hi!
I've recently bought a portable mp3 player (cd). I want to fit there as much music as posiible with keeping decent quality. The 128abr (alt-preset) is not good enough, and introduces some artifacts. Is VBR a the way to go?


regards,
peter

I think "--alt-preset standard" would be enough. As the media is CD, file size is not really something you have to worry about. A CD can hold up to 125 songs using "standard".

This gives bitrates above 190, and what I want is something about 128.

Regards,
Peter

The Lame ABR 128 preset is about the best you can get with mp3 at that bitrate. VBR only works well with higher bitrates. If the quality doesn't satisfy you there currently is no other way than to raise the bitrate. Experiment with ABR 130 - 160. Alternatively you could use --alt-preset standard -Y which should lower the bitrate by a rel. large amount depending on the music (while at the same time loosing almost everything above 16kHz, which is not as bad as you may think, when you listen with your portable)

This is getting to be my trademark

If you're curious as to why VBR only works well at higher bitrates...



FYI, --alt-preset fast standard -Y -b112 (my portable listening commandline) gives me ~170kbps for metal and rock music, ~185 for quieter acoustic music. IMHO the extra quality is worth the bitrate increase over 128kbps, and I'm using an 8cm (185MB) MP3 CD player.

i use this for portables
-b 32 -B 320 --vbr-old --lowpass 16 -V 8 -mj -Z --athtype 3 --athlower 10 --nssafejoint
this setting is not dibrom approved
the old vbr handles preety good on this setting, it goes even at 320, while abr 128 goes no more than 160-192. Quality at least for the music i listen is quite good.

I just use --alt-preset 160

Gives quality that satisfies my ears i cheap headphones and appropriate size for a cd full of mp3s. Simple as that.

-Jeffrey

I use "--alt-preset 128"... More isn't needed when playing on portable players...