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Topic: Some Audio Quality Questions (Read 5744 times) previous topic - next topic
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Some Audio Quality Questions

Hey,

I am currently backing up some of my CD's and I want to rip the audio with no loss in audio quality or any other information. What is the best way to do this?

Once the CD's have been ripped I want to convert the music into MP3 for playback on my iPod, I've read that 192kbps is the best bitrate for an iPod, can someone confirm this?

When I'm converting the music to MP3 should I use VBR, CBR or ABR? I've read a lot of posts about which is better but I would like to know which one will provide the best audio quality at any given bitrate. File size doesn't matter to me.

Sorry if some of these questions have been posted previously.

Thanks,
ilovemovies

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #1 –
There's looooooooooooooads of info on this if you search HA and in the Wiki too.

I use LAME at -V 3 on my iPhone and nano and it's fine for me.

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #2 –
Quote
I am currently backing up some of my CD's and I want to rip the audio with no loss in audio quality or any other information. What is the best way to do this?

Once the CD's have been ripped I want to convert the music into MP3 for playback on my iPod, I've read that 192kbps is the best bitrate for an iPod, can someone confirm this?


The best way would be to rip to lossless using FLAC or ALAC and then transcode to MP3 (if your running Windows one way to accomplish this is by using Foobar2000's transcoder).  It doesn't matter what's the "best" or what you have read. Try performing an ABX test first to determine what's the best for your ears. You wouldn't be hard pressed to look into Itunes/Nero AAC if these files will just be going on your IPod as well.
budding I.T professional

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #3 –
Different strokes for different folks.  You'll get a lot of different answers regarding mp3 file-creating.  The latest tests show that you can encode at -V5 (about 130kbps VBR) and have a reasonably difficult time hearing differences from the original.  I think you'll find not everyone is willing to go so low when storage space isn't really an issue any longer.  I use -V3 (175 kbps VBR) on a 5gb Zen Micro and I can fit all my favorites in excellent quality.

You'll just have to try some settings and see what you like.  We can throw numbers out there, but you're the one listening to your music, not us.
foobar 0.9.6.8
FLAC -5
LAME 3.98 -V3

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #4 –
Can there be differences between FLAC files? For example are there higher quality FLAC files and lower quality FLAC files? If two people were to rip the same CD into FLAC files would they both be exactly the same? Are there some software settings that increase or decrease quality?

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #5 –
Please, please do a little bit of preliminary search here.

FLAC = lossless

Lossless = lossless


terry

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #6 –
Quote from: HotshotGG on
The best way would be to rip to lossless using FLAC or ALAC and then transcode to MP3 (if your running Windows one way to accomplish this is by using Foobar2000's transcoder).

Or one could use REACT with EAC.
/advert

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #7 –
this is probably gonna be the noobest question in this forum but here goes..

I've downloaded the latest LAME encoder.. how do i use it?? theres no .exe file or anything

Do I require some other software? If so please recommend me a small and reliable software which can convert FLAC files into mp3 using the LAME encoder. I don't need any fancy interface or options as such.

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #12 –
Quote from: ojdo on
Quote from: igotquestion on
Whats the point of downloading files from here? http://sourceforge.net/projects/lame/files/lame/

These files are source code releases. They are made for people who want to compile the encoder themselves.


or for those who have a system the can't run any of the compiled versions of the code.

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #13 –
Quote
If two people were to rip the same CD into FLAC files would they both be exactly the same?
No...  The compressed FLAC files can be different. But when the files are decompressed or played back, the decompressed data will be identical to the CD.

When you make a FLAC file, you have some options...  You can choose between a higher amount of compression (slightly smaller file) that takes longer to encode, or a lower amount of compression (slightly larger file) that's faster to encode.

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #14 –
Quote from: igotquestion on
If two people were to rip the same CD into FLAC files would they both be exactly the same? Are there some software settings that increase or decrease quality?

There is certainly the possibility that even the audio data within the FLAC files will be different, but it has nothing to do with FLAC. Either of them could get a bad rip, or they could be ripping two different pressings of the same CD. The only thing that we can say for sure is that whatever data were ripped from the CD will be EXACTLY preserved within the FLAC file.

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #15 –
I'd reiterate to the OP that the most important first step to getting accurate audio with no loss in quality is to ensure you rip the CD accurately and are informed of ripping errors.

I'd suggest something that uses the Accurate Rip database so you can see how many other used ripped the same CD to the exact same data as you.

On the Mac, I think XLD is pretty much the only option.

On Windows, spoon originally developed AccurateRip for his dBpowerAmp product, which is considered relatively simple to use. There's also Exact Audio Copy with AccurateRip support. Foobar2000 with the AccurateRip plugin may suit you, and CUEtools supports AccurateRip too.

For CDs not yet in the AccurateRip database, secure mode ripping or Test & Copy with matching CRCs will assure you of the accuracy of your rips.

For Linux, possibly Foobar2000 under wine?

Then choose a lossless format if you require a lossless archive and use the guides to choose good lossy format and quality/compression settings (click Wiki at the top of this page) for help. MP3 is the obvious universal format for compatibility. LAME is the recommended encoder, using VBR settings. -V5 to -V3 is a sensible range to try at first, but conducting ABX or similar blind testing will help reveal the best setting for your ears.
Dynamic – the artist formerly known as DickD
 

Some Audio Quality Questions

Reply #16 –
Quote from: Dynamic on
matching CRCs will assure you of the accuracy of your rips.

For anyone reading this expecting that since it came from HA it must be true, please disregard this claim; it isn't true.