Re: LAME -V3 vs -V4?
Reply #15 – 2022-05-31 13:28:34
In short... use V5 (130kbps) and forget about it. [...] After further reading I think I'm going to use Opus after all, the savings in disk space are just too nice (yes, even today it matters for me), despite that the support for mp3 is probably still wider and more and more support is added for Opus. Many say on this forum and elsewhere that even at 80 kbps Opus sounds transparent to them (some say even below that) and 96 kbps is good enough for most. If you think V5 (130kbps) on MP3 is good enough... if your using Opus I suggest seriously considering 64kbps as that's probably still 'good enough' for many people as if your going to use any higher than that, I suggest just going straight to 96kbps and forget about it. speaking for myself... I would likely struggle to notice a difference on a typical Opus 64kbps music file and I highly doubt I would notice any difference at 96kbps (if I could, I suspect it would be rare/small enough not to matter). bottom line for me when it comes to Opus... use 96kbps or less otherwise your better off using a more standard format like MP3 overall since that's Opus main strength is getting good enough sound quality at bit rates that would be too low for MP3 (so you can roughly halve the storage space with a sound quality that's plausibly very similar overall). basically once you start getting into around that 128kbps+ range, while Opus is a strong performer, MP3/AAC(AAC-LC) starts to look more appealing overall given they are more widely supported. or another way I might put things, here is my suggested minimums for each of the following formats... -MP3 = V5 (130kbps) -AAC (AAC-LC) = 96kbps (I suggest FhG or Apple (which I do through Foobar2000)) -Opus = 64kbps (while one may get away with going lower, I kind of figure this is somewhat the sweet spot since it's probably not worth going to say 48kbps and saving 16kbps(or 25% less storage space) for potential further drops in sound quality) but come to think of it... while I mentioned already that once you get into the general 128kbps or so range that I would probably just stick with MP3 given the universal support, and while I mentioned Opus @ 96kbps is a solid option worth considering, I kind of figure once you hit 96kbps you might be better off with AAC(AAC-LC) given it's the next best inline with being supported behind MP3 and I doubt many would complain about it's all-around sound quality. hence, that's kind of why I figure if someone is using Opus with music that 64kbps is probably the sweet spot since it gives a legitimate storage space savings over MP3/AAC without sacrificing sound quality too much. p.s. on Opus for speech, I don't mind using as low as 13kbps as that sounds surprisingly good for speech considering the very low bit rate. because while it's not transparent, as you can tell the difference between the original source and the 13kbps Opus file, it's still 'good enough' considering the major storage space savings and with speech I am not as picky with sound quality as I would be with music.