[GRACE RUBY]

Hi folks

I am having a heck of a time getting MP3 to sound good at any MB count down load, is there some tweaks someone knows to make this format sound good, my 25 watt 12 pound digital amp is really showing real weakness in this format, and why does MP 4 with film seem to sound better, mellower.

there's a lot to be desired ya know?

give up??
what to do????

ruby

[WGH]

Could be any number of problems, from the software to the type of computer or player.
How do you play MP3's? More information is better than less.

Wayne

[dB Cooper]

The file characteristics, particularly bit rate, are also crucial, as there is no one set of mp3 parameters á la Redbook CD. Low bit rate files (say, 64kbps) will ironically sound worse and worse the better the playback system gets (revealing more artifacts and flaws). By the time you reach 320kbps, playback quality is surprisingly good (even more so with the more modern AAC codec). But you say you are dissatisfied regardless of the bit rate, so it's hard to say. I will say that I don't know of any 'tweaks' to improve the sound quality; that is kind of 'set in stone' when the ripping parameters are chosen.

[srb]

By the time you reach 320kbps, playback quality is surprisingly good (even more so with the more modern AAC codec).

I've found that the complexity of the music greatly affects the sound quality.  Sparser, less complex 320kbps music with space between the instruments such as acoustic guitars and vocals can sound amazingly close to the original.

More complex music with higher energy and more instrumentation tends to fall short with a greater difference between the compressed 320kbps and uncompressed 1411kbps versions.

Steve

[GRACE RUBY]

wow gentlemen very kind rapid response

[dB Cooper]

Not sure how much help you're gonna be able to get on "downloading" here

[srb]

What exactly do you mean when you say you are "downloading at 320 only from video sites"?  Are you downloading a video file then extracting an MP3 audio file from it?

How are the files being played and output on the computer?  Is it a Windows or Mac computer and what music player software is being used?

You mentioned only that the computer sound device is using the Realtek AC97 audio driver.  Are you using the Realtek chipset's built-in DAC and the analog line-out output or are you using an S/PDIF coaxial or optical digital output into an external DAC?

Steve

[Funnehaha]

...I'd rather listen to a cassette.

[WGH]

Often I really note something is wrong when i transfer to CD-R and play,

Your answers only inspire me to ask more questions - so far there is not enough information to formulate a possible solution.

Transfer to CD-R? Are you transferring the MP3 as a data file or converting the MP3 to WAV and burning a standard CD audio disk? The MP3 and CD will sound identical because the information is exactly the same.

I ask because we need to know what do you play the CD with? A stand alone CD player? A Radio Shack CD player? A DVD player such as an Oppo? The CD player in a computer?

What is the computer used to play music? A noisy, harsh, jittery laptop or a smooth, analog sounding music server using linear regulated power supplies and a dedicated audiophile approved USB output card into a stand alone DAC?

Played on the latter, a well recorded MP3 can be practically indistinguishable from the CD and much better than any cassette I ever made although at one time audiophiles were recording music on BETA and HI-FI VCR cassettes with excellent results.

Wayne

[GRACE RUBY]

...I'd rather listen to a cassette.

Funnehaha  i have a nakameechee
(Ha Ha if they wanted folks to spell it right they should have named it mike)

I agree all the way to heaven. I am into getting the girls blouse off, not going down a submarine with a candle chasing a bunch of numbers, and then having to defrag. computers are "Lifius Interuaptus"

IMHO

Ruby

[WGH]

You can also test audio quality by making your own MP3's by ripping a CD that has good sound.

Exact Audio Copy (Windows only) with LAME will make MP3's for free. I use dBpoweramp but it is a paid app.

Use your test MP3 to compare sound quality, if it sounds good then you are downloading crappy MP3's and you will have to make your own to get the quality you want.

But... it sounds like you just want to download and play music without messing with the hardware which equates to sound you are not happy with.

So the next solution it to get a better plug and play music box like the Salk Stream player http://www.salkstream.com/ "Add a Tidal subscription and immediately gain the opportunity to add millions of titles to your music library...all seamlessly. It is a wonderful experience."

[GRACE RUBY]

Your answers only inspire me to ask more questions - so far there is not enough information to formulate a possible solution.

Transfer to CD-R? Are you transferring the MP3 as a data file or converting the MP3 to WAV and burning a standard CD audio disk? The MP3 and CD will sound identical because the information is exactly the same.

I ask because we need to know what do you play the CD with? A stand alone CD player? A Radio Shack CD player? A DVD player such as an Oppo? The CD player in a computer?

What is the computer used to play music? A noisy, harsh, jittery laptop or a smooth, analog sounding music server using linear regulated power supplies and a dedicated audiophile approved USB output card into a stand alone DAC?

Played on the latter, a well recorded MP3 can be practically indistinguishable from the CD and much better than any cassette I ever made although at one time audiophiles were recording music on BETA and HI-FI VCR cassettes with excellent results.

Wayne

THANK YOU, 

[GRACE RUBY]

You can also test audio quality by making your own MP3's by ripping a CD that has good sound.

Exact Audio Copy (Windows only) with LAME will make MP3's for free. I use dBpoweramp but it is a paid app.

