Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.

Poll

What setting do you use with LAME 3.97b2?

High bitrate VBR: -V 0 --vbr-new... -V 2 --vbr-new
[ 149 ] (59.4%)
Mid bitrate VBR: -V 3 --vbr-new... -V 5 --vbr-new
[ 85 ] (33.9%)
Low bitrate VBR: -V 6 --vbr-new and below
[ 6 ] (2.4%)
High bitrate ABR (please explain)
[ 1 ] (0.4%)
Mid bitrate ABR (please explain)
[ 1 ] (0.4%)
Low bitrate ABR (please explain)
[ 1 ] (0.4%)
High bitrate CBR (please explain)
[ 4 ] (1.6%)
Mid bitrate CBR (please explain)
[ 0 ] (0%)
Low bitrate CBR (please explain)
[ 0 ] (0%)
Other (please explain)
[ 4 ] (1.6%)

Total Members Voted: 312

Topic: The LAME usage poll (3.97 only) (Read 29029 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #50
i wonder how many of the "-V 0 --vbr-new... -V 2 --vbr-new" can ABX -V4 or even -V5 (i can't)


i couldn't even abx -V7, but my equipment is rather poor so i'm sticking with -V2 for future use.

and i'm not sure that the fact that i can't abx V7 means i don't actually hear the difference.
it can be something like when you're looking for something what is just before you, but you can't find it. You saw it, probably held it in your hands, but you didn't found it. But it was still there...

EDIT: i've done my abx tests on 2 samples, so these transparent samples doesn't mean that everything on -V7 will be transparent. If i'd do more abx tests my hearing may "improve", listeting conditions may change and so.
Also i'm considering -V2 as a bit of archiving option as i don't have the possibility to go with lossless. I assume, when the day that mp3s will be less compatible comes the new option will be lossless, so the quality of my collection will be preserved.


The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #52
i'm not sure that the fact that i can't abx V7 means i don't actually hear the difference.

i'm sure that if i can't abx, i cant hear the difference.


The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #54
-V1 --vbr new --lowpass 20

Generally around 256 average on the stuff I encode.

The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #55
-m j -V 4 -q 0 --vbr-new

Works For Me™, though I'm mostly a Vorbis user.


The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #57
i wonder how many of the "-V 0 --vbr-new... -V 2 --vbr-new" can ABX -V4 or even -V5 (i can't)


Probably not very many.  I now of at least 5 people over at ilounge that use -V 2 yet they fail ABX tests at -V 4 and -V 5.

Personally, I can't ABX -V 4 and the source lossless file unless I am in my car (with the sound cranked up) or I am using my equipment and really concentrating.  -V 3 is transparent to me.  As a rule of thumb, I always go one step higher.  So I use -V 2.  Granted, the bitrate is too high for my ears but I have a 60GB iPod and a 500GB hard drive used for lossless and lossy storage.  I think I could save about 6GB of space if I used -V 4.  To me, this really isn't worth using the decreased bitrate.

Still, -V 4 is really good.  I am still thinking about switching to -V 4 especially since my ears really can't hear a difference (unless I am concentrating but it is uncomfortable to listen to music like this).

The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #58

i wonder how many of the "-V 0 --vbr-new... -V 2 --vbr-new" can ABX -V4 or even -V5 (i can't)


Probably not very many.  I now of at least 5 people over at ilounge that use -V 2 yet they fail ABX tests at -V 4 and -V 5.


I have a few Techno tracks (now considered problem samples) that are not transparent at V2 vbr-new (ABX-ed) with normal listening conditions and crappy integrated notebook soundcard. (the most evil track is Scooter - Soul Train, ABX-able at V0 vbr-new). I can easily ABX most of V5 encodes (mainly due to lack of high frequencies).
I think that this music genre is a bit more difficult for lossy compression than others...

J.M.

The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #59
For classical music it's quite simple to ABX -V 4 or -V 5 if you got really fine HiFi equipment (speakers!). But transparency noticable increases at -V 2 and above - I'm unable to ABX -V 1 or -V 0 in most cases, but for archiving purposes I want some extra bits for safety, so I'm using -V 0 or -V 2 (dependent on the source material: For piano solo -V 2 is always perfect, for complex orchestral music, I only trust -V 1 or better) most of the time.

For listening (outdoors) from my portable mp3 player of course -V 4 is already sufficient...

The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #60
Two of songs I listen to frequently were trashed by 3.97 -v5 ~ v3 and I didn't even test them *that* much - it was that easy to run into trouble. Never happened with musepack 180k or wavpack 320k.

For portable playback I still use -v5 and -v4, but to say that no one can abx them and that its always safe to drop the bitrate isn't always right. They are good quality for general playback and not for archiving, transcoding or anything more.

The LAME usage poll (3.97 only)

Reply #61
For classical music it's quite simple to ABX -V 4 or -V 5 if you got really fine HiFi equipment (speakers!).

That's why there's that --athaa-sensitivity 1 in Guruboolez's line. LAME has too gentle ATH curves for quiet sounds.

Quote
But transparency noticable increases at -V 2 and above - I'm unable to ABX -V 1 or -V 0 in most cases,

I'm nitpicking, but transparency is binary. You're talking about quality.

Quote
For listening (outdoors) from my portable mp3 player of course -V 4 is already sufficient...

For me too, that's why I use it (actually --preset medium, which should be the same) for my portable MP3 player.
Ogg Vorbis -q 6 for HD storage, FLAC --best for archiving on DVD.


I have a few Techno tracks (now considered problem samples) [...]
I think that this music genre is a bit more difficult for lossy compression than others...

That's why I use Vorbis for HD storage - it's excellent at electronic music since Aoyumi fixed microattack problems.
ruxvilti'a