MP3>CD>Lossless, Lossless noob Options

[mhudson7]

If I rip an MP3 sourced CD to lossless, have I degraded or colored the sound any? Or does it sound just as 'good' as the MP3?

[jmartis]

If I rip an MP3 sourced CD to lossless, have I degraded or colored the sound any?

no

[Hanky]

Actually there are 2 questions. The answers are no, yes.

Assuming a secure ripper and an error free mp3 decoder were used of course.

This post has been edited by Hanky: Jul 15 2006, 14:22

[Shade[ST]]

In clearer terms, converting your MP3s to CD-Audio will not degrade the sound quality relative to the mp3, but will, relative to the original file.

When you rip that CD to lossless, you will have the same mp3 file (in terms of sound quality), but much larger (since it's lossless)

If you encode that lossless file to mp3 again, you will lose quality again.

[kjoonlee]

' date='Jul 15 2006, 22:48' post='412103']
In clearer terms, converting your MP3s to CD-Audio will not degrade the sound quality relative to the mp3, but will, relative to the original file.

That's not the best way to say it; what if the MP3 files were transparent?

[Duble0Syx]

' date='Jul 15 2006, 22:48' post='412103']
In clearer terms, converting your MP3s to CD-Audio will not degrade the sound quality relative to the mp3, but will, relative to the original file.

That's not the best way to say it; what if the MP3 files were transparent?

Even if they were "Transparent" a lot of the original audio data is gone forevever. IF you rip a cd burned with transparent mp3's and encode that to mp3 you will likely start to notice some loss. Fact is, there is no point to ripping lossy burned cd's to lossless. That would be like taking a $10 bill and converting it all to pennies. I'd still have $10, it would just take 4x the space with no benefits. So if you used looked at it like an mp3, you'd use one of those change machines that give you cash, put you $10 of pennies in, and you get $8 in cash back. Wow, that made no sense, but yeah, mp3 burned cd to lossless is rather pointless.

[Hanky]

I do not agree. Image you have an mp3-burned CDR-audio and you know there is no possibility to get the original audio ever. Would you rely on that CD to be the only backup? I'm very sure I would not trust that and make a lossless backup of it.

[greynol]

You will be best served by adding a data session to the end of an mp3-sourced Audio CD that contains the mp3 files used as the source.

[Lyx]

The original question (excluding ripping-errors) was:

Will the result of this....

MP3 -> Lossless -> Lossless

...be of lower quality than the MP3?

The answer is "No". It will be the same as the mp3...... just much larger in filesize.

[greynol]

If I rip an MP3 sourced CD to lossless, have I degraded or colored the sound any? Or does it sound just as 'good' as the MP3?

If I rip an MP3 sourced CD to lossless, have I degraded or colored the sound any?

no

Actually there are 2 questions. The answers are no, yes.

The answer is "No". It will be the same as the mp3...... just much larger in filesize.

Three times a charm?

[excelon72]

on this topic i see that an mp3 converted to lossless is the same. understood. BUT the quality wont be better since your just making a bigger cpoty of what you have if you start off with 256kbps file and convert it to lossless it will not sound any better . so when converting starting quality is the best its gonna get??? what is the kbps of a normal store cd then? if i rip a cd and convert it to 960kbps lossless is that the same quality as the cd?

[kjoonlee]

Yep. 1411.2 kbps. The bitrate won't be 960 kbps, because the bitrate will vary. However, it will be the same quality, yes.

[Jan S.]

on this topic i see that an mp3 converted to lossless is the same. understood. BUT the quality wont be better since your just making a bigger cpoty of what you have if you start off with 256kbps file and convert it to lossless it will not sound any better . so when converting starting quality is the best its gonna get??? what is the kbps of a normal store cd then? if i rip a cd and convert it to 960kbps lossless is that the same quality as the cd?

Yes lossless is always same quality as the source (most often your cd).

[excelon72]

In windows media the max bitrate for lossless is 960. If a cd is 1411 and i burn it at 960 will it sound the same?

[Jan S.]

What do you mean burning it? Burning as in burning the wma files or as in making an audio cd (=decoding to wav/PCM).
In any case: yes.

[excelon72]

I apologize burn was not the word i should have used. maybe i need to ask the question better. I buy a cd i rip it as an mp3 at the default 256 kbps. is the result going to be equal to or worse than the result if the same cd was ripped at 960 lossless wma?
cd #1 ripped at 256kbps mp3=______(</>/=)
same cd ripped at 960 kbps wma=______.
i apologize for reiterating but seems like a 2mb mp3 sounds the same as a 30 meg lossy(?) wma accroding to you guys or maybe im misunderstanding.

This post has been edited by excelon72: Sep 14 2006, 19:53

[Jan S.]

Theoretical quality:
cd = any lossless format > any lossy format

If you can hear the difference or not is another matter. At a bitrate as high as 256 it is very unlikely that you can hear the difference. Some people can if they concentrate a lot and have the original as a reference. A lot can on special trouble samples that the lossy encoder for some reason can't handle well.
That this should affect you in casual listening is highly unlikely.

[excelon72]

thank you. i was thinking i was crazy lol. i went out and bought a set of bose triport headphones and listened to a cd. i then recorded it at 256 and the at lossless and then mixed them up to make sure i was not making myself hear things and on 7 out of 10 songs i picked it up right away on 2 more of the 10 i had to listen extensively and 1 i could not tell. so while i may have violated many rules lol and not have the scientific knowledge you guys do i do have outstanding ears and have tested the music a variety of ways to make sure i wasnt deluding myself. you have answered all my questions for the moment ty.

afte the headphones i played it in the car and while it hardly has the quiet that the triports do it is an impressive system for SQ for an automobile. i havent the solitude for a high end home system as my townhouse neighbors are only a few feet away.