mp3 files to sound better

rich1000

hi my mate says there is a way to convert mp3 files to make the sound quality sound alot better...?

is there a way to do this?

if so do i have to download anything?

please advise if you can...

Thanks

Darksun

Not really... MP3 is a lossy compression format so there's no real way to 'enhance' the sound. Better speakers will produce better sound, and you can play around with equaliser settings and environmental settings to improve the acoustics, but if it's a low quality MP3 it's a low quality MP3

rich1000

no problem mate thanks for replying..

Beninio88

Not all mp3s are created equal . I use EAC with LAME.
There are a few ways to convert mp3s to sound better, but you'll never reasonable get the mp3 to sound as good as the original.

One way to make mp3s sound better is upping the bit rate that you convert your mp3s to. The higher the bit rate the better the sound. This however increases the size of the file too.

A far better way to convert mp3s is by converting them to what is know as VBR mp3s. This means that the bit rate changes throughout the song. When it comes to a complicated bit the bit rate will go up, but when it gets less complicated (eg in pauses ect) the bit rate drops right down. This creates a far better mp3 and although the file size may be a bit greater IMHO its worth it.

The codec that you use is also very important. It is argued that the LAME encoder is the best at converting cd audio to mp3s.

For better instruction see:
http://www.chrismyden.com/bestmp3guide.php

A bit complicated at first, but creats good sounding music.

Hope that helps.

Mr_Skint_2

Beninio88 wrote:

Not all mp3s are created equal . I use EAC with LAME.
There are a few ways to convert mp3s to sound better, but you'll never reasonable get the mp3 to sound as good as the original.

One way to make mp3s sound better is upping the bit rate that you convert your mp3s to. The higher the bit rate the better the sound. This however increases the size of the file too.

A far better way to convert mp3s is by converting them to what is know as VBR mp3s. This means that the bit rate changes throughout the song. When it comes to a complicated bit the bit rate will go up, but when it gets less complicated (eg in pauses ect) the bit rate drops right down. This creates a far better mp3 and although the file size may be a bit greater IMHO its worth it.

The codec that you use is also very important. It is argued that the LAME codec is the best at converting cd audio to mp3s.

For better instruction see:
http://www.chrismyden.com/bestmp3guide.php

A bit complicated at first, but creats good sounding music.

Hope that helps.

This doesnt create a better sound at all, Basically what it does is to fool
the listeners ear into thinking its a better quality file by increasing the "treble"
in simple terms, and VBR files (Variable Bit Rate) are the worst culprit as they are not as stable..

mike_paterson

There are tools such as http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/enhancemp3/ that will help. you can also get professional sound editing programs and could also try some of the graphic equalizers available for most players.

wolfman

LAME is generally meant to be the best at higher bit rates, basically 192kbps and upwards.

For lower bitrates such as 128kbps, AAC (horrible format imho) and Vorbis are often better than LAME as they manage to maintain a lot of the high end frequencies.

In todays world though, with storage space ever expanding, in my opinion LAME with the preset "--alt-preset extreme" (220-240kbps) is a good quality to encode at. EAC is arguably the best audio cd ripper, but for ease of use CDex does the job, and comes with the LAME encoder included.

With regards to which encoder to choose, I like LAME, although it's subjective. The best thing to do is try is them out for yourself and see which your ears prefer.

wolfman

Mr_Skint wrote:

This doesnt create a better sound at all, Basically what it does is to fool
the listeners ear into thinking its a better quality file by increasing the "treble"
in simple terms, and VBR files (Variable Bit Rate) are the worst culprit as they are not as stable..

It will, or should create a better sound. Not sure what you mean about the treble.

VBR basically encodes at a much lower rate during silences or pauses as high bite rates aren't needed for silence. It then also encodes at a higher than average bitrate during complex parts of a track.

This basically keeps the file size down slightly, and also means more complex parts of the track are encoded at a higher/better quality, which is beneficial.

The LAME encoder is very good at doing this. I wouldn't call it unstable at all. For example a 192kbps (vbr) encoding will be of better quality than a 192kbps (cbr) encoding, and fractionally smaller in size.

Mr_Skint_2

wolfman wrote:

It will, or should create a better sound. Not sure what you mean about the treble.

In simple terms the sound quality raises slightly by introducing
a higher frequency through the encoding software, thus making it sound
as if more treble were added...

Its like this, got a naff picture and try to edit it so it looks
the dogs, well you wont as the underlying file is crap anyway.

wolfman

Ah I was talking about "covert to mp3" (as in from cd) not "convert an mp3 to mp3" (as in rework an existing file).

Mr_Skint_2

wolfman wrote:

Ah I was talking about "covert to mp3" (as in from cd) not "convert an mp3 to mp3" (as in rework an existing file).

Aaah Haaaa gotcha wolfman,
glad that was settled I gotta sleep 2nite :beer: