Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

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Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

2007-03-05 14:20:44

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

I am completely new to the lame thingy
If someone can let me know which is the best setting for Lame 3.97 to attain 224 KBPS to 320 KBPS.
I have been using ABR to get the result but one of my friend told me that ABR is not good compared to VBR
\Plz Help me

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #1 – 2007-03-05 14:42:03

From: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=28124

At a given bitrate range, the quality scale is following: VBR is higher quality than ABR which is higher quality than CBR (VBR > ABR > CBR in terms of quality). The exception to this is when you choose the highest possible CBR bitrate, which is 320 kbps (-b 320 = --alt-preset insane).

High Quality: HiFi, home or quiet listening
-V 3 --vbr-new (~175 kbps), -V 2 --vbr-new (~190 kbps), -V 1 --vbr-new (~210 kbps) or -V 0 --vbr-new (~230 kbps) are recommended.
These settings will produce transparent encoding (transparent = most people cannot distinguish the mp3 from the original in an ABX blindtest).
Audible differences between these presets exist, but are extremely marginal.

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #2 – 2007-03-05 15:04:46

In the very high bitrate range my advice is to use ABR.
ABR is a variable bitrate method which however works differently than VBR does.

VBR has bitrate controlled totally by the psy model.
The definite advantage is it adapts to the situation, and as a result you get adequate low file size with mono recordings or music of low complexity. And it produces bigger files when necessary thus giving the results with the quality demanded for.
That's the theory. Practice is pretty much like that, and that's why we have many if not most Lame users here using a setting of -V5 ... -V2 (128 kbps ... 192 kbps on average).

As you're out for very high bitrate like me things are a bit different, as you want to have very good quality when it's achievable (otherwise you're best off with -V4 or similar as usually things are fine this way).
It's rare but the psy model can have weaknesses or flaws. In these cases VBR has a tendency to make things worse. I know a series of different samples where this is the case. There was a thread recently where guruboolez showed the results of a 160 kbps test. In this test --vbr-old had a rating of 1.8 to 2.5 in 6 samples out of 20 whereas these samples scored 3.0 or more using ABR. --vbr-new was significantly better but still showed the same tendency.
VBR can improve quality compared to ABR, but this is more and more negligible the higher you go in bitrate. At the bitrate you have in mind I wouldn't care a bit about it as quality is very high anyway. What's more important: at the low end side with situations that are hard to encode ABR quality is significantly increasing with bitrate, but this not true to the same degree when going -V0. To me using -V0 is a bad idea: you're better off using ABR 250.
I personally use ABR 270.

What I said is true for Lame 3.90 ... 3.97.
Lame 3.98's VBR works better: according to those problematic samples I tried things improved when going -V1. -V0 however again was pretty much useless. Anyway ABR behaved better also in the case of 3.98, but things may change in the future.

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #3 – 2007-03-19 22:42:13

To answer your question in short...

My personal preference with LAME 3.97 is using --abr 288
It uses a polyphase lowpass filter, transition band of 20094 Hz - 20627 Hz.
Also each frame is usually between 224-320 kbps which often result an average of 275-282 kbps.

However, silence is encoded at a high bitrate whereas 32kbps with VBR.

And most likely you would be wasting space, but this is my preference for my HI-FI setup ~

PS: I can abx the difference on many metal albums -V0 --vbr-new vs. --abr 288.
To be quite frank, I would use 320kbps but by using so much space i'd wait to HDD to become even cheaper and go lossless (FLAC/WAVPACK). I know 288 vs. 320kbps isn't much of a difference but it is smaller!

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #4 – 2007-03-19 23:22:09

I think it's totally sucky to suggest_personal_favorite settings. Vishuboy, read the FAQ would you please, they're there for a reason. And the reason is, believe it or not, to tell people who are noobs (like you are) what the best settings are for different bit ranges. They are not there to trick people. They have not been randomly picked and posted there for fun. They have been tested (even if some around here says otherwise) to be the the most optimal.

To you guys who suggest other settings -- keep them to yourself, even if you say it's your own opinion. Just tell the new guys to read the FAQ! As long as the VBR modes are there, noobs should know about them first.

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #5 – 2007-03-19 23:36:44

Asking how to get an MP3 at a target bitrate is kinda backwards, especially a rate that high. You might try to find the lowest bitrate that is transparent to your ears or for your application. I find 196k pretty darned transparent to my ears as do many - you might too.

Search for LAME ABX listening test data - LAME is pretty transparent even a bit below below your bitrate and you might wind up saving a lot of storage space.

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #6 – 2007-03-20 11:29:09

Quote from: DigitalDictator on 2007-03-19 23:22:09

I think it's totally sucky to suggest_personal_favorite settings. Vishuboy, read the FAQ ...

While it makes sense to point to the FAQ it's also alright to point out personal experience especially in a field (very high bitrate usage) where the FAQ doesn't offer a lot of help.

If we only think and make experience in terms of quasi official opinion of authorities we would still believe the earth is flat.

Best Lame settings for 224 - 320 KBPS VBR file

Reply #7 – 2007-03-20 14:07:06

[quote name='halb27' date='Mar 20 2007, 11:29' post='479746']
[quote name='DigitalDictator' post='479678' date='Mar 20 2007, 01:22']
While it makes sense to point to the FAQ it's also alright to point out personal experience especially in a field (very high bitrate usage) where the FAQ doesn't offer a lot of help.
[/quote]

The FAQ gives a perfectly clear answer.

The fact you (and it's mainly just you!) do not agree with it is another matter.

Cheers,
David.

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