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Topic: Transcribe mp3 to mp3 (Read 2782 times) previous topic - next topic
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Transcribe mp3 to mp3

Hello,
I've read that transcribing from mp3 to mp3 is generally a bad but does is there a difference between these conversions:

1. FLAC --> mp3 VBR V2
2. mp3 CBR 320 ---> mp3 VBR V2

Is there a difference in the end between the sound files? I wanna reduce the file size of my 320 CBR mp3s for my mp3-player.

Regards

Transcribe mp3 to mp3

Reply #1 –
Quote from: kais0r on
Hello,
I've read that transcribing from mp3 to mp3 is generally a bad but does is there a difference between these conversions:

1. FLAC --> mp3 VBR V2
2. mp3 CBR 320 ---> mp3 VBR V2

Is there a difference in the end between the sound files? I wanna reduce the file size of my 320 CBR mp3s for my mp3-player.

Regards


of course there is a difference. FLAC is a lossless file. So converting it to mp3 is not transcoding. Your option #2 (mp3 to mp3) IS transcoding and should be avoided. I keep my files in FLAC for home and archive use and keep a mirror directory of mp3 files for use on portables (lame VBR V2).

edit: and one of the reasons maintaining a lossless archive is useful (e.g., FLAC) is that when new and improved lossy codecs come along, one can simply point and click and create new versions of lossy files from these lossless files.

Transcribe mp3 to mp3

Reply #2 –
We should seriously make a sticky FAQ using the most common questions.

E.g. the perfect answer for this question was also given a few days ago:

When you encode an mp3, there will be both audible and inaudible artifacts because it's a "lossy" compression that estimates the audio within the limits given in the bitrate. If you try to re-encode an mp3-file, not only the audio will need to be re-estimated, but also the artifacts, which might even be hard for the encoder. That said, you should perform ABX tests to determine if you are able to hear differences in the quality.
Can't wait for a HD-AAC encoder :P
 

Transcribe mp3 to mp3

Reply #3 –
@Kaisor:

If your idea is doing something like  mp3 320 -> mp3 128, and keeping both files, you may be satisfied with it.

Concretely, i mean that the problems of transcording from higher bitrate to lower can be less than the effect of the encoding at the lower bitrate. Thus, you may accept (or even not notice in the general case) the effect of the transcode.


Now said that, remember that transcoding (lossy to lossy) always decreases the quality. (Keeping the same format/encoder actually decreases it faster)



Ps.: Transcripting is writing down something recorded and/or said.