.mp3/ 24-bit

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cjac9
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.mp3/ 24-bit

Post by cjac9 » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:06 pm

hey-
I am planning to release an EP on the Internet only. I want to have the download be as high quality as possible.

Soon I will have finalized 24-bit .WAV mixes that I will send to a mastering engineer. I assume he will give me 24-bit and 16-bit masters and then do I compress the 24-bit straight to .mp3 or do I need to apply dithering or something?

Also, if I make a .zip archive of the 6 .mp3s what does this do to audio quality?

How do I ensure that any info I add in iTunes will stay with the file? (Artist Name, Album Name, etc.)?

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:12 pm

You can turn a 24-bit WAV into an mp3 with just about any DAW, even the freeware Audacity...most apps use the LAME encoder, which is pretty standard, and works well. zip folder will not harm your files at all. The tag info will stick with the files...I guess anyone who wanted to could change it, but why would anybody do that? And 192kbps is a pretty good size-to-quality compromise.

Good luck with your EP!

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Mr. Dipity
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Post by Mr. Dipity » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:32 pm

I don't think you want to use the 24 bit versions as your mainstay for online distribution yet. AFAICT, many people's sound cards and/or audio playback software can't handle this as a matter of course at this point. I'm not talking about your latest and greatest machine, but your 2-3 year old, run-of-the-mill dell laptop with a OEM sound card onboard is going to complain.

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Post by cjac9 » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:54 pm

but the .mp3 isn't 24-bit correct?

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:50 am

Not by default usually. Go with 192 / 16. Or 256 / 16 if you've got the extra bandwidth...

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Post by dynomike » Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:07 am

just use your cd master and rip it in EAC to an mp3. mp3's are limited to 16 bit anyway, i'm 99% sure.
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Post by Mradyfist » Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:36 am

Yeah, there was a discussion about this earlier. My stance was that if you convert from the 24-bit wavs to mp3, you're throwing away the nice dithering that the mastering engineer used. I'd go straight from the 16-bit masters, or rip from the CD.

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Post by cjac9 » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:43 am

OK one more question:
What is the best program to do this in on a Mac? I tried Audacity with the LAME converter but it will only do 128 not 192. Is there a way to do this in Audacity?

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:18 am

cjac9 wrote:OK one more question:
What is the best program to do this in on a Mac? I tried Audacity with the LAME converter but it will only do 128 not 192. Is there a way to do this in Audacity?
Yeah, go to edit > preferences > file formats and adjust it however you like. It goes up to 320. At least on the latest beta, on PC.

Or do it in iTunes. Personally, that's what I do. It's much, much easier to add tag info and cover art that way.

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Post by rwc » Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:00 pm

Use VBR. CBR is obsolete.

variable bitrate vs constant bitrate.

It changes the bitrate based on the material. Complex stuff will get 320, silent bits will get 32k, nonsense'll get 128, regular 192, etc. You'll have the same average bitrate but better quality that way. :)
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cjac9
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Post by cjac9 » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:35 pm

How do I use VBR?? Very interesting sounding.
Last edited by cjac9 on Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by rwc » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:42 pm

With an encoder like LAME that supports VBR.
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