Have I made a boo boo?
Have I made a school boy error here - or will the quality surfice?
I only have a month to have everything sorted as I'm off traveling :p
[217 byte] By [MonkeyIceCube] at [2007-11-9 12:14:53] 
I am new to all this - and have recored all my CDs with MusicMatch.
Have I made a school boy error here - or will the quality surfice?
I only have a month to have everything sorted as I'm off traveling :p
# 1 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
The quality of your MP3s is determined by the compression rate you set for ripping you CDs, not the specific package you use to do it. I'm not aware of any quality issues with Music Match. I think people's complaint is that MM is big, takes over your system, is ugly and hard to use, rather that the actual quality of MP3's it produces.
Cheers
rainoffire:D
rainoffire at 2007-11-15 17:06:46 >
# 2 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
Cheers Rain!Have been recording at 192kps so should be fine there then. :D
MonkeyIceCube at 2007-11-15 17:07:46 >
# 3 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
Actually the program does make a difference--there are different ways to rip and encode.Ripping is best done in "digital secure" mode--rippers that use this setting, which allows for multiple rereadings of the disc to cut down in errors include EAC, and Media Center 9. I don't think mmjb has a ripping digital secure mode.
For encoding, mmjb uses the Fraunhofer encoder--which is not quite as good as the LAME enoder, especially if you are encoding at higher bitrates like you are.
You can get EAC/LAME for free, or, if you're looking for an all in one application like mmjb that uses digital secure and the LAME encoder, check out Media Center 9--which IMHO is a much better program with the ipod in mind than mmjb--it synchs much better than mmjb.
Now the mp3's you made at 192 are going to be very good, even with mmjb--you chose a good bitrate,and I wouldn't recommend reripping what you've already done, but if you want to step up in quality, go with either EAC/LAME or Media Center 9...
dmt1 at 2007-11-15 17:08:45 >
# 4 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
Bottom Line: Regardless of what program you use to rip or even to some degree what bitrate you select, make sure that whatever you choose sounds good to YOUR ears. Also, it ties in a bit to how you use your iPod. If it's mostly in your car, you can certainly get away with a lower bitrate but if your ears are discriminating and you listen through high quality headphones or a high-end system, you probably want that higher bitrate and better sound quality.NiTRO at 2007-11-15 17:09:51 >
# 5 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
I use 320 kbps CBR. Call it overkill or whatever you may, but I hear a difference. Especially thru my home audio hifi with the treble. I can hear a deeper bass thru my car audio with the 320 as opposed to 192 I used to run at. In the end, just go with what you think sounds alright. Try a blind test, that'll really tell you what the best bitrate is to you.
BigBohn at 2007-11-15 17:10:50 >
# 6 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
There is a noticeable difference between 192 and 320 on good systems......however, there is an ever more noticeable difference from 320 to 1440 CD...
...If you are using Ipod for headphone/personal use only, and aren't using super sensitive headphones, I don't really expect that you'd notice a big difference between 192 and 320...from 128 to 192 it is very noticeable, but 128+ is satisfactory for, what, 95% of all casual mp3 listeners?
ironchef9000 at 2007-11-15 17:11:50 >
# 7 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
To be honest I only really going to be using headphones for the first year at least - I'm off traveling!Can you convert MP3's of one bit rate to another? Obviously I know you can go up, so not really sure why I ask :confused:
Anyhow as soon as I get the thing I'll have a good old test :)
MonkeyIceCube at 2007-11-15 17:12:54 >
# 8 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
For what it's worth (and I admit this is a highly subjective thing), I can't tell the difference between CD quality and mp3's compressed with the LAME encoder, using --alt-preset standard, which averages about 192 kb/s. I can tell a difference between 128 and 192...dmt1 at 2007-11-15 17:13:57 >
# 9 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
I have had a go at Media Center 9 - and am getting along with it very nicely.One last question though - what is "--alt-preset,standard"?
MonkeyIceCube at 2007-11-15 17:14:54 >
# 10 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
It's a preset for the encoder developed by a bunch of audiophiles trying to achieve the perfect balance between sound quality and file size--with sound quality being the first priority. Songs average about 192 kb/s when encoded this way (it's a VBR encoder). To my rapidly aging ears, I can't tell the difference between this and CD quality--but like one of the posters mentioned above, everyone is different on their perception of quality and differences between various bitrates--best thing to do is to try a blind comparison between various encoder settings yourself...dmt1 at 2007-11-15 17:15:56 >
# 11 Re: Have I made a boo boo?
Excelent - i have no issues with the MP3s I've ripped so far - my only issue is the fact I have to increase my stereo volume a few notches just to get a decent volume from the iPod. Its a nightmare when i forget to turn it down again, and switch back to the radio - day day i'll blow the speakers!MonkeyIceCube at 2007-11-15 17:17:00 >
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