Hi guys I'm very new to ripping MP3s in VBR. All this while I've been ripping MP3s using CBR...normally 320kbps.

I'm using EAC with LAME and I'm wondering about something. If I were to rip a song (VBR) with 256kbps as the lowest setting and 320 as the highest setting what the bitrate only fuctuate from 256 to 320 or any value between these 2?

I mostly listen to classic rock/metal music that's why I thought of using a high bitrate.

Still if anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears.

Beleive so. Kinda high data rate if you ask me. How will you be listening...stereo/headphones?

Well actually I'm going to be using earbuds from my MP3 player.

There is no bitrate between 256 and 320kbps. Just use --preset standard or
--preset extreme. The LAME encoder is very well tempered and will 'choose' the optimum bitrate for you. How easy is that?

Suggested reading for further enlightenment:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....topic=17033&hl=
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ariable+bitrate
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....topic=23361&hl=
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....topic=21907&hl=

there is! LAME can can encode at any bitrate up to 640kbps....not iso compliant

anyway why would you want to use such high bitrate?
-preset medium is good enough....

Thanks for the replies guys. I still have a question though. I'll probably be using the preset standard or preset extreme settings.

I will be using EAC to rip the MP3s directly from lame. There is a place in EAC where I can type in the command lines for the presets. However there still is a selection option for the bitrate.

I'm confused. So does the preset command line in EAC override the bitrate selection from the dropdown menu? Or do I have to match the 2 settings?

if you choose 128 kbps

then EAC will send -b 128 to encoder (I think)
-b 128 means constant bitrate 128kbps

but if you combine both --preset standard -b 128
it means encoding with variable bitrate but the lowest bitrate allowed is 128kbps

--preset standard and extreme use 128kbps as the lowest bitrate by default.
adding -b 128 won't change anything

Okay, what is this bitratre between 256 & 320 then, kotrtim? Please enlighten me.

with freeformat mp3s you can get any rate between 256 and 320. I do not recommend the use of freeformat.

Yes, it does. You don't need to match the two settings.

Check a few test encodes with EncSpot to make sure that you are getting what you want.
http://www.guerillasoft.co.uk/EncSpot/download.html

Okay, thanks for that bit of info. Found more on freeformat here:
http://mp3decoders.mp3-tech.org/freeformat.html

how come EncSpot is back???

I use LAME 3.96.1 and --preset standard. I chose 'user defined encoder' , so I just type -V2 %s %d - or for those that still use LAME 3.90.3 --alt preset standard %s %d. The bitrate is being discarded since I use a preset...so even though it says '192kbps' + 'High Quality' it won't change anything...

To verify that, you can download Mr. Question Man (freeware) and it will display the settings used...it should just state the preset without any 'modified' notice...

Why, did it go somewhere? Is Mr. Question Man better, somehow? Enlighten furher, please.

well, the website was down for quite a long time...the author didn't reply to email's...no one knew what was going on...they even released the source of the console EncSpot

Anyway, Mr. Question Man works well with LAME files. It's quite good in telling you what settings have been used. However, if you need more info, use EncSpot...I use both. Just try them out and decide...

The only thing with using --preset standard is that it encodes in <joint stereo>. I would raTHER use conventional <stereo> setting.
I use Lame 3.96 with VBR settings usually between 160-192k.

It's back up now. Thanks for your reply, perhaps I'll give this Question Man a try....

the bitrate selection is only to determine the average file size you see in EAC. if you use the comand line parameters you will be fine

Please read the FAQ before spreading myths. Joint-Stereo offers higher quality, thats why its the default. There was even talks in multiple occasions to completely remove the stereo-switch from lame because it is misused in 99% of cases.

- Lyx

Edit: to stay on topic: the main advantage of questionman is that it can detect the lame-preset used, while encspot as far as i know cannot. But encspot has more accurate detection of other encoders than lame.

lame's joint stereo coding IS conventional stereo coding. read more about audio coding in this tutorial by J.D. Johnston (PDF ca. 500 KB).

Why do you use these inferior settings? (Just wondering...)

Wow look at all those replies!!

I have to say a big thank you to all you guys. Anyway what I did was to use EAC to extract the file from the CD in .wav format and then I used Razorlame to encode it to MP3 using the preset command.

Thanx for all the help!