Hi guys, my name is Keith and I'm new here. I hope I'm asking this in the right section... If not, please forgive me.

I am starting to become a DJ and have two turntables and a mixer. I bought Sony Sound Forge 8 to record my vinyl. Once it's recorded into the computer, I want to save it to MP3 (so that I can archive all 800 of my records). I assume the best thing to save the recorded audio in SF8 is as a .wav file. From there, I would then encode it to MP3, correct? So I'm assuming the best audio quality in MP3 (that I can store 1,000s of files on my computer and listen to on my iPod) would be 320 KBPS CBR, correct?

If that is the case, which version of LAME should I be using? Someone told me 3.96.1 is better for 320 CBR than 3.90.3 (which appears to be the stable standard for quite some time, correct?). Is this true? Should I not take the chance and just use 3.90.3? Is there any negative to using 3.90.3? If it is JUST speed, I can deal with that. If audio sounds better using 3.96.1 then I'd prefer that. I want to use whichever version gives me the best MP3, not necessarily the fastest (although speed does help).

I'm just a little confused here with all of the choices. Before I take on the goliath task of archiving 3,000 songs I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

Thanks!!!!

-Keith

Welcome to HA.

See this thread

It's worth searching first eh!

Jaybee, thanks for the link... I tried searching but came up with some results that just sent me in circles... kind of like what you replied with... I just see arguements over Alphas and command prompt strings, etc. I'm totally clueless to that sort of thing.

I guess without violating TOS #8, can anyone tell me which is better for my task at hand?

Cheers,
Keith

I'd suggest using -V2 with 3.96.1

For packing more songs onto your iPod, try -V4.

Keith. I also suggest you read through this thread:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=32597

There is no definitive answer to your question, as each one of us have different meaning.
Maybe you should test some samples with both 3.90.3 and 3.96.1, then see if you can pick the one that suits your needs best?

Also, if you are going to be using the songs for DJ'ing (ie, looping), you may want to look to a different format as mp3 is not lossless.

What other formats would suit my needs... I need to be able to play it in Serato Scratch Live and my iPod.

-Keith

There isn't sufficient testing to prove 3.96.1, or 3.97a10, inferior or superior to 3.90.3. The consensus is that 3.96.1 is generally as good as 3.90.3, and one shouldn't notice too much quality differences. 3.97a10 should be safe to use, but no one would claim that, since not enough testing has been done. Probably safe to use any of the three and not have any significant differences at 320kbps, though only your ears, your equip, and your music can determine that.

As far as a "better format", the requirement of playing on iPod pretty much limits it down to mp3 and aac, both lossy. And Serato Scratch says



As such, it looks like you're stuck to mp3.

Edit: And so, since you're DJing, might as well save encoding time by using 3.96.1, or even 3.97a if you find that it suits your needs. The speed difference is nontrivial when you start encoding massive amounts.

So bottom line is there is no right answer? Haha. Oh well, I guess that makes sense. This is computers we're talking about after all...

Thanks for all of the resources guys! Please keep them coming!

Cheers,
Keith

if I was you I'd use LAME 3.96.1 and --preset standard aka -V2 It is designed to achieve the same quality like 320kbps CBR (--preset insane), but at lower bitrates. --preset insane is a big waste of space. As I said, -V2 is designed to be transparent, however if you want to use a more space demanding setting just to get the warm fussy feeling you could try -V1 or -V0.

I suggest you to perform a blind ABX listening test to see if you can tell the difference between -V2 and the original, which I doubt. For most people -V4 is already transparent, so using -V2 is already more than enough...if you listen to it on a portable it's already overkill.

Anyway, search the forum if you want to know more...however, whatever setting you use, make sure to stick with the --presets since they are designed to give best possible quality