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Topic: Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR (Read 8117 times) previous topic - next topic
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Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR

Hello All:
I realize from a lot of post that I have read that 320CBR is a high quality bit rate, and overkill for some music in some cases. I have a lot of 320 CBR's that I had burned years ago from CD's which I don’t own anymore (and I didn't know anything about lossless formats back then) or stuff I bought from sites such as Amazon or Legal sounds. I always use VBR with my current rips ranging anywhere from V0 to V4, and even though I know bitrate isn’t "everything" when it comes to how "good" your MP3 is going to come out, I will tell you that most of the music that I burn at V0 doesn’t even come close to the final bitrate of 320K. Only a handful of bands average a bit rate of 290 or higher such as Van Halen, Slayer, Cream, and some Death/Black Metal. If I see that @ V0 is only averaging about 250-60.I drop the VBR to V3 or V4. I understand that with VBR's, the file will hit 320 in places it needs, but if I test them with Foobar and I don’t see anything coming close to that, then I will drop the VBR and do a test with Foobar to see if I am happy with the final product. What I have been doing with some of my 320 CBR's that I am guessing (I would love to state that I know, but I have no evidence to back it up) don't need this "high-bit" rate, is turning them into ABR's. First I find out if the file is Stereo or Joint Stereo, then I set Media Monkey for ABR @ 285-310, and usually end up with a file that ranges from 230-275K. This might sound silly, but my player runs so much better on VBR's with battery life, and does fairly well with ABR's. Back when I used to have all 320KCBR's, the battery pooped out in about 5hrs. I can get a good 8-9 hrs. with the VBR's. I know that they say that converting MP3's to Mp3 is a bad idea, but since the file is already at 320, and I am only dropping to about 240-250, am I really lowering the quality of the original file drastically? The key work is drastically. I cannot tell the difference between the original file and the re-done file. I do cheated listening test, so I know which one is which, but I don’t hear a difference. I’m not saying there isn’t one; I just cannot give any evidence of any differences. This could be because I am using computer speakers (Cyber Acoustics with a sub, not audiophile quality but decent for the price) nor is any of my equipment top end stuff. I get the best equipment Can for the money, but I am not listening on a 1000 Dollar pair of headphones. Has anyone ever done this mp3 to mp3 conversion and be able to tell the difference between the 1st and 2nd file? Could I drop even lower in Bitrate or use VBR at V2 or V3 for the mp3 to mp3 conversion. Thanks, would love to hear suggestions and opinions.

Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR

Reply #1 –
Quote
I cannot tell the difference between the original file and the re-done file


PhillyPhan- Your above quote tells you all you need to know.  It's too bad you didn't keep your original cds.  I hope you are keeping your original 320 cbr's since they are the best quality you now have.  In general, transcoding is not good practice.  However, if you don't notice a quality difference between the files, and those transcodes provide your portable with better battery life, as well as using less space; go ahead and transcode.  Remember to save the original 320's.

Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR

Reply #2 –
Quote from: LedHed8 on
Quote
I cannot tell the difference between the original file and the re-done file


PhillyPhan- Your above quote tells you all you need to know.  It's too bad you didn't keep your original cds.  I hope you are keeping your original 320 cbr's since they are the best quality you now have.  In general, transcoding is not good practice.  However, if you don't notice a quality difference between the files, and those transcodes provide your portable with better battery life, as well as using less space; go ahead and transcode.  Remember to save the original 320's.


Thank You. LedHed, could you give me your opinion? Do you think that since the original Mp3 was at a high bit rate and the mp3 was converted to a high bit rate  that any "damage" was done or "Quality" was deminished from the original? Is it possible that there will be no loss in a transcode if the bit rate is kept high? Thanks

Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR

Reply #3 –
There is always additional loss of data in lossy to lossy transcodes regardless of high bitrate.  IMO, you aren't going to notice it in most situations.  IMO, it isn't worth taking the time trying to discover the files that "don't sound good".  Rather, Enjoy the Music!  If you run across a poor sounding file, download a new copy from Amazon, Google, iTunes, etc. 

Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR

Reply #4 –
You can use mp3packer for a lossless conversion of your CBR320 files into very high bitrate VBR files (averaging to 305 kbps or similar). I'd prefer this to a lossy conversion using -V0 because bitrate advantage of -V0 compared to 305 kbps isn't big enough to justify another lossy step. Things are different of course if you decide say -V2 is sufficient.
lame3995o -Q1.7 --lowpass 17

Converting MP3 320 CBR to ABR's or VBR

Reply #5 –
Thank You for recommending MP3 Packer. I have been using this software since you told me about it. It does a great job. Only has problems with some older .lame files and some files in JS. Thanks AGAIN!