Using pro audio equipment, does anybody can hear differences in the quality of the audio of a MP3 ripped from an original brand new Cd, using EAC 0.95b3 with Lame 3.97b1 and then using I-Tunes 5.0.1.4 ? Stereo Bit-rate = 224Kbps, no VBR.
Does anybody also feel differences in Dynamics ?


Thanks for the help.

Elvert Brandao
Brazil

Hearing a difference will only depend on your artifact-hearing ability. Some people (like guruboolez) are very sensitive to such artifacts, and some people even have reported hearing a difference between original and 320 cbr.. (LAME) If the factor is being sonically IDENTICAL, your best bet is lossless audio.

In any case, "dynamics" shouldn't be changed in either.

Lame is reportedly a better encoder than Itunes, at least at lower bitrates. And your best bet for quality would be VBR... (V0 should be around 224 kbps avg..)

Good luck,
T.

Hi T,

Thanks so much for your time and reply. I know VBR is the best bet for quality, but unfortunely I can not use it because my brand new professional Pioneer Cd Players (CDJ-200) are not VBR compatible. I got problems playing VBR files in the Pioneer. The Owner´s Manual does not recomend the use of MP3 files with VBR.

I have two more questions, if you don´t mind please.

1- What should I write in EAC Additional Comand Line Options for Standard use without VBR, for the reasons above explained ?

2- Using EAC/Lame at Bit-rate 224Kbps, the encoding is being made in Joint Stereo. Should I change to Stereo ? If yes, how do I change ?

Thanks again for your great help !

Regards,
Elvert

1- You'll want to use -b xxx (where xxx is your desired bitrate) to get CBR MP3's with LAME. At least, that's what the recommended settings page says.

2- Stick with Joint Stereo. LAME can use similarities between the two channels to encode more efficiently, resulting in higher quality.

Edit: LAME recommended settings thread is here.

Just to thank you very much for your help.

Elvert