based Audio" list...

1. Thou shalt use EAC to rip
2. Thou shalt not transcode
...etc etc

--jeff