Use your test MP3 to compare sound quality, if it sounds good then you are downloading crappy MP3's and you will have to make your own to get the quality you want.

But... it sounds like you just want to download and play music without messing with the hardware which equates to sound you are not happy with.

So the next solution it to get a better plug and play music box like the Salk Stream player http://www.salkstream.com/ "Add a Tidal subscription and immediately gain the opportunity to add millions of titles to your music library...all seamlessly. It is a wonderful experience."

thank you

SALK

I have looked for LAME, can't find, keep getting explanations of what stupid is,

[GRACE RUBY]

GENTLEMAN
thanks for your time on this and helpful remarks and directions.

Hope none of you have heard this before as follows, some acoustics !!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1dBg__wsuo

[Charles Calkins]

Right now I'm listening to smooth jazz radio station 101 through my Cambridge music server.
It's broadcast in MP3. Sounds pretty good to me. Once in a while it craps out but a minute or so later it's back on.


                                                                 Cheers
                                                               Charlie

[WGH]

I have looked for LAME, can't find

LAME
http://lame.sourceforge.net/
Remember that EAC does not supply a MP3 codec; you may use LAME by copying it into the same directory where you copied EAC. Then choose LAME in the compression option dialog box. Of course the quality of MP3 is based on the encoder and the bitrate you use.

[srb]

SRB I am converting to MP3 in the download, its the source material i see now that is bad

You can sometimes get a higher audio bitrate with a higher resolution video.

In the case of MP4 videos, 240p videos will generally have audio bitrates of ~ 64kbps, 360p and 480p videos around ~ 128kbps, and 720p and 1080p videos may have audio bitrates up to 192kbps.

If they are YouTube videos they are now limited to ~ 128kbps for any video resolution, at least when using the YouTube player.  I don't know what sites you're downloading from or what mechanisms they are employing to deliver an MP3 or AAC audio download from the videos, but it's probably safe to say they are lower audio bitrates and nowhere near a true 320kbps bitrate.

Do what WGH suggests and rip a few albums to 320kbps MP3 and use those as a quality baseline.

You still don't say what type of computer or player software you're using (it's a bit like pulling teeth!), but if you're using a PC and not using a player like foobar or JRiver Media Center with an ASIO or WASAPI driver to bypass the Windows mixer, then you're resampling and further degrading the source files (iTunes doesn't provide a mechanism to use one of those Windows mixer-bypassing drivers).

A DAC using a Burr Brown chip doesn't really describe much as they make a range of DAC chips from under a buck low-spec low-end consumer chips to high-spec high-end audio quality chips, not to mention the varied power supply and analog output stage implementations that are important ingredients in the sound that a DAC actually produces, so it's possible you're leaving some sound quality on the table here as well depending on what you have.

Steve

[WGH]

Does your audio equipment and computer have a manufacturer and model number?
Or did you build it yourself?

An example* of your answers so far:
We ask: What car you drive?
You answer: It has real big tires.
We ask again using different words.
You answer: It is fuel injected.

*we are not actually asking what car you drive, this is just an example of your responses so far

[GRACE RUBY]

You can sometimes get a higher audio bitrate with a higher resolution video.

In the case of MP4 videos, 240p videos will generally have audio bitrates of ~ 64kbps, 360p and 480p videos around ~ 128kbps, and 720p and 1080p videos may have audio bitrates up to 192kbps.

If they are YouTube videos they are now limited to ~ 128kbps for any video resolution, at least when using the YouTube player.  I don't know what sites you're downloading from or what mechanisms they are employing to deliver an MP3 or AAC audio download from the videos, but it's probably safe to say they are lower audio bitrates and nowhere near a true 320kbps bitrate.

Do what WGH suggests and rip a few albums to 320kbps MP3 and use those as a quality baseline.

You still don't say what type of computer or player software you're using (it's a bit like pulling teeth!), but if you're using a PC and not using a player like foobar or JRiver Media Center with an ASIO or WASAPI driver to bypass the Windows mixer, then you're resampling and further degrading the source files (iTunes doesn't provide a mechanism to use one of those Windows mixer-bypassing drivers).

A DAC using a Burr Brown chip doesn't really describe much as they make a range of DAC chips from under a buck low-spec low-end consumer chips to high-spec high-end audio quality chips, not to mention the varied power supply and analog output stage implementations that are important ingredients in the sound that a DAC actually produces, so it's possible you're leaving some sound quality on the table here as well depending on what you have.

Steve

Steve thanks for yours will answer some of your questions as follows in next posts and thanks again

[GRACE RUBY]

Does your audio equipment and computer have a manufacturer and model number?
Or did you build it yourself?

An example* of your answers so far:
We ask: What car you drive?
You answer: It has real big tires.
We ask again using different words.
You answer: It is fuel injected.

*we are not actually asking what car you drive, this is just an example of your responses so far

Hello WHG

I am using a PC, 7, XP And Vista. and was very hard trying to avoid a science project in getting a decent sound. see as follows and thanks for a laugh about communication, I have lost much hair in this life getting blurry answers from folks when trying to get them to define emotional states, but then again thats why I am asking them,,,,,,they are blurry.