best mp3 preset and settings for 128 kbps CBR Options

[m3gab0y]

Hey guys, maybe it's discussed before (I found only the threat from 2003), and sorry if i'm posting duplicate.

I have a radiostation that obviously has output frequency responce of 30 hz up to 16 khz, with brickwall filters, and some other fancy equipment....
I want to steam this station at 128 kbps and achieve the best possible quality of a CBR 128 KBPS mp3 encoder. Did I mention that the input material is 99.9% lossless audio?

I currently use edcast with Lame 3.93.1 using preset=12 and quality=0 and I'm getting decent results. But I hear lots of dirrerence between the original output and the stream. Am I doing something wrong? And is there better way to squeze more out of the mp3 codec?

This post has been edited by m3gab0y: Jun 5 2011, 22:53

[m3gab0y]

Some stations offer multiple formats: a choice of vorbis and mp3 and/or multiple data rates. For some the alternate is a flash player (unknown format). The station I listen to most on line encourages the flash player as cheaper for them, so presumably it's either a free format or more efficient than mp3.

Another issue, no doubt addressed hundreds of times: when you hit your cap, do you prevent additional stream starts, or do you lower the rate for everyone so everyone can listen?

btw. an competitor is streaming at 256 kbps AAC+ v2, 96 KHz sample rate...
The quality is good, but, the only players that can decode this stream are Winamp and VideoLAN, and only if you have a 96 KHz capable sound card.

Huh???

As I understand it, v2 downsamples the audio to half its sample rate, then replaces the lost frequencies with a simulation. That would mean in this case downsampling to 48 kHz, then replacing everything that was lost above 24 kHz with simulated audio.

What audio above 24 kHz is it simulating???

96 kHz? Why?

Wait: 256 kbps and 96 kHz in AAC+ v2? What.

THAT!!! I took this file from their official SHOTCast Stream
Play it in Winamp. I can achieve the same "effect" in my encoder (HE-ACC High, 256 kbps), but it sounds bad for me. Vorbis at q8 outperforms it!

This post has been edited by m3gab0y: Jun 9 2011, 20:13