What biterate do you rip your cds at?

[Psythik]

Just wondering what you're default ripping biterate is and/or you're favorite biterate (lets say for lame encoded (or similar) mp3s).

Personally, I perfer 192kbps because for the most part I seem to get the best sound reproduction out of my surround speakers at this one. Normally I would go with 256k just to get every last bit of sound quality but I've only got 20 gigs on my hdd dedicated to mp3s...

[nybergh]

forget 192 kbps. Use LAME --alt-preset standard instead. It's a very trimmed and optimized VBR mode that gives something between 160-230 as a typical average bitrate , depending on how complex the music is (somethig like 180-192 for most pop music, a bit higher for very complex rock old rock with very different stereo channels and echoes). Most people can not tell any difference between --alt-preset standard and the original CD (while i can tell difference between --alt-preset standard and fraunhoffers crappy encoders at 192 kbps), threrefore higher constant bitrates are not smart to use with lame. (With MONO recordings it will give even lower avarages with the same sound becouse of the Joint-Stereo).

--APS rules => I voted mid vbr.

[nybergh]

[edit]this is a double post (trouble with cookies i think). Delete it, please.[/edit]

[gaekwad2]

Depends on what you call mid or high range.

I use either Vorbis q 4.5 (~145) or Musepack q 5 (~175).

[NJK]

192k so everything on the station sounds a bit alike ( volume, etc - not music choise)

[gaekwad2]

Originally posted by spaceplay
192k so everything on the station sounds a bit alike ( volume, etc - not music choise)

But cbr won't give you constant quality, only vbr can achieve that.

(And I hope you don't think different bitrates mean different volume.)

[NJK]

Originally posted by gaekwad2


(And I hope you don't think different bitrates mean different volume.)

nope i don't , but if the bitrate is too far apart from 192k ( 320k or some low bitrate) it sounds either very loud or you can't hear it at all , i use rocksteady to keep it at one volume and if file has a bitrate at 320 the plugin has to perform higher that it can.

so if i have everything at 192k the rocksteady plugin hardly ever has to do a thing.

better this way?

[nybergh]

spaceplay, try --alt-preset standard. It will be worth it. I notice the difference beteen 192 kbps CBR and --alt-prest standard vbr.

If you have loads of old mono/almost mono music you'll probarly save lot's of space by using vbr. And those songs with a difficult stereo field will get more space and sound better. Try some 60's rock with very different stereo channels, The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun is a good example or something with lots of echo/space (like Led Zep - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You). It WILL sound better with --alt-preset standard.

Get CDex, then get Lame 3.96.1 from http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html
and replace Cdex's old lame_enc.dll with the neew one and do some serious testing.

[k_rock923]

i always ran -b 256 -q 0 through lame and it sounded fine. I've never tried the alt presets although maybe i should

[Lapikas]

192 is enough for me. I listen to music, not the quality of sound. As long as it doesn't contain any clicks, pops or anything else that would ruin the music..

[nybergh]

...but it's bllody digusting to try to hear the music from a mp3 that sounds like... eh.. Fraunhofer ACM at 192 kbps. In the name of everything that's good and holy,at least try --alt-preset standard!
As a bonus you'll save lots of space with some songs that require a lower bitrate.